I think the harshness that so often characterizes Western depictions of Chinese social-economic-governing structure is excessive, and does not help in understanding what the Chinese have individually and jointly accomplished these several decades. To have accomplished so much, the Chinese must have quite a real understanding of themselves and the world about them.
3
The reference link showing that the Chinese economy is now larger than the United state economy:
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr....
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2014/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr....
1
It is still up to the citizens of China to change. Lacks of transparency, rule of law and accountability distort the Chinese society. The more communist rulers to restrict transparency, the more they look ridiculous for the outsiders to hear. Chinese rulers will become more and more a laughing stock in the democratic societies in the world.
2
Let's be fair and no need to agree or disagree with Ms Gao. This article is a great piece in that it is full of personal touches. As one born and grown up in China I can't agree more with what Ms Gao said: every time of my return to the country, it feels like a different universe. Many things here, people just don't understand. The "ears-covering" analogy is a great one.
4
The unbelievable aspect is our local Chinese friends still believing they are living well with the censored internet. they do not care about the truth, they do not use facebook and twitter, they enjoy Chinese domain internet, sharing pictures on QQ and Wechat.
Very thoughtful essay! Would love an equally thoughtful essay on the restrictions of speech at Harvard and other US universities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/opinion/feigning-free-speech-on-campus...
The true test of a tolerance is the willingness allow speech that one vehemently disagrees with when one has the power to muzzle it. By that test, Harvard is no better than Chinese Communist Party!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/opinion/feigning-free-speech-on-campus...
The true test of a tolerance is the willingness allow speech that one vehemently disagrees with when one has the power to muzzle it. By that test, Harvard is no better than Chinese Communist Party!
Ms. Helen Gao addresses an important topic of China's modern life and politics. That is, can China's social cohesion be destabilized if widespread population control mechanisms -- particularly internet censorship -- are lifted or loosed up? Can CCP's rule be undermined by Western thinking ideas?
One thing for sure. Sooner or later, China's politics will be impacted by western thinking brought back to homeland by thousands of returnee students attending western universities. In particular those students attending top Ivy League universities in America like Ms. Gao in Harvard.
Depending on how you analyze such impact back home in China, it could be interpreted to be positive (socio-economic development) or eventually negative (politics). Only time can tell. Take the case of Iran in the early 70s.
The last shah of Iran and strong US ally, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was deposed from power by the same bright students he did send to America to get Masters and PhD university degrees. During my graduate school years at MSU in the 70s I met many of them and got to know their politics.
In a twist of history, American universities have trained the best brains that deposed the Shah and took American diplomat hostages in 79. An episode never forgotten by the powers that be in Washington DC.
One thing for sure. Sooner or later, China's politics will be impacted by western thinking brought back to homeland by thousands of returnee students attending western universities. In particular those students attending top Ivy League universities in America like Ms. Gao in Harvard.
Depending on how you analyze such impact back home in China, it could be interpreted to be positive (socio-economic development) or eventually negative (politics). Only time can tell. Take the case of Iran in the early 70s.
The last shah of Iran and strong US ally, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was deposed from power by the same bright students he did send to America to get Masters and PhD university degrees. During my graduate school years at MSU in the 70s I met many of them and got to know their politics.
In a twist of history, American universities have trained the best brains that deposed the Shah and took American diplomat hostages in 79. An episode never forgotten by the powers that be in Washington DC.
3
The internet seems to have been here forever, even to those of my older generation. It is astonishing to reflect that it has captured virtually all aspects of life in less than twenty years, as if there were a fold in time, and memories dim of life before IT. The Chinese, firmly in denial, appear to be trying to seal themselves off from the world's realities like the Japanese did some centuries earlier, and the same disastrous result could be expected. However, China will soon be rudely reminded in their quasi-information-isolation that IT is not a subversive tool of capitalism or democracy, but it is the essential core tool of the modern world. They will be quickly forced to deal with their internal problems in a less clumsy and self-defeating fashion.
2
The Chinese regime does as it does, because it can. China entered into deliberate War with the West many years ago, their strategy was one of economics, who would deny that they won?
We used to manufacture in the U.S., creating American jobs, creating a phenomenal economy. No more. China knew about our greed, they knew we would not pay one dollar more than required, they knew that labor was expensive in the West, and they set out to beat us economically.
We chose to deal with China. Short term gains were prioritized over long term advantage. Now we pay the price. Indeed it could be argued that the cause of democracy now pays the price.
Did we really expect China to become a democracy with free speech and free flow of information? Was that negotiated into the contract? Of course not. China does as China does, because it can, and we are not going to change it. Why? Because of greed. Our greed.
Let us not forget that we are doing business with Communists. Would we have been so quick to do business with slave owners? Hmmm... maybe if the price was right some would. Is there really a difference between a slave owning society and communism? Perhaps, but it is slight.
Maybe we should look to our own morals before criticizing the morals of others. At least we can change if we choose, we can't change others without their will.
We used to manufacture in the U.S., creating American jobs, creating a phenomenal economy. No more. China knew about our greed, they knew we would not pay one dollar more than required, they knew that labor was expensive in the West, and they set out to beat us economically.
We chose to deal with China. Short term gains were prioritized over long term advantage. Now we pay the price. Indeed it could be argued that the cause of democracy now pays the price.
