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"I also talked to a few Chinese expatriates who had left the country for the U.S. and met with the delegation. They only wanted to publish their first names bec
by JunkDNA 17y ago
"I also talked to a few Chinese expatriates who had left the country for the U.S. and met with the delegation. They only wanted to publish their first names because they were worried about making critical comments of the government publicly."
This cuts to the heart of the problem right here. We often take it for granted in the US (and in other similarly structured socieities as well) that we can be critical of the government and not face retribution. Heck, there are people who make entire careers out of it. In open societies we have vigorous debates about how to structure rules and regulations (i.e. "net neutrality"). Markets require that sort of public debate so investors and companies can make informed decisions.
- cia_plant 17y agoIt is often taken for granted that you can seriously challenge the US government without any retribution, by people who have never seriously challenged the US government.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- JunkDNA 17y agoI'm sorry, but every day hundreds of newspapers and magazines devote pages and pages to honest critique of the government. Add to that all the commentary on television, radio, and the net. The vast majority of those individuals partake in the discussion without the slightest bit of fear that a bunch of thugs are going to put them in prison for years. I'm not saying abuses don't happen. But the government is not formally organized to go after them.
- RK 17y agoA few months after a Chinese friend of mine came to the US in 2004 I asked him about some things like Taiwan, voting in China, and the free movement of people within China. The answers he gave me sounded like straight up propaganda (e.g. Taiwan is just a problem caused by the US government). About a year later I asked him some of the same questions and his answers were completely different. I think he had come to realize that in the US he could say whatever he wanted without worrying. It was rather eye-opening.
- potatolicious 17y agoI'm Chinese, and I've a lot of Chinese friends, and from my experience I'd say your friend actually changed his mind, as opposed to simply realizing he could speak freely. There is an absolute dearth of real factual information on issues like Taiwan, democracy, and free movement within China , and practically everything comes from the government. The people generally distrust what the government tells them, but a lifetime of propaganda and misinformation takes it toll anyways - it's entirely likely your friend believed every word of what he said before. I know many other Chinese who stubbornly refuse to face the facts even after they leave China, and are presented with a smorgasbord of verifiable, authentic facts. I know some who still continue to dismiss all of this as American propaganda - some people can't be helped. I'm glad to see that your friend at least was able to figure things out for himself, instead of falling back to the bad Chinese habit of taking every criticism of the government as a grave insult to their race, and feeling the knee-jerk need to defend.