Dude, I am not here to win an argument. You are coming up with a series of allegations upon which you form your opinion, but you don’t provide any report, article, or anything that fosters this opinion.

But then you criticize sources linked by other while claiming you are right.

If you are not able to provide even a glimpse of evidence of what you say, I end this discussion.

There is even a study investigating the Flix pricing.

• Fares of long-distance bus service are determined by a profit-maximizing strategy known as revenue management…
• At each point in time fares follow an increasing stepwise distribution in the number of sold seats (capacity effect).
• The increasing trend of the lowest available fare during the booking period is mainly driven by the capacity effect.
• The decreasing option value of seats is in place during the last week before departure (temporal effect).

We see such pricing methods everywhere, especially in transportation. But it has nothing to do with the type of payment but the time. You’d pay the higher price later even if you paid digital, there is no cash penalty.

I don’t know of such price hikes. But if you choose to pay online now or in cash at a later point (supposedly immediately before departure) you may pay more. But this usually hasn’t to do with the type of payment (digital or cash) but rather because you pay later at the time of departure or shortly before.

It’s basically the kind of revenue management you see in airline ticketing: the sooner you buy, the lower the price. But it is not a ‘penalty’ for using cash.

I really never heard about such stories.

Are there at least some links where you can compare prices?

Where do you pay 4 times more in cash as compared to digital payments? I have never seen this nor other stories in you text as others have already said.

Is there a source for these allegations?

Yes, according the the NGO Freedom House, a quarter of the world’s governments (48 states) are using tactics of transnational repression, but 10 are responsible for nearly 80 percent of all physical, direct incidents between 2014 and 2024.

The Chinese government remains the most prolific perpetrator, committing 272 incidents, or 22 percent, of recorded cases. The governments of Russia, Turkey, and Egypt are also leading offenders. Authorities in Tajikistan and Cambodia have received less attention despite being major perpetrators of transnational repression against targets in Europe and Asia.

Chinese Communist Party: Knows it’s far ahead.

Modi is hugging also Putin, another war criminal, not sure if this has anything to do specifically with Israel’s popularity in the country.

They certainly (hopefully) also have an in-house control, but I guess what is meant here is the need for an external independent body to better protect consumers (which would imply transparent supply chains).

Modi has been hugging also Putin when they met in the last two years. Seems he should rethink his friendships …

It’s not only about the elite’s children in the West. Not long ago, a leaked wedding video lays bare luxurious lives of Iran’s political elite and highlights hypocrisy of Islamic Republic:

A short video of a private wedding went viral in Iran recently, tearing away the country’s veil of piety and exposing hypocrisy and a seeming disregard for the rules by which the theocratic regime requires that most Iranians live their lives.

The wedding in question was that of Fatemeh Shamkhani, in mid-2024. She is the daughter of Ali Shamkhani, a close adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, at the luxurious Espinas Palace Hotel in Tehran.

She wore a low-cut strapless dress with a western-style bridal veil rather than the full head-covering mandated for Iranian women. Many wedding guests also wore modern western styles and a lot of the women went without head coverings […]

Israel Bans Chinese Vehicles from Military Bases, Citing Espionage Fears.

Just look at the linked website and you will see that literally all articles by this author echo the Chinese government’s propaganda narratives without providing verifiable and independent sources (OP’s post history has the same propaganda spin).

Xi Jinping has been advocating against social welfare on many occasions arguing that it would make people ‘lazy.’ It comes as no surprise that China’s social system is far behind compared to European countries, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and many others. Inequality has also been rising in China in the last 10 years and is much higher than in all Western countries.

There is also ample evidence that China’s future for a fairer social system is bleak under the current regime as social and health policies are heavily skewed toward the urban, formal, and state sectors. As one report says,

In a system devoid of free elections, and where agriculture and rural areas have only a weak bureaucratic voice, farmers and migrant workers have minimal political clout and remain politically inactive at the national level. Consequently, social and health policies are heavily skewed toward the urban, formal, and state sectors, which are the loudest, best connected, and most articulate groups in Chinese society.

This bias is perpetuated by a political regime that places a high premium on maintaining stability … Autocratic leaders deliberately uphold a social welfare regime biased toward government officials and urban employees in the state sector and providing only limited social welfare to other urban dwellers and rural workers in the informal sector […]

Looking forward, as economic growth slows and the burden of providing the necessary social services for the elderly mounts, the expansion of the Chinese welfare state is likely reaching its limits.

And this report highlights just one major weakness of China so-called welfare system. Framing China as a welfare state, even if just better than the US, is a very bad joke.

‘Welcome to CHINA’ greets Philippine officials on trip to disputed South China Sea

• Philippine officials visit Thitu amid Chinese presence
• Roaming message says “Welcome to CHINA”
• Filipino fishermen say China stops them fishing best waters
• China claims most of South China Sea despite 2016 Hague ruling

Asking whether China, Russia, or the US will be the biggest threat to Australia,

• 31% say China is the biggest threat
• 17% say it is the US
• 5% say Russia
• 31% say all three are equal

Using the Trumpean decline into a dictatorship to whitewash China’s genocidal policies - by calling Xi a “stable dictator” or even calling China a reliable partner as it is often done - is odd to say the least.

In that respect the title is highly misleading, but it aligns with OP’s spin of spreading pro-China authoritarian propaganda narratives as their post history shows.