Did we really expect China to become a democracy with free speech and free flow of information? Was that negotiated into the contract? Of course not. China does as China does, because it can, and we are not going to change it. Why? Because of greed. Our greed.
Let us not forget that we are doing business with Communists. Would we have been so quick to do business with slave owners? Hmmm... maybe if the price was right some would. Is there really a difference between a slave owning society and communism? Perhaps, but it is slight.
Maybe we should look to our own morals before criticizing the morals of others. At least we can change if we choose, we can't change others without their will.
7
We tend to overthink the problem of censorship. The leaders of China obviously are aware of four things: (1) the national economy has grown quickly, but not everyone has benefited from that growth, (2) the political system in China has not evolved into the truly representative government expected of a 21st century world power, (3) China is comprised of many ethnic groups which have not been assimilated into the greater society, and (4) the more the average citizen learns about freedoms enjoyed even in countries lagging far behind China in economic development and other areas, the more that citizen becomes dissatisfied with the current leadership.
The Chinese leadership, particularly the military, sees censorship as the only way to avoid having the discontent of the people grow into outright civil disobedience. The leadership probably realizes that fundamental political and economic changes will eventually need to be made, and censorship buys them some time.
Or, so they think.
The Chinese leadership, particularly the military, sees censorship as the only way to avoid having the discontent of the people grow into outright civil disobedience. The leadership probably realizes that fundamental political and economic changes will eventually need to be made, and censorship buys them some time.
Or, so they think.
6
China does allow free flow of information, and it is this free flow that has been crucial to China's meteoric rise from a third world country to the #1 economy in the world. US intellectual property, know-how, trade secrets flow freely from America to China. Then Americans buy their property back when they buy Chinese goods built with US technology. This story reminds me of Taiwan's Via Technologies that guided Taiwanese high school students into Stanford Electrical Engineering, then Intel where they worked for Intel by day and spent their nights transferring Intel secrets back to Taiwan. This all came out in a patent infringement lawsuit, Intel v. Via Technologies. Americans need to wake up to reality
4
China, highly insecure as it tries to prevent its own people from thinking for themselves, depriving them from even basic information about the world around them, almost a police state denying human rights we, in the West, take for granted. A shame and a travesty of justice. As long as censorship is in full 'regalia', China will remain just a shadow of what it could and ought to be.
1
I am flabbergasted by the inane comparisons some commenters make here between the nearly total censorship in China and the admittedly shameful treatment of leakers of secrets here (Manning and Assange and others). Here in the USA we have much to be ashamed of, yes... but we are free to say so, free to protest in front of the White House, free to organize marches and publish angry criticism of our politicians. Do those freedoms exist in China? Puleeeez! What a joke! China's Communist Party will lose the war against the World Wide Web, and it won't be pretty... PS the comment about Tibet is particularly infuriating. China is committing outright genocide there on a scale not seen since the same crime was committed here in the 19th century against our indigenous population. What really gets me is why we deal with China while shunning Cuba... can anyone explain that???
2
Yet another NYT’s piece that has nothing but bad things to say about China. Is this Op-Ed somehow more credible because it was written by a Chinese woman who studies at an elite US institution of higher education? Should readers overlook the ideological biases of the Times and Harvard when reading about the ideological flaws of Chinese society and its government?
If we in the West are committed to free speech then we should condemn restrictions on it in the UK, France, Germany, and Israel, (all American allies), and not just in China. Furthermore, discussions of Chinese internet censorship almost always refer to “non-Chinese social media” (as this piece does) being censored when in fact what is meant are “American” corporations such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
If we use the word “American,” it forces us to confront the hegemonic nature of US corporate technology. Could China’s censorship be as much an economic issue as a political one? There are Chinese equivalents to all of the above mentioned corporations. And what about concerns over NSA spying? However, such questions are never asked.
And with American warships conducting war exercises off the coast of China, the Chinese have good reason to be wary of the “Made in the USA” label.
Indeed, pollution is a problem in China, but the West looked the other way during its own industrialization.
Why is the West so insistent on holding the Chinese to standards that it has not and does not impose upon itself?
If we in the West are committed to free speech then we should condemn restrictions on it in the UK, France, Germany, and Israel, (all American allies), and not just in China. Furthermore, discussions of Chinese internet censorship almost always refer to “non-Chinese social media” (as this piece does) being censored when in fact what is meant are “American” corporations such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.
If we use the word “American,” it forces us to confront the hegemonic nature of US corporate technology. Could China’s censorship be as much an economic issue as a political one? There are Chinese equivalents to all of the above mentioned corporations. And what about concerns over NSA spying? However, such questions are never asked.
And with American warships conducting war exercises off the coast of China, the Chinese have good reason to be wary of the “Made in the USA” label.
Indeed, pollution is a problem in China, but the West looked the other way during its own industrialization.
Why is the West so insistent on holding the Chinese to standards that it has not and does not impose upon itself?
1
don't know the author, but concerned that she may have troubles going back China for this kind of scathing attack on Chinese government, if she doesn't have "connections" higher-up.
