> I’m guessing it’s cultural, and it’s somewhat similar to what you see in Japan or Korea.
The Japanese and South Korean governments show vastly greater tolerance for public criticism than the Chinese government does. In Tokyo, if one stands on a street corner holding up a sign saying "Fumio Kishida should be sacked"–odds are, you'll just be ignored. In Seoul, one might stand there with a sign saying "Impeach Yoon Suk-yeol" – likewise, people will most likely just ignore you. Try standing on a street corner in Beijing holding up a sign saying "Xi Jinping should be sacked"–how many minutes will pass before you are arrested?
So, it isn't East Asian culture in general. It isn't even Chinese culture, because in Taiwan you would not be arrested just for holding up a sign saying "Impeach Tsai Ing-wen". On the other hand, in North Korea, you'd probably be executed for a sign saying "Impeach Kim Jung-un". The thing that North Korea and China have in common, is both are Marxist-Leninist dictatorships. So, isn't the real explanation here, not national culture, but rather Marxism-Leninism? Xi Jinping's intolerance for criticism has a lot in common with that of Leonid Brezhnev.
> Or how everyone in the west knows about Tiananmen, but very few heard about Gwangju Uprising.
There is a big difference between the Gwangju massacre and the Tiananmen massacre–the South Korean government has repeatedly publicly apologised for Gwangju. Every year, there is an official memorial day to remember the victims of Gwangju, and the government has established a national memorial to remember its victims. In the 1990s, several of the political leaders responsible for Gwangju were convicted, and one received a death sentence (that death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and then all the convicts were pardoned.) More recently, the South Korea government has established a national truth commission, for further public investigations of those responsible for the crime. Meanwhile, what has the Chinese government done to publicly apologise for the crime of Tiananmen, to commemorate its victims and punish its perpetrators?
It makes complete sense for the world to focus on wrongs for which there is a refusal to acknowledge and apologise and make amends, rather than on wrongs for which many such efforts have been made. The former is far more relevant than the later.
> numerous documented backdoors in infrastructure from US companies, none from Chinese
Even if it is true that there are zero backdoors in Huawei/ZTE equipment today, that could change tomorrow.
>how many minutes will pass before you are arrested?
What a perfectly timed question: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/world/asia/china-internet-protest-xi-jinping.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/14/world/asia/china-internet.... So, you probably won't get arrested, but you'll definitely get demonetised. Maybe even banned on Weibo.
Now compare this with something more atypical: four years in prison for talking back to a police officer, https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/1567515298479149057 https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/1567515298479149057.
Note, however, that we're talking about two different things: I was talking about the culture of "keeping to themselves", which, when applied on a larger scale, goes directly against transparency, and that's what we see in China. What you're talking is mostly about how media works. Sure, in the West you can say whatever you want and nobody cares - precisely because nobody cares what you say ("majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts", https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/testing-theories-of-american-politics-elites-interest-groups-and-average-citizens/62327F513959D0A304D4893B382B992B https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli...).
>in Taiwan you would not be arrested just for holding up a sign
Indeed, it's been over 30 years now since the end of White Terror (~20 thousands killed, ~140 thousands imprisoned).
>Meanwhile, what has the Chinese government done to publicly apologise for the crime of Tiananmen, to commemorate its victims and punish its perpetrators?
The prime minister responsible for it spent the rest of his life in house arrest. I'd say both countries handled it much better than how it's traditionally done in the West.
Still, I'm not buying it - "it" being the difference in public awareness of Tiananmen and Gwangju massacre being caused by governments apologising. But I don't have anything better than "gut feeling" at the moment.
>Even if it is true that there are zero backdoors in Huawei/ZTE equipment today, that could change tomorrow.
Everything could change tomorrow, but this excuse can be used for any arbitrary decision.
> four years in prison for talking back to a police officer,
If you read the details of the case - she was chanting that the police were going to die, which goes beyond mere “talking back”; and she would not have received such a lengthy sentence if it was not for multiple prior convictions. Now, all that said, I still think her sentence is excessive-and indeed, her legal team says they will appeal it-but it seems far less outrageous than it does when presented without those details. It doesn’t have much bearing on the issue of free speech, given that making death threats is a crime in most jurisdictions, and few consider free speech to include the right to make death threats.
> Indeed, it's been over 30 years now since the end of White Terror (~20 thousands killed, ~140 thousands imprisoned).
Bad, but not as bad as Mao - and at least the current Taiwanese government openly admits that was wrong; the Chinese government censors public discussion of Mao’s crimes, and instead plasters his picture everywhere
> The prime minister responsible for it spent the rest of his life in house arrest.
Because of the massacre, or because he’d embarrassed the Party by not crushing the protests a lot sooner?