Good question. I wrote in another thread already that African countries are delivering mostly commodities while importing high-end products, and Africa has been facing a growing trade deficit with China over recent years. Africa’s dependence on China is growing as this kind of trade policy is a big obstacle to develop African industries and manufacturing capabilities.

It is also noteworthy that China uses this leverage for political purposes. For example, all African countries support China’s aggression against Taiwan and what Beijing “reunification” (which is false, as Taiwan was never part of mainland China). The only exemption here is Eswatini, a small country in the South of the African continent that maintains an embassy in Taipei, and Taiwan maintains an embassy in Eswatini’s capital Mbabane.

This is not a ‘trend’ but a controlled influence campaign by the Chinese party-state.

“As a Chinese person who has been online throughout years and years of heavy Sinophobia, it felt refreshing to have the mainstream opinion finally shift regarding China,” Claire, a Chinese-Canadian TikTok user, tells BBC Chinese.

There has been no “heavy sinophobia” but reports that were and still are critical about the Chinese government. Nor does the mainstream opinion now shift as people are still if not even more aware of Beijing’s atrocities. This is just an influencer saying something like that for money, and I would like to know who pays her.

The article itself says later:

[Chinese state media and the government] have sought to portray the US as a decaying superpower because of inequality, a weak social safety net and a broken healthcare system. According to a commentary in state-owned Xinhua, the “kill line” meme “underscores how far the lived reality can drift from the ideals once broadcast to the world”.

And:

It’s little wonder that Chinese authorities are pleased with Chinamaxxing […] Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said […] he was “happy” to see foreigners experiencing the “everyday life of ordinary Chinese people”.

Sure, they are pleased. They control the entire campaign on social media.

As the article says at the end:

It’s hard to know what Chinese people make of so many things because all public conversation and activity is heavily policed. Criticising the government is risky and protests are quickly quashed.

Tere is a lot the memes making it to the West don’t show. China’s youth are facing an unemployment rate that sits at more than 15% and burning out from a gruelling work culture, yet sharing too much of their pessimism online could alert internet censors. They are worried about finding a home as the country’s property crisis continues, and dating is no easier than anywhere else.

Yes, and there is a lot more what is not displayed on Chinese social media given the state’s censorship.

The headline and the article are highly misleading imo. This is pure Chinese Communist Party propaganda.

This is not a ‘trend’ but a controlled influence campaign by the Chinese party-state.

“As a Chinese person who has been online throughout years and years of heavy Sinophobia, it felt refreshing to have the mainstream opinion finally shift regarding China,” Claire, a Chinese-Canadian TikTok user, tells BBC Chinese.

There has been no “heavy sinophobia” but reports that were and still are critical about the Chinese government. Nor does the mainstream opinion now shift as people are still if not even more aware of Beijing’s atrocities. This is just an influencer saying something like that for money, and I would like to know who pays her.

The article itself says later:

[Chinese state media and the government] have sought to portray the US as a decaying superpower because of inequality, a weak social safety net and a broken healthcare system. According to a commentary in state-owned Xinhua, the “kill line” meme “underscores how far the lived reality can drift from the ideals once broadcast to the world”.

And:

It’s little wonder that Chinese authorities are pleased with Chinamaxxing […] Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said […] he was “happy” to see foreigners experiencing the “everyday life of ordinary Chinese people”.

Sure, they are pleased. They control the entire campaign on social media.

As the article says at the end:

It’s hard to know what Chinese people make of so many things because all public conversation and activity is heavily policed. Criticising the government is risky and protests are quickly quashed.

Tere is a lot the memes making it to the West don’t show. China’s youth are facing an unemployment rate that sits at more than 15% and burning out from a gruelling work culture, yet sharing too much of their pessimism online could alert internet censors. They are worried about finding a home as the country’s property crisis continues, and dating is no easier than anywhere else.

Yes, and there is a lot more what is not displayed on Chinese social media given the state’s censorship.

The headline and the article are highly misleading imo. This is pure Chinese Communist Party propaganda.

Yeah, South Africa’s exports to China in 2025 stood at USD 13.6 billion, up 9.6% year-on-year.

South Africa’s imports from China in 2025 grew to USD 24.9 billion, up 14.6%.

South Africa’s trade deficit with China has been growing in recent years.

South Africa is also supporting Beijing’s one-China policy and says Taiwan is part of China. Economic and political coercion works it seems.

Yes, in a nutshell, this is what we have been observing over the recent years. Many Chinese carmakers have gone bankrupt or halted production over the years, and the remaining are struggling with fierce price wars in China’s domestic market.

For 2026 the outlook is not too positive. Cui Dongshu, the Secretary General of the Chinese Passenger Car Association (CPCA), predicted “zero growth or slightly positive growth” for 2026, according to Chinese state media. Based on CPCA data, we’ll likely see China’s auto market in 2026 on track for the worst year since 2020 when the economy was disrupted by the pandemic.

A China Automobile Dealers Association survey showed that 41% of surveyed dealers expected lower sales targets from automakers in 2026 and 18.1% of those surveyed forecast a drop of more than 10%, Reuters reported.

Analysts -in China and abroad- largely agree that the major factor in China is low consumer confidence due to a weak economy. They also say that China’s car manufacturers become increasingly dependent on export markets. We will see how the EU and other markets will respond as the Chinese party-state subsidizes the industry and thus its overproduction heavily.

@jacksilver@lemmy.world