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What do you think about the wave of anti-government protests in countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and Iran? Should countries like China and North Korea feel uneasy about it?

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My guess is "no", because I'm sure both countries have blocked any reference to the successful overthrows in Tunisia and Egypt. "Keep your citizens ignorant and you can rest easy" is their motto.

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No. China has better censorship than them, so I guess most of their citizen don't even know what happened.

As for North Korea, people are so brainwashed they don't have to worry about the population. Kim III might suffer from an "accident" at the hands of the army, when Kim II dies tho.

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Agree that China and North Korea have dummed down their populations to such an extent that it will be a miracle if a meaningful portion of their populations have even heard of the recent revolutions. But moreover, China already proved way back in 1989 that, even with the world's television cameras focused on it, the government has absolutely no qualms about killing hundreds if not thousands of protesters to stomp out any potential revolution. And of course North Korea is well aware the world knows about its "labor camps" to keep its citizens in control and yet that government keeps on keepin' on. So no, China and NK likely feel no unease whatsoever.

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No brainer. China and North Korea are dictatorships that don't think twice about killing it's own people to stay in power.

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NKorea and China are systematic about crushing opposition voice and following through with brilliant propoganda. In addition, Chinese censorship and technology expertise dwarfs the common Middle Eastern strong-man know-how.

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Libya is by far one of the most underprivileged and ravaged countries in the Arab world. Gadafi has no Islamic radical views either, he hates religious freedom. A man who has been in power for nearly 42 years should not be applauded for anything. He is a lunatic and criminal to the highest degree and exceeds the brutality of Hosni Mubarak and Bin Ali immensely. The Libyan people are demanding freedom and democracy. Time for change in Libya.

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China is not North Korea. China's got a lot of problems, but as long as the majority of its people continue to improve their lot - despite corruption and cronyism - few people will see the need to revolt. Though it will be interesting to see what happens when the property bubble. North Koreans, however, have many reasons to rise up against theirs leaders.

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... when the property bubble *bursts.

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I hope these get picked up globally. i don't know, but i am tired of being screwed by the government!

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These protests make me uneasy because you never know who will step in to fill the power vacuum ... and whoever does, it usually ends up making very little difference to the everyday lives of ordinary people.

I saw on NHK the other night a story about the situation in Egypt. One guy, who was jubilant after Mubarak quit, said that he got caught up in the momentum because the price of wheat had gone up and he was having trouble making ends meet. Well, the price of wheat will stay stay high because weird weather patterns in wheat-producing countries have made prices high, not Mubarak, so whoever takes over in Egypt won't make much difference to that man's life, once the furor dies down.

Another guy demanded a job and a house, as if it was the government's responsibility to provide either.

I prefer the democratic process rather than revolutions, though I admit that rulers in many of the Middle Eastern and North African countries are disinclined toward holding elections.

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China : overthrow I doubt. Secession or home rule for Tibet and Jiangyin (Muslims): possible. N. Korea : implosion from economic collapse creating caretaker government of China or S. Korea.

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If something really big happens in China if you know what I mean, Taiwan would try his luck to intervene but I think China is doing really well so far and making sure his people do not get too much oppression but not much freedom either, moderation I guess.

I hope China would find a way implementing democracy peacefully into its nation and finally reunite with Taiwan before something bad happens.

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China sent six planes to evacuate Chinese tourists during the height of the demonstrations. So it's doubtful whether the populace is totally ignorant about what's happening there. A friend who reads Chinese reported that various Chinese websites and online papers reported the chaos in detail on the front pages with pictures.

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China sent six planes to evacuate Chinese tourists during the height of the demonstrations. So it's doubtful whether the populace is totally ignorant about what's happening there. A friend who reads Chinese reported that various Chinese websites and online papers reported the chaos in detail on the front pages with pictures.

From what I heard they only censor on micro blogging sites cause news sites are "careful" what they say but blogging ones would mention something that the government does not want to hear.

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Every politician in every country should feel uneasy about those events. It is a good lesson for all of them.

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Why would China and NK be worried? If people take to the streets they'll send in the goon squad to kill or imprison. They have no qualms about using force against their people.

Egypt's government fell because the army stayed neutral. China and NK wouldn't have that happen.

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North Korea? No. People there will never hear about those revolutions, if they even know those countries exist. The government has complete control of all media and all lines of communication. They'll be the last to fall to a people's revolt.

China should be a little worried. I expect there will be a few uprisings in western China as a result - especially if another government falls. Then of course there's the foreign subversion factor: quite a few countries would benefit from China's economy being knocked back a peg or six. Going to be an interesting year...

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North Korean people would never revolt. They just won the world cup. Didn't you hear?!?!