I am not sure a society suffocated by information full of political correctness is any better or worse than a society suffocated by restricted flow of information. Glancing all the comments on this article, other than David complaining that his opinions do not get into NYT and Mark Thomas raised a few probing thoughts, most discussions feel like a overwhelming wave of political correctness. Political correctness is always fostered by the invisible pool of huge money and power created by such money - call it propaganda, brainwash or mind control,....
Following the US freedom of information philosophy and the methodology of creating political correctness, the Chinese government ought to buy the Wall Street Journal, NYT, Washington Post, Foxnews, CNN ... and create a political correctness camp of her own. Would the U.S. government let that happen? Or is it China ever interested or capable in playing that game? Freedom is not priceless as Ms Gao thinks. It has a price, if you would like to put a not-politically-correct piece in NYT, the only possible route is buy an Ad, but that cost you money. The political freedom in this country is correlated to money. The action groups are money, the lobbyists are money, the free brochures are money. For a poor man, perhaps he is not worse off in a society that is restricting political information flow pushed by money.
Wordman, NY
Following the US freedom of information philosophy and the methodology of creating political correctness, the Chinese government ought to buy the Wall Street Journal, NYT, Washington Post, Foxnews, CNN ... and create a political correctness camp of her own. Would the U.S. government let that happen? Or is it China ever interested or capable in playing that game? Freedom is not priceless as Ms Gao thinks. It has a price, if you would like to put a not-politically-correct piece in NYT, the only possible route is buy an Ad, but that cost you money. The political freedom in this country is correlated to money. The action groups are money, the lobbyists are money, the free brochures are money. For a poor man, perhaps he is not worse off in a society that is restricting political information flow pushed by money.
Wordman, NY
It's heartening to know that not every Chinese student attending Harvard is the offspring of some CCP pol (e.g., Xi's daughter and Bo's son) or billionaire businessman. Because no matter how hard the naive try to spin it, there's no way those kids are going back to push for a more open, democratic China.
No, freedom's hope in China rests with people like Ms Gao. We should all wish her well.
No, freedom's hope in China rests with people like Ms Gao. We should all wish her well.
1
What is amazing is that the leadership does not seem to feel any shame about its wholesale imposition of the innumerable forms of lying implied by the imposition of one single wooden opinion (its own) on everything under the sun. The CPP and Poutine are 'soul brothers', responsible together for the hundreds of thousands of dead in Syria (and even more in Sudan) through their systematic Security Council vetoes. No shame there either. How far will they go in their murderous will to cling to power? I suspect these vetoes were meant to send a message to their own people: don't even consider rising up against the two most dangerous mafias in the world - or else...
1
Yes, the Chinese government is focusing more on VPNs, as an ex-pat living in Beijing, I see this first hand. However, there is a saying here "anything is possible in China, but nothing is easy." A capital magazine survey in 2014 noted that 70% of native Chinese get their news from social media (WeChat, Weibo, RenRen). Everyone here knows the state-run news is as biased as Fox News, but most don't care as long as things economically continue to do well.
Censorship will not undermine the party's credibility. Whether it is internet censorship or the "crackdown" on corruption (which is generally well received among locals), even though it is politically lopsided and those arrested face a near 100% conviction rate. The increase of censorship is another move to consolidate power plain and simple.
There is a rising middle class in China, most really don't care what is censored as long as China keeps gaining wealth. The Communist revolution was spurred by plight and a desire to rid the Japanese occupation, similar to the Boxer Uprising in 1900 stoked by drought, famine, poverty & xenophobia. There is no fear of a similar post-Soviet-style revolution, or something akin to the Arab Spring Revolution. Those uprisings were motivated by dissatisfaction with government, but mostly were in response to unemployment, extreme poverty & drought.
As long as China's economy continues to rise, the average Chinese is not going to be politically motivated to fix (change) what is not broken.
Censorship will not undermine the party's credibility. Whether it is internet censorship or the "crackdown" on corruption (which is generally well received among locals), even though it is politically lopsided and those arrested face a near 100% conviction rate. The increase of censorship is another move to consolidate power plain and simple.
There is a rising middle class in China, most really don't care what is censored as long as China keeps gaining wealth. The Communist revolution was spurred by plight and a desire to rid the Japanese occupation, similar to the Boxer Uprising in 1900 stoked by drought, famine, poverty & xenophobia. There is no fear of a similar post-Soviet-style revolution, or something akin to the Arab Spring Revolution. Those uprisings were motivated by dissatisfaction with government, but mostly were in response to unemployment, extreme poverty & drought.
As long as China's economy continues to rise, the average Chinese is not going to be politically motivated to fix (change) what is not broken.
I taught at a university in China in the early 2000's. During the first semester of my stint, the university relocated many students to its partially completed campus on the outskirts of the city. A poorly lit highway ran outside of the main campus gate, almost exclusively traveled upon at night by cars that drove without headlights to conserve battery usage. During the first 3 months of activity, 7 students died as a result of being hit by cars when returning to campus at night from restaurants in the surrounding area. The early push to move students to the stately new campus with undeveloped surrounding infrastructure led to these students' deaths. (The campus was truly uninhabitable; students lined up for an outdoor shower facility every morning because there was no running water in any dorms or lecture halls.)
