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As someone who lived in China, I doubt it. Individual rights and limitations on government power are not taught in Chinese schools nor ingrained in Chinese cul

As someone who lived in China, I doubt it. Individual rights and limitations on government power are not taught in Chinese schools nor ingrained in Chinese culture. Politics is not natural part of the Chinese conversational diet in much the same way that bread is not a natural part of their nutritional diet. To the extent that such topics come up it is pragmatic to a fault. It is always in the context of fixing a specific problem in the here and now (Eg there is corruption therefore lets purge the corrupt) and never in the context of a broader political philosophy (Eg how should we structure the civil service to dis-incentivize corruption). Chinese ideas on what ought be legal are rooted in intuition for what we would call natural law rather than study of what we would call natural law. I can't imagine Chinese people being concerned about the general case of lax data protection. I can picture a near infinite string of ad hoc outcry over things like the strawberry adverts. Anyone from China disagreeing with my observations on your country, feel free to yell at me. I invite you.

anontoday126 9y ago
> Politics is not natural part of the Chinese conversational diet in much the same way that bread is not a natural part of their nutritional diet. What do you mean by natural? Because I hear Chinese people talk about politics all the time. It's an extremely popular topic and they love to get into the intricacies of it and compare how current leaders act compared to historical leaders. I definitely hear them talk about how society and philosophy influence current day politics. For example, how different would this political leader be if he followed the Mozi [1] school of thought. Of course, I understand Chinese so perhaps that's why? I know that many Chinese people dislike talking about politics with foreigners. Especially if they can't speak/understand Chinese. Also, not to be nit-picky, but mantou [2] and shaobing [3] are both a natural part of Northern Chinese diets. Of course I guess some people might not consider them true breads. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozi 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantou https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantou 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaobing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaobing
- IIAOPSW 9y ago
  What can I say. I guess we just knew different people.
- justicezyx 9y ago
  The OP conflates politics with criticizing government or CCP. Arguably some do believe politics is solely an activity of blaming government.
- jhedwards 9y ago
  This is tough because it's mostly anecdotal, but after living in China for two years (I can speak mandarin) talking about politics in the US was like suddenly being able to breathe again, it was a tangible culture shock. Sure, some people liked to talk about society and politics and economic development especially when it related to China's history, but I can only remember one or two times in two years that I experienced the kind of completely open political conversation that we have every day in the US. China is big, so this could be related to region as well, I was in Hunan.
chillee 9y ago
Similar to anon, I'd disagree with you that "politics is not a natural part of the Chinese conversational diet". Chinese people talk about politics all the time: America being world police, current reforms the government is trying to push through, etc. More about individual rights/data privacy though, I'm not convinced that it's something ingrained in the culture. As badly as the Tiananmen square protests went, that was still a significant portion of China advocating for a democratic government. I do agree that there is an uphill battle where many Chinese are simply apathetic about the government. For many of them, they've just been in the middle of 30 years of pretty unbelievable economic growth. Not exactly the type of environment conducive for anti-government ideals to take hold.
vfulco 9y ago
In SH 2+ years, agree 110%. Complete absence of domestic discussion. Well versed on foreign politics based pretty much on what is fed to them by their media hook, line, and sinker.
allenz 9y ago
> Politics is not natural part... I wouldn't say that Chinese political habits are natural in the way that diet is natural, when the people in power discourage political expression not controlled by the party.

anontoday126 9y ago

> Politics is not natural part of the Chinese conversational diet in much the same way that bread is not a natural part of their nutritional diet. What do you mean by natural? Because I hear Chinese people talk about politics all the time. It's an extremely popular topic and they love to get into the intricacies of it and compare how current leaders act compared to historical leaders. I definitely hear them talk about how society and philosophy influence current day politics. For example, how different would this political leader be if he followed the Mozi [1] school of thought. Of course, I understand Chinese so perhaps that's why? I know that many Chinese people dislike talking about politics with foreigners. Especially if they can't speak/understand Chinese. Also, not to be nit-picky, but mantou [2] and shaobing [3] are both a natural part of Northern Chinese diets. Of course I guess some people might not consider them true breads. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozi 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantou https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantou 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaobing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaobing

IIAOPSW 9y ago
What can I say. I guess we just knew different people.
justicezyx 9y ago
The OP conflates politics with criticizing government or CCP. Arguably some do believe politics is solely an activity of blaming government.
jhedwards 9y ago
This is tough because it's mostly anecdotal, but after living in China for two years (I can speak mandarin) talking about politics in the US was like suddenly being able to breathe again, it was a tangible culture shock. Sure, some people liked to talk about society and politics and economic development especially when it related to China's history, but I can only remember one or two times in two years that I experienced the kind of completely open political conversation that we have every day in the US. China is big, so this could be related to region as well, I was in Hunan.

chillee 9y ago

Similar to anon, I'd disagree with you that "politics is not a natural part of the Chinese conversational diet". Chinese people talk about politics all the time: America being world police, current reforms the government is trying to push through, etc. More about individual rights/data privacy though, I'm not convinced that it's something ingrained in the culture. As badly as the Tiananmen square protests went, that was still a significant portion of China advocating for a democratic government. I do agree that there is an uphill battle where many Chinese are simply apathetic about the government. For many of them, they've just been in the middle of 30 years of pretty unbelievable economic growth. Not exactly the type of environment conducive for anti-government ideals to take hold.

vfulco 9y ago

In SH 2+ years, agree 110%. Complete absence of domestic discussion. Well versed on foreign politics based pretty much on what is fed to them by their media hook, line, and sinker.

allenz 9y ago

> Politics is not natural part... I wouldn't say that Chinese political habits are natural in the way that diet is natural, when the people in power discourage political expression not controlled by the party.