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So earlier, I wanted to buy something I was running low on, but the exact item matching the one I already owned is Made in China, so I made the extra effort to look for something similar that wasn't Made in China. It's slightly smaller than the other one and won't last me as long, but it's Made in Indonesia and owned by a Japanese company, so my conscience is clean.

I urge everyone around the world to follow my example and make the world a better place one little bit at a time with your actions, however small. China has managed to cast an extremely wide net on the global economy over the past 20+ years, so this won't be easy, and you might not always succeed with every single product all the time especially if you feel that your standard of living may suffer noticeably, but some of the time is still better than nothing.

You don't have to throw out anything that's Made in China that you already own, but at least try to replace used or broken items with non-Chinese equivalents as much as possible and try to limit, in part or in whole, your use of services that have either direct or indirect ties with China, such as Disney or TiKToK. Only purchase or use Star Wars products and services that are not owned by Disney in any way. And if you value your privacy and civil liberties, definitely stay away from WeChat. They've been caught spying on users.

Boycott the People's Republic of China. Consign the Communist Party to the trash bin of history. Free Hong Kong. Free Tibet. Free East Turkestan. Support Taiwan Independence. Support freedom for all Chinese People. Honor all those who have died of the COVID lab-leak virus due to communist incompetence, "saving face", criminal negligence, and an outright refusal to take any responsibility for its actions.

If you are able to do so without fear of official reprisal (I'm not), write your local MP, senator, or representative telling them how you feel about China's behavior and urge them to vote to impose absolutely crippling, Russia-style sanctions on the communist regime and all of its supporters and associates at home and abroad. Also write your leaders and ministers. Write your local businesses big and small, urging them to pull the plug on China and relocate their factories and operations to India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, and other friendly or neutral countries. Sign petitions and stage demonstrations to really drive the point home that it will no longer be business as usual until the communist regime either liberalizes politically or is overthrown in a revolution.

But always be sure to distinguish between the communist regime and the Chinese people as one would Vladimir Putin and the Russian people, although I'll admit I personally find this difficult in practice given just how many Chinese, including Chinese who are not even from China and members of my own extended family, openly and enthusiastically back the communist regime and engage in transnational repression of other Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kongers, Tibetans, and Uighurs living abroad, with some individuals even committing outright treason and espionage in some cases. Exiled dissidents and other Chinese expats have been blackmailed into silence due to having family back at home, and some have even been kidnapped and brought back to China against their will. People have been harassed, abused, and assaulted by CCP supporters in the streets of European and American cities and the campuses of European and American universities simply for criticizing the Chinese communist regime. Also, note that Mark Zuckerberg's wife is Chinese. Make of that what you will.

This is hugely personal to me. I'm from Hong Kong and I will not rest until HK is free and anyone who is even remotely responsible for its total political and cultural annihilation and the ongoing misery and suffering of the people of Hong Kong are brought to justice for their unforgivable crimes. Sic semper tyrannis.

Unfortunately, my personal circumstances ensure that I am in no position to do anything other than discreetly boycott PRC or PRC-affiliated products and services, remain strictly anonymous, and type this call to action behind a VPN, whereas those of you who live in freer parts of the world can do so much more with your time.

Know that by refusing to buy or use Made in China, you stand firmly on the right side of history.

Choose freedom over tyranny. Live free or die.

P.S. I have serious reservations about buying or investing in Tesla. Elon Musk has factories in Shanghai. But aside from that, he's currently attempting to liberate Twitter from the woke, censorious mob and has deployed satellites directly above Ukraine to provide internet access to everyone below. He's also keen to colonize Mars and expand humanity's horizons. So he's been doing a lot of good around the world and I want to give the guy a chance to prove his worth.

P.P.S. Rinse and repeat all of the above with Russia. Putin has to go too. By destroying pastoral and agricultural assets in Ukraine, he is condemning millions of people around the world to starve to death. He and Xi (due to irresponsible and ever-worsening "dynamic zero-COVID" lockdowns despite an ostensible drop in daily COVID cases) are also responsible for the cost-of-living crisis, supply-chain bottlenecks, and spiraling inflation around the world, as well as the total collapse of Sri Lanka's economy previously made fragile due to investment in China's Belt-and-Road initiative and the associated debts incurred.

Russia and China's actions negatively impact ALL OF US in some way, shape, or form. Boycotting, divesting from, and sanctioning these countries would be in everyone's best interests.