I asked students affiliated with the university newspaper why they hadn't run a story on this and they looked at me like I was mad. It was well known that had they mentioned the incidents in the paper they would be expelled, ruining their chances of finding jobs and supporting their families (a separate story - the insane pressure on "one child" students to land good jobs and take care of their elderly parents).
Censorship permeates every aspect of society in China.
I asked students affiliated with the university newspaper why they hadn't run a story on this and they looked at me like I was mad. It was well known that had they mentioned the incidents in the paper they would be expelled, ruining their chances of finding jobs and supporting their families (a separate story - the insane pressure on "one child" students to land good jobs and take care of their elderly parents).
Censorship permeates every aspect of society in China.
6
If anybody can successfully pull off 1984-style censorship, it's the Chinese. We in the West should not be sitting still, smugly assuming that their attempts will fail. Rather, we should be seriously considering what the world will be like if their model succeeds. They are amassing a lot of money and power while we fiddle away the remains of our summer like the grasshopper who wouldn't heed the warning of the ants. Our political class has already given away your jobs to China. What's next?
4
Helen, the Chinese people will end up loving Big Brother.
What is the alternaitve?
What is the alternaitve?
The problem China and Xi is faced are myriad and massive. Besides a gigantic slowing economy, there's the wealth gap and a huge Mao cult among the poor that could bring back the Cultural Revolution if exploited by unscrupulous populist politicians; there's an army that has been somewhat out of control and acting hawkishly against the US and Japan on its own and could drag China into war if unchecked; there's SOE oligarchies and patronage networks within the communist party that could defeat the anti-corruption drive and defeat reforms and install themselves as the real power behind puppet leaderships, and there's separatist and terrorist threats. Although I'm thoroughly disgusted with the communist party's recent campaign to further restrict Internet and ideological freedoms and think it's short-sighted, we need to place it in the context of all the massive challenges China is facing. I don't doubt Helen Gao's sincerity, but the rarefied urban elite to which she belongs also needs to broaden their focus and place their problems and peeves in context. Same goes for New York Times. There is a theory that says that for peaceful democracy to occur, the middle classes will first have to reach a threshold percentage, and currently the percentage of middle classes in China is still too low. As a negative example they point to the failed Arab Spring. I think we should take all those things into consideration when we lament the lack of those freedoms the urban elite holds so dear.
2
There is nothing inevitable about freedom, as George Orwell made clear in 1984. So far, the Big Brother censors appear to be mostly successful in China. The vast majority of people remain blissfully ignorant. Guerilla cyber warfare may one way to combat the oppressive censorship.
There are more efficient ways to control popular thought. The CCP has much to learn from the United States.
1
So much for Obama's triumphant visit to China last month.
It's all true about the cracking down and tightening of controls and further banning of western applications. I now have to pay another $2 a month on top of $5 a month for an add-on to my VPN service for it to work in China. It's really awful and makes me hate living here more and more. Not just because of the obvious personal and financial effect it has on me, but because of the disappointment and frustration I feel witnessing this country forcefully take steps backwards.
However I couldn't help but notice while reading this article all the parallels to contemporary America:
"Internet tools that my peers across the world use to stay connected are replaced by their heavily monitored Chinese versions"
Hello, NSA?
"The pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong received only sketchy coverage on the mainland, where the protesters were called “radical elements” instigated by “foreign anti-China forces.”"
Occupy Wall-Street? Ferguson? All these protests were quickly demonized, distorted and demoralized by the CORPORATE media.
"Few Chinese I have met, for example, are willing to consider that the party’s oppressive policies in Xinjiang may be responsible for the recent bloodshed. Rather, the vast majority maintains that the attacks are simply the deeds of “savage Uighurs brainwashed by extremist thoughts,” as a taxi driver in Urumqi recently told me. "
Ask most Americans about our foreign policy, terrorism and Islam and you'll hear the EXACT same nonsense.
However I couldn't help but notice while reading this article all the parallels to contemporary America:
"Internet tools that my peers across the world use to stay connected are replaced by their heavily monitored Chinese versions"
Hello, NSA?
"The pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong received only sketchy coverage on the mainland, where the protesters were called “radical elements” instigated by “foreign anti-China forces.”"
Occupy Wall-Street? Ferguson? All these protests were quickly demonized, distorted and demoralized by the CORPORATE media.
"Few Chinese I have met, for example, are willing to consider that the party’s oppressive policies in Xinjiang may be responsible for the recent bloodshed. Rather, the vast majority maintains that the attacks are simply the deeds of “savage Uighurs brainwashed by extremist thoughts,” as a taxi driver in Urumqi recently told me. "
Ask most Americans about our foreign policy, terrorism and Islam and you'll hear the EXACT same nonsense.
3
Thank you for the thoughtful and thought-provoking piece. With the millions of travelers to and from China annually, the tens of thousands of Chinese students in the US, one may fairly ask how such efforts at control of information could effectively work. But they need not work on all. Ensuring that the state propaganda is not opposed (or that such opposition is isolated and difficult to access) may nonetheless "favorably sway" a sizable portion of the population, Ms Gao notwithstanding. This I assume is the rationale of the current Chinese leadership.
