The government is simply allergic to scrutiny and will use all powers available to it to shut down anyone seeking to expose its venality
And don't give me any of this horseshit about the Speaker not being part of the government
https://t.co/HN8Zed715w
Anyway, time for the partisan haterade to swing back from "Jenna Lynch is a govt agent because of her husband's former job" to "Jenna Lynch is a communist stooge because of where she works"
@MHReddell@toddmstephenson And that's the risk, right. You can't really extricate the two strands, especially on junkets where the regime will simply tell you the economic dev story at the expense of the freedom story
As you say, getting banned for looking at the alternative in Taiwan is a kind of honour
@MHReddell@toddmstephenson Really similar vibes. Keen to go back to see how much things have changed in 20 years
We spent enough time there and in other post-com states in the region that it made me a permanent China optimist in economic terms, while hardening my existing antipathy to the authoritarianism
@MHReddell@toddmstephenson Dandong was not exactly bustling, but there was street food and shops and a cinema and people going about their business. DPRK side there was a shipyard, and weirdly, a ferris wheel.
When night fell, the only light was an occasional welding arc light at the shipyard. No people.
China’s decision to punish New Zealand MPs for travelling to Taiwan is deeply concerning. This is the third visit of MPs to Taiwan over this Parliamentary term, including one I took part in. Singling out this year’s delegation is alarming. Once again, it’s clear the Chinese Communist Party does not understand the role of Members of Parliament in a free and democratic society.
https://t.co/VqNX7aUZO5
Joseph Mooney (@JosephMooneyMP) tweeted more last month than most MPs tweet in a year.
He tells me his gigantic output is in part due to a desire to train future AI on rational fact-based arguments.
Does this mean Joseph Mooney is the Matt Horncastle of Parliament, or Matt Horncastle is the Joseph Mooney of property development? https://t.co/ncB69eQMQw