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Do real educated people who are not politicians even care about geopolitical issues like that? Everybody knows PRC government theoretically (they don't go there

Do real educated people who are not politicians even care about geopolitical issues like that? Everybody knows PRC government theoretically (they don't go there to actually enforce their laws anyway) considers Taiwan a part of PRC. Every educated person in PRC knows they can't just buy a ticket and travel to Taiwan easily. Everybody knows Taiwan is de-facto independent. So why does it even matter to anybody how is it labelled on a map? I also doubt many would know and care about Tiananmen Square if the PRC government wouldn't be making such an epic performance out of the attempts to hide it. It sounds like every single person in China has to know about it to know they should never talk about it. It almost feels like they are intentionally drawing so much attention to it just to hide something else they actually don't speak about and nobody notices.

stringgames 8y ago
> It sounds like every single person in China has to know about it to know they should never talk about it. When I was in college I spoke to a Chinese exchange student about Tiananmen square. They had a vague idea that something bad happened there, but they didn't know any details. They had never seen the picture of the person in front of a tank before. They had a belief that lots of bad things happened in China's past, but it's worth it because they are no longer poor. There's a difference between knowing a subject is taboo, and having a real understanding of the subject.
- qwerty456127 8y ago
  > There's a difference between knowing a subject is taboo, and having a real understanding of the subject. Doesn't tabooing something make it particularly interesting to learn about it? If I know about some mysterious bad thing having happened at a square nobody is allowed to mention I would hardly be able to resist curiosity, I would get interested about this topic above all other and find ways to learn as much as I can.
  - mattnewton 8y ago
    What if you knew that seeking that information would notify the government and could harm you, your family, and possibly even friends? Would you still act on that curiosity?
    - qwerty456127 8y ago
      Yes. Cautiously.
      - traderjane 8y ago
        Why? Are you a journalist? What will you do with knowledge of taboo events? It seems you would risk much for very little just to know?
        qwerty456127 8y ago
        Not a journalist nor activist. I wouldn't even tell anybody but those who have earnt my genuine trust and want to know badly. Pure curiosity. What the heck in life can be more attractive than knowing a secret truth?
        traderjane 8y ago
        Most people would say millions upon millions of things are more interesting than knowing taboo secrets when people are interested in hurting you for it, and especially when the motivation is nothing more than "to know".
        qwerty456127 8y ago
        Perhaps, but I can't imagine any. By the way, did you know simply adding "banned" to a video title in YouTube immediately attracts more views? Banned commercials (I can't imagine myself voluntarily watching an advertisement if it was not banned), banned TED talks, books and movies banned in some countries (I've first learnt about some books and movies I've read/watched right from these lists). I probably wouldn't even ever try drugs if these were not prohibited (I'm not an addict but I'm really glad I had some psychedelic experiences and the ban was what made me curious initially). Of course this doesn't mean I would do something really bad like robbing people just because this is outlawed, it's more about knowledge and experiences. I don't know why does this work but knowing you are not meant to know something but actually can learn about it creates urge hard to resist and I only care to actually resist it when it's about other people's personal privacy or business ethics (so I never read other's emails although, being a system administrator, I can).
thaumasiotes 8y ago
> Every educated person in PRC knows they can't just buy a ticket and travel to Taiwan easily. I'm pretty sure they can just buy a ticket and travel to Taiwan easily, and that they're aware of that.
- qwerty456127 8y ago
  And no kind of political police is going to become interested?
  - A2017U1 8y ago
    Do you honestly believe that an American traveling to Iran, Turkey, Cuba or Venezuela doesn't face magnitudes more scrutiny from their "political police"? Thousands travel daily between Taiwan and the mainland.
  - tonypace 8y ago
    It's too common for it to be a meaningful data point. Taiwan was the biggest destination for Chinese tours around 2015. I have heard that having a degree from a Taiwanese university is somewhat suspicious.
    - qwerty456127 8y ago
      Interesting to know. Thanks. If so, what other than lack of interest stops PRC citizens from learning about the Tiananmen square "mystery" when they travel to Taiwan?
      - thaumasiotes 8y ago
        Nothing. Why would you need more than lack of interest?
        qwerty456127 8y ago
        If there is no interest anyway, why make such a show out of hiding it?
tiredyam 8y ago
The problem is the students are being educated and may not be aware of PRCs views on Taiwan or on the two countries histories. Also, learning a language is more than memorizing phrases it’s important for the students to be exposed US/UKs (target demographic) context, which this does.