On one hand, I genuinely hope all the censorship is done with care so that the nuclear bomb with such symptoms as open discussion about the Communist party, release of banned books and de-communist campuses, does not go off unalarmed. But on the other hand I am filled with fear that sharpening on censorship is not anywhere close to getting the situation under control. Of course China needs a powerful government to navigate the course as we have long been warned that we are not the one and only celestial dynasty under the sun and enjoys all the privilege. But at what cost? At the cost that all the best works using our modern language being censored and politics before education? I do not think so and of course do not hope so.
1
China has embraced capitalism, but it still is a Marxist state. Marxism is a philosophy that looks forward to the day when everyone will think alike and the state will wither away. It follows that Marxism has to suppress freedom of speech and fight against free thought. Marxist capitalism sounds like a contradiction, but it exists in both Russia and China.
Socialism, which antedates Marx, can exist without Marxism. It can be found in Israel's kibbutzim.
Socialism, which antedates Marx, can exist without Marxism. It can be found in Israel's kibbutzim.
Thank you for this beautifully written article, Helen Gao!
There used to be a saying in Soviet Union -- Our freedom is what we do when no one can see us. ("Наша свобода -- это то, что мы делаем, когда никто не видит")
But there was virtually no internet in the 1980s, and only nascent forms of social media. China is a dynamic society, and even despite the current censorship crackdown, I believe China will eventually become a country where people are free to express themselves. I am looking forward to friending them on Facebook.
There used to be a saying in Soviet Union -- Our freedom is what we do when no one can see us. ("Наша свобода -- это то, что мы делаем, когда никто не видит")
But there was virtually no internet in the 1980s, and only nascent forms of social media. China is a dynamic society, and even despite the current censorship crackdown, I believe China will eventually become a country where people are free to express themselves. I am looking forward to friending them on Facebook.
1
Something for those unfamiliar with China.....and not a refutation of Ms. Gao's thoughtful piece. China is not Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, or all the mega-cities combined. Add up the urban populations of all the mega-cities combined and it's a few hundred million people. Take out those that aren't college educated and interested in this topic, and the numbers fall pretty quickly. This subject has almost no meaning and is of no interest to the vast majority of Chinese living in the PRC. A few hundred million Chinese care about this in earnest. Shoot, let's double that to 400 million for debates sake. That's 1/3 of the population (roughly), and probably overstated. 4000 years of not having any rights whatsoever prepares a population for not having any rights in the current time. Take a train across central China from Beijing to Wuhan, or anywhere similarly in the interior. There's almost a billion people that just want a job and a steady food supply.
Internet freedom? This hardly matters to the vast majority of Chinese. None of my family care about this. I don't know anyone that cares about this, except for myself, and until very recently, I got around it all with a VPN (mine's still working so I won't give the name of the software...:))
I'm sorry for my reality check; I don't mean to dispute the importance of this for millions of Chinese, but millions of Chinese is a small fraction of the population.
Internet freedom? This hardly matters to the vast majority of Chinese. None of my family care about this. I don't know anyone that cares about this, except for myself, and until very recently, I got around it all with a VPN (mine's still working so I won't give the name of the software...:))
I'm sorry for my reality check; I don't mean to dispute the importance of this for millions of Chinese, but millions of Chinese is a small fraction of the population.
1
The author does not mention the Government's very recent restrictions on virtual private networks, which basically bypassed government censors and allowed key economic sectors to collaborate and try to compete with Western innovation. This is where the rubber meets the road: if China is going to maintain high growth rates by creating a domestic market that delivers the products Chinese consumers want, the most motivated citizens must have the freedom to create and the freedom to fail. Is the recent VPN clampdown an indication that sees trouble ahead, with growth rates significantly below the current (alleged) 7.5 percent? High growth is the argument the CCP has used to justify a one-party system. What happens when export markets dry up and the government feels it cannot trust its own people enough to create a vibrant domestic market?
3
So their response is one of credulous belief instead of skepticism? Sounds like this strategy is working pretty well.
Could the increased need for censorship from the government be due to the increased unity of the chinese people against their government? is it possible that may be, more and more people are starting to realise that they are being treated like puppets by the people who are supposed to guide and protect them? If this common sentiment finds a way to be shared, that's when it may be to late for the chinese dictatorship.
2
The answers to all your questions are NO. Those are all your thoughts based on no fact (and against most the facts I know). I don't want to insult you, but how come NYT has the taste to pick this post as recommended?
So, why China increases its censorship? I don't know; I see no reason in doing that, and it might even do the opposite to the government's interest. Looks like just a stupid decision made by the stupid officials in charge of China's propaganda. (certainly I could be wrong)
So, why China increases its censorship? I don't know; I see no reason in doing that, and it might even do the opposite to the government's interest. Looks like just a stupid decision made by the stupid officials in charge of China's propaganda. (certainly I could be wrong)
Free flow of information is an economic necessity. Yet China's economy is booming, and doing many times better than the West's.
Free flow of information is necessary to technological development. Yet China is doing very well with that.
Free flow of information is necessary to defuze social and political tensions. Yet China is stable, and is doing this to ensure stability.
Free flow of information is important, yet in the specific instances like casualties in Tibet and denying certain events, the US is doing the same things as China.
For US behavior, consider civilian casualties of the drone strikes don't happen in our media. Civilian casualties of our occupations were not counted and could not be reported (of course we now know they were counted, but were secret). Events in places like Ukraine are presented in only a single aspect, the view promoted by Western governments. There is more, see the leakers in prison for releasing some of it, including many war crimes.