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China should not be worried. The People's Army has demonstrated clearly in the past that it is willing to massacre civilians in order to protect the communist party. The leaders of the military know that if the CCP is brought down, they will have just as many crimes to answer for as the leaders of the party, so everyone is locked into protecting the regime.

Tunisia and Egypt changed because the military was able to act honestly and independently to protect the best interests of the state. This isn't possible in China.

North Korea should always be worried - not afraid of a revolution from the people but the military itself. As I recall, an explosion nearly big enough to destroy an entire small town blew up a decoy train taking Kim into China a few years ago. So that's a different thing.

I would say that China is quite safe from being held to account by its people or its military.

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I suggest we should look to thine own self. It appears to me that our own government is in danger of boiling over and will soon have to admit "We ARE BROKE" and Our We The People form of government is watching the bureaucracy help themselves to our larder while we stand back and make noises that are growing to a roar. Our governments stinks!

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it's already spread to Wisconsin though!

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Every government should be concerned about how these events will affect their citizens. It obvious that "the people" of these countries want a more democratic government and are willing to challenge the status quo to achieve one.

Will "the people" survive these attempts is another question.

The Chinese and North Korea governments have nothing to worry about. They will slaughter anyone who opposes their rule.

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People of the ME should also be aware that the USA has been supporting their oppressive regimes for many years.

As the saying goes, they're tyrants, but they're OUR tyrants.

God bless America.

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Here in America, Gasoline has gone to $4.00 per gallon so a shopping tour for foodstuffs calls for rationing, especially when you live in the suburbs and the same goes for Doctor visits. We are in a depression!

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Taking the current economic situation out on the local or national governments makes as much sense as taking out crime wave trends on the police. In other words, it doesn't make sense.

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TheMarion - Here in America, Gasoline has gone to $4.00 per gallon so a shopping tour for foodstuffs calls for rationing, especially when you live in the suburbs and the same goes for Doctor visits. We are in a depression!

Which America are you in? Gas prices in the U.S.A. currently average just over $3 per gallon and financially speaking, the "recession" is over. The recovery is slow and taking a lot longer than people most people would like.

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I believe these unrests in the Middle East make all dictators in the world to go sleepless. Remember, the social media including facebook, twitter and other high tech. devices are changing the world that includes China and NK.

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I am with you,TheMarion,that we (Americans) should look to thine own self.

What will happen if our own government run out of money and shuts down the government? People on Social Security get NO check,(I MEAN NO CHECK), Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement to doctors and hospitals will not get paid and the patients not treated. This is very serious to Americans. I hope it will not happend the way the Republicans have been telling us. Ahh, God bless America!!

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globalwatcher - I am with you,TheMarion,that we (Americans) should look to thine own self.

What will happen if our own government run out of money and shuts down the government? People on Social Security get NO check,(I MEAN NO CHECK), Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement to doctors and hospitals will not get paid and the patients not treated.

And how would the government run out of money? By taxing businesses into oblivion? By taxing taxpayers into the poor house? If the government "creates" an environment where business can flourish, business would be able to hire more people who would then buy homes, clothes and food which would create even more jobs. The government's take would increase because there would be more people paying taxes.

Increasing the governments percentage of everyone's money to create an even larger government (ie hopey changey taxes) will lead to a situation where there are more people taking money from the government than are paying into the government. That's the way for a government to run out of money.

The U.S. has to pay attention to the unrest in these and other countries. First, they are trading partners. Second, there is a national security issue on both sides.

China and North Korea have enough bullets to stop any civil unrest in their countries.

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This is just the beginning. The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are mounting their steeds. War, pestilence, famine and death will soon gallop over most countries, including Japan. They have all recently opened pages on Facebook and are soliciting "friends." It will be bad for China, but the North Koreans won't even notice any difference.

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The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are mounting their steeds. War, pestilence, famine and death will soon gallop over most countries, including Japan.......

Where did you get this idea from, WordStar?

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Probably the headlines for these events in state-run media of both countries are something like this: people power revolt to overthrow monarchy swines and capitalism pigs. Long live socialism!:-). Anyway ,NK people are so strictly controlled, no chance. Chinese people, as long as there is enough jobs ,food ,water..., they won't risk their lives to fight a hopeless battle against communist government at all.

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'The leaders of the military know that if the CCP is brought down, they will have just as many crimes to answer for as the leaders of the party, so everyone is locked into protecting the regime.'

And the people also know that if the CCP is brought down, anarchy will reign, which means that China will descend into utter chaos. So yes, everyone is locked into protecting the regime, the growth rates, the military's expansion, etc, and this includes most of the people.

China is the 2nd largest economy in the world. Common folk in China see more opportunities in this reality than trying to hold the CCP for crimes, though many, that have occurred many decades ago.

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