stringgames 8y ago

> It sounds like every single person in China has to know about it to know they should never talk about it. When I was in college I spoke to a Chinese exchange student about Tiananmen square. They had a vague idea that something bad happened there, but they didn't know any details. They had never seen the picture of the person in front of a tank before. They had a belief that lots of bad things happened in China's past, but it's worth it because they are no longer poor. There's a difference between knowing a subject is taboo, and having a real understanding of the subject.

qwerty456127 8y ago
> There's a difference between knowing a subject is taboo, and having a real understanding of the subject. Doesn't tabooing something make it particularly interesting to learn about it? If I know about some mysterious bad thing having happened at a square nobody is allowed to mention I would hardly be able to resist curiosity, I would get interested about this topic above all other and find ways to learn as much as I can.
- mattnewton 8y ago
  What if you knew that seeking that information would notify the government and could harm you, your family, and possibly even friends? Would you still act on that curiosity?
  - qwerty456127 8y ago
    Yes. Cautiously.
    - traderjane 8y ago
      Why? Are you a journalist? What will you do with knowledge of taboo events? It seems you would risk much for very little just to know?
      - qwerty456127 8y ago
        Not a journalist nor activist. I wouldn't even tell anybody but those who have earnt my genuine trust and want to know badly. Pure curiosity. What the heck in life can be more attractive than knowing a secret truth?
        traderjane 8y ago
        Most people would say millions upon millions of things are more interesting than knowing taboo secrets when people are interested in hurting you for it, and especially when the motivation is nothing more than "to know".
        qwerty456127 8y ago
        Perhaps, but I can't imagine any. By the way, did you know simply adding "banned" to a video title in YouTube immediately attracts more views? Banned commercials (I can't imagine myself voluntarily watching an advertisement if it was not banned), banned TED talks, books and movies banned in some countries (I've first learnt about some books and movies I've read/watched right from these lists). I probably wouldn't even ever try drugs if these were not prohibited (I'm not an addict but I'm really glad I had some psychedelic experiences and the ban was what made me curious initially). Of course this doesn't mean I would do something really bad like robbing people just because this is outlawed, it's more about knowledge and experiences. I don't know why does this work but knowing you are not meant to know something but actually can learn about it creates urge hard to resist and I only care to actually resist it when it's about other people's personal privacy or business ethics (so I never read other's emails although, being a system administrator, I can).

thaumasiotes 8y ago

> Every educated person in PRC knows they can't just buy a ticket and travel to Taiwan easily. I'm pretty sure they can just buy a ticket and travel to Taiwan easily, and that they're aware of that.

qwerty456127 8y ago
And no kind of political police is going to become interested?
- A2017U1 8y ago
  Do you honestly believe that an American traveling to Iran, Turkey, Cuba or Venezuela doesn't face magnitudes more scrutiny from their "political police"? Thousands travel daily between Taiwan and the mainland.
- tonypace 8y ago
  It's too common for it to be a meaningful data point. Taiwan was the biggest destination for Chinese tours around 2015. I have heard that having a degree from a Taiwanese university is somewhat suspicious.
  - qwerty456127 8y ago
    Interesting to know. Thanks. If so, what other than lack of interest stops PRC citizens from learning about the Tiananmen square "mystery" when they travel to Taiwan?
    - thaumasiotes 8y ago
      Nothing. Why would you need more than lack of interest?
      - qwerty456127 8y ago
        If there is no interest anyway, why make such a show out of hiding it?

tiredyam 8y ago

The problem is the students are being educated and may not be aware of PRCs views on Taiwan or on the two countries histories. Also, learning a language is more than memorizing phrases it’s important for the students to be exposed US/UKs (target demographic) context, which this does.