So if free flow of information is so important in such matters, why is the US restricting it, and why does it not harm the US? Why are those who disclose those things about the West in jail?
I've no doubt China is very restrictive. Every report says so. Yet some things just don't add up. We are not getting a balanced picture of China or of our own behavior.
This is an important matter, and a more accurate balanced picture would be of great value -- free flow of information right here in the West.
Free flow of information is necessary to technological development. Yet China is doing very well with that.
Free flow of information is necessary to defuze social and political tensions. Yet China is stable, and is doing this to ensure stability.
Free flow of information is important, yet in the specific instances like casualties in Tibet and denying certain events, the US is doing the same things as China.
For US behavior, consider civilian casualties of the drone strikes don't happen in our media. Civilian casualties of our occupations were not counted and could not be reported (of course we now know they were counted, but were secret). Events in places like Ukraine are presented in only a single aspect, the view promoted by Western governments. There is more, see the leakers in prison for releasing some of it, including many war crimes.
So if free flow of information is so important in such matters, why is the US restricting it, and why does it not harm the US? Why are those who disclose those things about the West in jail?
I've no doubt China is very restrictive. Every report says so. Yet some things just don't add up. We are not getting a balanced picture of China or of our own behavior.
This is an important matter, and a more accurate balanced picture would be of great value -- free flow of information right here in the West.
14
I find your comment inaccurate about the news the average person in the US can obtain [if he/her just makes a slight effort to look for it].
If you watch the news from many sources available in the US [NOT Fox News], the average US citizen would realize that our drones have killed innocent civilians.
While we don't know the exact number [if it can ever be accurately known] I
do not find our media covering up this aspect of US actions. The weekend news shows make a point of this regularly.
As for Ukraine, there are war crimes being committed by both sides. You make it sound like Russia is totally innocent of any of the provocations.
As to China's tightening information noose, I will relate the experience of my nephew's classmate [who attends Rutgers University]. His classmate spent one semester in mainland China [I am not sure which city]. The classmate made the mistake of using his laptop to lookup information concerning Tiananmen Square on the local internet. The very next day, the Chinese authorities came to his apartment and confiscated his laptop, No explanation or compensation. How's that for suppression of information.
If you watch the news from many sources available in the US [NOT Fox News], the average US citizen would realize that our drones have killed innocent civilians.
While we don't know the exact number [if it can ever be accurately known] I
do not find our media covering up this aspect of US actions. The weekend news shows make a point of this regularly.
As for Ukraine, there are war crimes being committed by both sides. You make it sound like Russia is totally innocent of any of the provocations.
As to China's tightening information noose, I will relate the experience of my nephew's classmate [who attends Rutgers University]. His classmate spent one semester in mainland China [I am not sure which city]. The classmate made the mistake of using his laptop to lookup information concerning Tiananmen Square on the local internet. The very next day, the Chinese authorities came to his apartment and confiscated his laptop, No explanation or compensation. How's that for suppression of information.
1
Since 1977, China has grown at a rate that is unprecedented. The lives of hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been transformed, have been markedly bettered. The remarkable Chinese growth has been as profound for GDP as for per capita GDP. The Chinese economy is now larger than that of the United States.
The transformation of China has allowed for students to study about the world, to study at Harvard among other schools. That there is concern among the Chinese leadership in protecting what China has accomplished seems completely reasonable since there have been and are antagonistic pressures on China.
I would think there is need to appreciate Chinese accomplishments, rather than a need to ridicule a self-protective stance in China.
The transformation of China has allowed for students to study about the world, to study at Harvard among other schools. That there is concern among the Chinese leadership in protecting what China has accomplished seems completely reasonable since there have been and are antagonistic pressures on China.
I would think there is need to appreciate Chinese accomplishments, rather than a need to ridicule a self-protective stance in China.
4
The analysis is incorrect as is the premise that a self destructive stance helps China.
This issue is as old as the Middle Kingdom's encounter with the West. Rhubarb was not the answer then and Marxists Leninist discipline is not the answer now. Capitalism has been China's answer and the cause of thus progress party bosses "protect".
Why anyone would parrot the CCP line is not apparent.
This issue is as old as the Middle Kingdom's encounter with the West. Rhubarb was not the answer then and Marxists Leninist discipline is not the answer now. Capitalism has been China's answer and the cause of thus progress party bosses "protect".
Why anyone would parrot the CCP line is not apparent.
7
You conveniently left out the most critical part of "China's economic miracle" - you know, where trillions of dollars of investment from US, Japanese, Taiwanese, South Korean, German, French, British and other countries companies helped employ millions of Chinese. The free flow of critical technical, business and economic knowledge helped China climb out of its economic backwater status. They were very willing and able students and they prospered because of it.
But now Xi Jing Ping et.al. want to stem that tide of knowledge, put a lid on all outside influence , and even force Foreign tech companies to give up the critical proprietary knowledge that they've invested millions of dollars,and months or years of critical research as a condition for setting up shop in China. Fortunately, the foreign companies are pushing back and are finally calling on Beijing to reconsider this outlandish request.
It appears that China is repeating its mistakes of many centuries past where through both hubris and insecurity ended up isolating themselves from the rest of the world .
