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The Chinese people that are afraid to talk about politics if any phone is even just close to them? They probably would confirm opinions shared by state outlets,
by meibo 5y ago
The Chinese people that are afraid to talk about politics if any phone is even just close to them? They probably would confirm opinions shared by state outlets, if they'd even bother with you.
- FooBarWidget 5y agoYou are right that Chinese people don't like talking about politics, but not because they fear the government. They tend to avoid confrontation in general. And also Chinese media spends very little time bashing foreign countries, so most people have very favorable opinions about foreign countries even if there are political tensions. Research by reputed western institutions show conclusively that it is false that people are afraid of the government. This paper by Harvard shows that in 2016, 93% of the people are satisfied with the central government. It also shows that people are not afraid to complain about the government. https://ash.harvard.edu/files/ash/files/final_policy_brief_7.6.2020.pdf https://ash.harvard.edu/files/ash/files/final_policy_brief_7... This other Harvard paper about censorship shows that censorship's goal is not to remove criticism, but to limit collective action, regardless of whether the speech is pro or anti government. The paper shows that many people are not afraid of, and do, complain about the government, and that if their comments do not instigate collective action, then they are unlikely to be removed. https://gking.harvard.edu/publications/how-censorship-china-allows-government-criticism-silences-collective-expression https://gking.harvard.edu/publications/how-censorship-china-... This video by a Canadian expat shows, with concrete and verifiable examples, that despite censorship, people complain about issues, and that the government listens to grievances and even actively addresses them. https://youtu.be/i6jBayUuB4A https://youtu.be/i6jBayUuB4A