China and free speech

[mindseye]

Originally posted by DaShi
A friend of mine's SO just got admitted into the Communist party here. Here first duty was to take notes on what some students said to the Beijing official who came to inspect the school.

I get the feeling that kind of thing is not common here in "Hu-town" (Shanghai). Please write more about life where you are. Your experiences are different from mine, you have first-hand experience living in a much smaller city.

Gotta go, g'nite!

[DaShi]

Actually, I like reading mindeyes' positive comments. Many of them ring true for me, and the others I can't comment on as I've not experienced them.

Also, I work for a rather strict college that wants to acheive university status. Last week, was "Impress Beijing Week," which meant that everyone does things they don't normally do. Students have to get up earlier, teachers have to wear their badges, and the administrator's assistants have to stay on campus all week. It was kind of cute. They placed these posters around campus a week before telling the students how they should behave during the inspection week. They said things like, "Arrive at class early," "No cheating," "No sleeping in class," and "No public displays of affection." The amusing part is that these posters seem to imply that it is ok to do these things again after the inspection.

My students would say that they have free speech when they are trying to impress China's greatness on me. Otherwise, they comment on how disappointed they are with their school and there is nothing they can do about it. For my writing class, I have given them an unintentional outlet. Their main essay for this semester is about their school. I asked them to simply choose a topic about their school and write their essay on it. The majority of papers contain lists of grievances and despondence over the inability to do anything to change it. The main source of their complaints seems to arise from the school's spending habits, or lack of. They have few options and those that they have are not good. After reading a few papers about their inadequate Chinese teachers, I found myself working a little harder to give them a better education, as if I could make up for it. They certainly grabbed my sympathy.

[DaShi]

Oh, and I did post a positive thread about China. But no one cared.

[DAVOUT]

Originally posted by DaShi
Oh, and I did post a positive thread about China. But no one cared.

Sure we care, and we really appreciate both of your descriptions of the life in to-day China.

[Ned]

Mindseye and DaShi, Thanks for your posts. Many thanks. I am sure the whole of Apolyton has read them with fascination.

Free speech may be the most critical of human rights. Once a people have it an exercise it, all other rights will follow.

It appears that the Chinese people have free speech in languages other than Chinese. But this may be sufficient for the time being as the people who learn about events from outside China apparently can communicate to others inside China through e-mail and the phone.

Just one more question. Does the open issue of Taiwan prevent the Communist party from allowing other political parties in China? I suspect they fear that if they allowed such political parties to be formed, Tawianese parties would be quickly established, would flourish and soon Taiwan would be running things in China.

[DanS]

I have to say that even with Mindseye's rather even-handed emphasis of the positive (and which I enjoy reading), I'm still pretty disappointed on the whole with the state of China's freedom of speech and association.

Why does China continue to supress Falun Dafa, for instance? This is just one indication that it's tough for the communists to change their stripes and they continue to waste time on stupid sh!t. As a Roman Catholic, I couldn't go to a Roman Catholic church in China (the real ones, not the fake ones), no matter that I'm a foreigner. What a state of idiocy (that's why I enjoy reading DaShi's posts too). Even the communists gain nothing by suppression.

I remember the saying that you know you're in a police state when there are no cops on the street. Don't know if I agree, but appearances are sometimes deceptive. Sometimes I think that the Chinese only show the building fronts with respect to human rights, like on a Hollywood movie lot. Even if rights were at western standards in the cities -- which they aren't -- then that would leave out the countryside, where most Chinese live.

[Drake Tungsten]

Oh, and I did post a positive thread about China. But no one cared.

I did.

What was it about again?