We all know how that ended.
Without that , China would still be an economic backwater.
But now Xi Jing Ping et.al. want to stem that tide of knowledge, put a lid on all outside influence , and even force Foreign tech companies to give up the critical proprietary knowledge that they've invested millions of dollars,and months or years of critical research as a condition for setting up shop in China. Fortunately, the foreign companies are pushing back and are finally calling on Beijing to reconsider this outlandish request.
It appears that China is repeating its mistakes of many centuries past where through both hubris and insecurity ended up isolating themselves from the rest of the world .
We all know how that ended.
Without that , China would still be an economic backwater.
When the Chinese government blocked Chinese internet users from reading the US Embassy's air quality measurements, it wasn't protecting "what China has accomplished" from "antagonistic pressures." Rather, it was ensuring that China's ruling Communist Party wouldn't be held accountable to its citizens. They are, of course, two different things; that the Party, however, can't or won't distinguish them (such as when paying people to post on its behalf to foreign newspapers) serves only to reveal the Party's intellectual bankruptcy.
1
Freedom of thought and freedom of information is very hard to achieve in any society. Not too long ago we don't have similar rights and we were abusing our fellow citizens and have to fight a civil war. Hard to believe but half of the country was fighting to make the slavery legal!
It's difficult even here in US to ferret out the truth from all the propaganda. How is foxnews better than the chinese propaganda machine? The only good thing is that we have other alternatives. So freedom of speech == everyone has equal right to spread the propaganda. Better to listen to 100 lies than one truth.
I have spoken to my chinese friends on these issues, and surprisingly they don't feel bad about this chinese system. They are perfectly brainwashed by the system and they support the current propaganda machine in place. I am afraid to say that foxnews has similar effect on our fellow citizen here.
It's difficult even here in US to ferret out the truth from all the propaganda. How is foxnews better than the chinese propaganda machine? The only good thing is that we have other alternatives. So freedom of speech == everyone has equal right to spread the propaganda. Better to listen to 100 lies than one truth.
I have spoken to my chinese friends on these issues, and surprisingly they don't feel bad about this chinese system. They are perfectly brainwashed by the system and they support the current propaganda machine in place. I am afraid to say that foxnews has similar effect on our fellow citizen here.
12
The reality is that your Chinese friends in USA are likely to be the beneficiary of this CCP system. It is no surprise that some Chinese citizens in America are the most ardent apologists of the Beijing government.
I feel sorry that you think your Chinese friends are all brainwashed. That is the most common Western misunderstanding of Chinese people. Now, can you ask yourself, when they described their thoughts to you, did you even pay attention to and consider their reasoning at all? Or, did you just rejected their thought subconsciously, once you heard they drew a different conclusion to yours?
I feel sadness for the Chinese, but I thought they chose economic freedom over REAL FREEDOM - as in the US Constitution?
Granted "freedom" can be subjective but I could not imagine living in a world such as the article describes.
Unless the Chinese citizens fight in their chosen way(s) or the Chinese government has an Epiphany, they will never know the Freedom we have in the USA & what it means to fight & die for that freedom.
Odd, the very devises that I use to access the internet are built in China - economic freedom vs. REAL FREEDAOM? My purchases support their economy & their censorship strengthens my love of the USA & what our FREEDOM really means.
Granted "freedom" can be subjective but I could not imagine living in a world such as the article describes.
Unless the Chinese citizens fight in their chosen way(s) or the Chinese government has an Epiphany, they will never know the Freedom we have in the USA & what it means to fight & die for that freedom.
Odd, the very devises that I use to access the internet are built in China - economic freedom vs. REAL FREEDAOM? My purchases support their economy & their censorship strengthens my love of the USA & what our FREEDOM really means.
2
The Chinese government understands the tenets of propaganda laid out by Joseph Goebbles, the Nazi spin master well. Repitition of lies out-shout the truth. Jingoistic apeals smother less bombastic yet thoughtful analysis. Keep a Pantheon of enemies front and center in order to pin bad outcomes on. Play up a fairy tail hagiography of the past that indicates greatness is destiny and is just around the corner. Imply god(s) is(are) in your corner. Remember past slights in technicolor. Bury past mistakes.
A robust internet would work agains all of the above. And political cartoonists would be fully employed, Letters to the Editor would be worth reading.
A robust internet would work agains all of the above. And political cartoonists would be fully employed, Letters to the Editor would be worth reading.
17
The EU is currently trying to apply their "right to be forgotten" on US companies. Maybe they should get together with China and form a common censorship regime for the world?
2
The EU's Right to be Forgotten legislation is not about censorship, but rather about reducing the impact of inaccurate or misleading or also damning information about private citizens. Sen. Ed Markey has promoted legislation to protect children in this regard. To find out exactly what the right to be forgotten entails, look at Meg Ambrose's excellent (if not short) article here:
https://journals.law.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/stanford-technolog...
https://journals.law.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/stanford-technolog...
Helen Gao, is anyone in China trying to help their counntrymen by getting rid of smog over your cities? That should be your immediate goal.
1
China has to make sure that the "blade" will not be double-edged!
Truth shouldn't pose much of a danger. because it could be blurred in a fog of untruth. What Chinese authorities fear are messages and actions that could rouse pubic feelings or spark outrage, leading to solidarity and protests.
