Is the treatment of Jimmy Lai by the Chinese government any worse than how the USA is treating Julian Assange and would treat Edward Snowden?

[Adaeva]

I choose to believe the USA is not like China and generally they are not. Moreover, the USA has more of what we like to describe as freedom. Nevertheless, in recent times, occasionally the USA's treatment of individuals that those with power do not approve of is more harsh than how similar individuals would be treated by China.

[Anonymous]

Nope the USA have no right to complain, they are just hypocrites. And it is terrible that we are extraditing Julian Assange to the USA. It is only because he exposed the USA wrongdoings which he had every right to do.

[Adaeva]

Not only that but he is not a US citizen and is not subject to US laws when he has never even been in the USA. That would be no different than Germany charging an American citizen for helping a Jew when the American citizen was never in Germany and didn't help the Jew until after the Jew crossed the border into another country, even if the country the Jew was in was Poland.

[Opinion Owner]

My thoughts exactly, but the UK are just sock puppets for the USA.

[Avicenna]

The CCP is still a much bigger violator of people's rights than the Democratic Party. But I have no doubt that the Democrats would love to do what the CCP does- enslave, torture and falsely imprison their opponents.

[Adaeva]

I agree with both sentences.

[abc3643]

I can't speak about Jimmy Lai because I know nothing and he is in the Chinese justice system, not the US's.

But, I can speak about the US Justice System:
If you violate the law, you get indicted, tried, and, if convicted, then punished. That's it, pure and simple.

Julian Assange and Edward Snowden have violated federal law, period.

These are the charges against Assange:

Count 1: 18 U. S. C. § 793(g)
Conspiracy To Obtain and Disclose National Defense Information

Count 2: 18 U. S. C. § 371
Conspiracy to Commit Computer Intrusions

Counts 3, 4: 18: 18 U. S. C §§ 793(b) and 2
Obtaining National Defense Information

Counts 5-8: 18 U. S. C. §§ 793(c) and 2
Obtaining National Defense Information

Counts 9-11: 18 U. S. C. §§ 793(d) and 2
Disclosure of National Defense Information

Counts 12-14: 18 U. S. C. §§ 793(e) and 2
Disclosure of National Defense Information

Counts 15-17: 18 U. S. C. § 793(e)
Disclosure of National Defense Information

These are the charges against Snowden:

18 U. S. C. § 793(d)
Unauthorized Disclosure of National Defense Information
18 U. S. C. § 798(a)(3)
Unauthorized Disclosure of Classified Communication Intelligence
18 U. S. C. § 641
Theft of Government Property

The Federal Government also successfully sued Snowden in a civil case for violating contractual obligations he made with the CIA and NSA when he published his book. So, the profits from his book go to the Federal Government.

======

Now, since Snowden's maximum punishment for his crimes is 30 years and he's been in exile for 10 years, I have no significant problem in 20 years with commuting his sentence and allowing him to return to the US as a free man.

I believe Assange's maximum punishment for his crimes would be 65 years. He's not a US citizen though. If he is successfully extradited to the US, then the US Justice System should take its course with his case.

======

Returning to Lai's situation, well, too bad. He's in China and they are a totalitarian society and their justice system does not have rights for the accused like the US's does. Lai's problems may be political, but, regardless of whatever motives Assange and Snowden have, they violated the law, pure and simple. Snowden's responsibilty was to take up his complaints up the chain of command, not to violate his oath and contractual obligations. Assange committed espionage.

OK, I was very civil with all of the above because, regardless of my feelings, the Justice System should do what it was designed to do. If Assange and/or Snowden are convicted or acquitted, so be it.

However, they did do the crimes they committed and that's rather obvious. So, from my perspective, they should be put up against the wall and shot.

[Adaeva]

Why am I not surprised?

[abc3643]

Not surprised about what?

[Adaeva]

One, is that you support horrible laws passed by evil politicians that protect those politicians from the crimes they commit against the American public. Since the principle is identical, obviously, if you lived at that time, you would be a strong supporter of laws that made assisting an escaped slave a crime. Two, that you believe that people that have never been to the USA are subject to US laws. Do you also believe US citizens should be subject to China's laws?

[abc3643]

Young lady, do you know how to look up those Federal statutes?
You can start here where the entire United States Code can be inspected.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text

I am a strong supporter of laws.
That's because I believe in democracy and national security: the two things that enable you to bitch about the US Federal Government on an Internet that it created to allow people to communicate information to each other over long distances.

I am also a big believer in:
1) Keeping your word
and
2) Due process
and
3) the chain of command
and
4) being an adult.

I also do not believe in dictators.

I can appreciate where Snowden was coming from.
But, by acting unilaterally as he did, he assumed that he knows all and is the best judge for his actions.
This illustrates a profound immaturity for a 30-year old.
Furthermore, his actions threaten YOU. Yes, you.

*sigh*

The defense industry exists for a reason and, believe it or not, what may seem nefarious also exists for a reason. No one thinks H-bombs are wonderful either, but their existence deters their usage.
The general public - and especially one as young as yourself - often turn a blind eye to the darkness in the world and the necessary actions that may be required to save lives. Destroying Hiroshima and Nagasaki are examples of that.

When you get older and have responsibilities for others and their lives, you will appreciate what I have said.

[Adaeva]

I will never appreciate what you said, because is not right and never will be. Destroying Hiroshima and Nagasaki are crimes against humanity by a sociopath president and completely unnecessary. Japan had already offered to surrender their only stipulation being that their emperor, who they considered to be a God, was not to be prosecuted. That is what MacArthur choose not to do anyway. Since you are such a strong believer in the law, if you had lived in Germany at that time, you would be a strong supporter of the law that made it a crime to hide a Jew.

[abc3643]

I understand where you are coming from and I don't exactly disagree.

This is why it is said about many things in life that "It is a double-edged sword".
www.dictionary.com/e/slang/double-edged-sword/

[Adaeva]

Regarding the law, at the extremes, almost all people will agree. Should someone that reveals top-secret information about troupe movement to the enemy when at war be punished? I doubt that anyone will disagree. Should an American that helps a North Korean escape and thereby break North Korean Law be turned over to North Korea for trial and almost certain death? Almost no American would agree to do that. It is in the middle that people disagree. Should someone revealing classified information that was classified to protect crimes by high government officials be prosecuted? You will find many that disagree.

Not many people will disagree that someone who violently attacks and threatens with a knife rapes someone should be punished. However, what about the teenage boy having consensual sex with a teenage girl who during sexual intercourse said, "I have to go home" and instead of immediately stopping replied, "Just a minute"? The California judges said that was rape. However, many people would disagree.

[Lliam]

I agree with you. Not only does the U. S. brutalize journalists and whistle blowers, look at what it does in Guantanamo and how the CIA shipped prisoners to other countries to be tortured in secret.

The U. S. is the biggest hypocrite in the world.

[Adaeva]

I do not know if the U. S. is the biggest hypocrite in the world but too often the U. S. is hypocritical.

[Drewtate]

More like Trump. Snowden did break the law.

Laws are subjective. In the US we have FISA courts where you can be convicted without ever knowing your crime. Obama had two US citizens executed without trial.

[Grovermint]

You do remember that we had prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and other sites that undergo quite harsh treatment, it's not a leap to say that the USA could in fact do the same depending on circumstance.

[DWornock]

No! Of course not. It is not even as bad.