Un-Equal Treaties. . .

(Un-Equal Treaties. . .)

The cable network, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) aired, beginning at the end of February, "31 Days of Oscar," ending with the Academy Awards ceremony itself. One of the films aired was The Last Emperor, which won its own set of Oscars. The movie, as the title suggests, profiles Pu Yi. the last Emperor of the Q'ing Dynasty, He assumed the throne when he was only three years old and saw his Dynasty dissolve in 1911 when Dr. Sun Yat Sen came to power in a new Republic of China.

The last years of the Q'ing were a time when the House of the Dragon and the Son of Heaven were made prostrate by so-called "Un-equal" Treaties imposed by exploiting European powers. However, at the start of the 19th Century, the Chinese Empire was the strongest on the planet. The British Empire and its possessions in India, introduced opium to China and that led to a series of wars that sapped Chinese strength. In the Taiping Rebellion, a consequence of the First Opium War, some 20 million Chinese were killed. Q'ing Dynasty fortunes continued to wane and while there were brief attempts at recovery, like the Boxer Rebellion. by the time of Pu Yi, Imperial China was doomed.

In a reverse of the Opium Wars, instead of Britain forcing opium into China, resulting in the Opium Wars and the Un-Equal Treaties, so, the Peoples' Republic is flooding America with Tik Tok. That has been discussed previously. Tik Tok, which is linked to the Chinese Communist Party, and the pervasive use of the platform, amounts to an imposition of an un-equal treaty.

Now, there is a schizophrenic approach to Tik Tok from the government. The House just passed a Bill that would require Tik Tok to divest itself of the Chinese parent company. The chances of Passage in the Senate are more problematic, however. The White House applauded the House action but the President released a Tik Tok campaign video. And Democrats plan to use the platform to encourage young people to go vote.

Aside from national security concerns, many people are indeed using Tik Tok as if it were a narcotic. If the platform was placed on hiatus, all those users could experience some kind of withdrawal. China, be it in the time of the Last Emperor or now, is one with which to be reckoned.