Truth shouldn't pose much of a danger. because it could be blurred in a fog of untruth. What Chinese authorities fear are messages and actions that could rouse pubic feelings or spark outrage, leading to solidarity and protests.
9
Control of mass media is an important tool for dictatorships. The Chinese apparently have learned it better than anyone else.
21
The author does a good job casting doubts on several points of discussion which the Chinese government is suppressing. Indeed when I was still living in China, I was also highly critical of the mainland media. However, after many years in the U.S., it is the western media's constant propaganda and abusive portrayal that backfired.
From a first hand experience, I did experience the Chinese internet censorship to a certain extent. For years I used a blog on Baidu and was even a moderator of a few Baidu forums (Baidu tieba). My posts occasionally do get deleted, and it is frustrating. However, it is worth noting that most of the deleted posts, although political, are very supportive of the Chinese government. The censorship there simply discourages discussion of politics, rather than taking sides.
I started trusting Chinese media a more after I noticed a few things that were obviously wrong on the western media. The first is how the west portrait the Tibetan issue. They NEVER mention the fact that Tibet was a feudal slavery before communist takeover. The other is their constant bashing of Tiananmen Square incident, which a massacre at the square never occurred and many military assets were destroyed and soldiers killed. Yet, for these kinds of things, there are reliable sources telling that the mainland media was telling the truth all along. Besides the above points, the western media also always put on a opinionated spin, which makes the reading more fun but facts more vague.
From a first hand experience, I did experience the Chinese internet censorship to a certain extent. For years I used a blog on Baidu and was even a moderator of a few Baidu forums (Baidu tieba). My posts occasionally do get deleted, and it is frustrating. However, it is worth noting that most of the deleted posts, although political, are very supportive of the Chinese government. The censorship there simply discourages discussion of politics, rather than taking sides.
I started trusting Chinese media a more after I noticed a few things that were obviously wrong on the western media. The first is how the west portrait the Tibetan issue. They NEVER mention the fact that Tibet was a feudal slavery before communist takeover. The other is their constant bashing of Tiananmen Square incident, which a massacre at the square never occurred and many military assets were destroyed and soldiers killed. Yet, for these kinds of things, there are reliable sources telling that the mainland media was telling the truth all along. Besides the above points, the western media also always put on a opinionated spin, which makes the reading more fun but facts more vague.
9
Your comment only confirms the author's statements about the power of constant censorship and disinformation. You may have left China, unlike the taxi driver in Urumqi, but you're equally blindered.
24
Xiaoshan Cai, You say that the Tiananmen Square massacre never occurred. Watch the YouTube video - "BBC News - June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square Massacre".
Do you really think that the BBC News Network faked the documentary footage of soldiers shooting down people on the street, within feet of the news reporter, and of the crowds of wounded people overwhelming the hospital emergency rooms?
Do you really think that the BBC News Network faked the documentary footage of soldiers shooting down people on the street, within feet of the news reporter, and of the crowds of wounded people overwhelming the hospital emergency rooms?
26
"massacre at the square never occurred" - hahaha. There are many books available - you can buy them in Hong Kong - about the massacre at Tiananmen Square. Communist history - we know all about communist history, about re-writing history to create a politically correct storyline. The Soviets created the art-form, but the Chinese Communists are pretty good at it, too. But why you would think anyone in the US would believe your propaganda is beyond me.
18
Thank you Ms. Gao.
18
Many of these sharp critiques seem to apply to NYT as well. Several of my posted message did not appear following several NYT articles. Similar posting to a Chinese newspaper, in contrast, went through. I guess those postings were not consistent with NYT story line?
15
Thank you for this courageous and insightful article, Ms. Gao. Please know many of us love the Chinese people, and pray daily for a peaceful, self-determined transition to freedom for the world's largest population.
22
Thanks for your sincerity. But I would say, for me (a Chinese), and for most Chinese friends around me, what we need are not prays (many of us actually feel negative towards those "support Chinese democracy" slogans from the West). What we wish the West to have, is a real, reasoned, fact-based, non-slogan-like understanding of the actual situation of China and Chinese people. China indeed has all sorts of problems; but from what I see on the Western media, the description of those problems are full of stereotypes and simplicity, trying to meet up with Western people's 1984-like imagination about China, rather than to uncover the reality of China. In a word, thank you for your sincerity, but what we really wish the West can do, is to have an objective, non-stereotype, non-1984-like-imaginative understanding of China's real bad problems.
Change is coming to China, the C. C. P. notwithstanding. No one-party state survives the ten years after hosting an Olympics as the residents of Berlin, Moscow and Sarajevo will attest.
Let’s just hope the powers-that-be in Beijing manage a smooth regime change – for once in their history!
Let’s just hope the powers-that-be in Beijing manage a smooth regime change – for once in their history!
10
Good luck.
5
- President Xi and other CCP members send their children to America for their college education.
Sidenote - many Chinese come here to live and work, yet they don't have the English language skills to read/watch/listen to Western media outlets. Instead, they go to CCP controlled outlets they have used their entire life.
One last thing, the CCP's propaganda office has English versions of all their websites. The English versions embrace Facebook and Twitter.