The Chronicles Of Olc:
Silver City – Education About China
Part One And A Half

September 7, 2020

A series of news columns is being published in the Grant County Beat to help educate residents of Silver City and Grant County about the lack of freedoms in China.

The name of this news column includes the Irish word for evil – “olc.” The intent is to showcase evil in our own lifetimes. Evil that sometimes has the façade of diplomacy. Evil that sometimes has the façade of business.

As noted by Reporters Without Borders, China is attempting to create a new world media order. Not just in China, but in other countries as well.

It appears that China may be attempting to do the same in the United States of America.

A company based in the Silicon Valley – a company with operations in China – appears to be trying to control the distribution of news in the United States. The business model of this firm appears to be based on taking news content created by others and monetizing that news content without permission and without consent of the people who created the news content.

This entity has chosen to use news content created by this author and news content published by the Grant County Beat – without permission and without consent – to monetize and generate revenue for its owners and investors.

The Grant County Beat is but one news media entity that is being affected by the actions of this business.

This Silicon Valley-based entity has been told to remove from its digital news platform all of the news content produced by this author from various publications and news sites as well as all of the news content from the Grant County Beat. This entity was provided with four examples of news content that it had taken without permission and without consent for use on its digital news platform. Thus far, this firm has only removed the four examples of news content provided to them. The firm has, thus far, refused to remove all other news content from this author as well as all of the news content from the Grant County Beat.

Perhaps the leadership in China might find the spotlight on their evil to be something that they don’t want distributed throughout the world by a company that has leadership with strong connections to China.

Or, perhaps, this may be the way to showcase that China welcomes full democratic values through the freedom of the press.

There are other freedoms – beyond just the freedom of the press – that Americans cherish that are not always available to others around the world. Including the people of China.

Freedom of religion and freedom of assembly are two examples.

Many Americans realize that democracy does not exist in China – a country still under the firm control of its communist party. Many Americans, though, may not be aware of the specific details of what it means to be denied freedoms.

In the United States of America, many often speak words like “Never Again.” For older folks, it’s generally a reference to what was done to Jews in Europe by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s.

The problem is that simply speaking the words “Never Again” did not stop people in this country – and elsewhere – from engaging in evil. Recall what the Khmer Rouge did to the Cambodian people. Recall what the Hutus did to the Tutsis in Rwanda. Recall what happened in Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The world stood by – the USA stood by – while the rapes, tortures, and murders occurred.

The same has been happening for several years in Xinjiang in China.

The Uyghurs are people with Turkic heritage living for generations in Xinjiang, in the western part of what is now the People’s Republic of China. These individuals are predominantly Muslim and typically speak the Uyghur language.

On paper, China is a people’s paradise.

The reality is completely different.

These news columns will detail some of that reality.

Do you have questions about China and the olc of the Chinese leadership?

How Christians are persecuted? How Muslims are “re-educated”?

How journalists are imprisoned? How members of Falun Gong are tortured?

Your questions may be used in a future news column.

Contact Richard McDonough at chroniclesofolc@mail.com.

© 2020 Richard McDonough