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Google has recently threatened to pull out of China for ethical reasons and implicitly hinted that the government were behind many cyberattacks on its network.
China does not have the best human rights record, I mean, barely 20 years ago the largest pro-democracy protest in the country ended in a bloodbath. However, things are changing rapidly. Although I can't deny that the government will continue to resolutely crackdown on protests of any sort, it now does so with a different purpose - stability.
20 years the communist government was at odds with its founding doctrine, therefore could not legitimize its rule. The bloody crackdown on June 4th, 1989 was necessary to prevent the country from descending into chaos. 20 years later, the government has re-christened itself the steward of economic development, and the rallying cry has been changed from socialism to 'socialism with Chinese characteristics', an euphemism for market capitalism.
So let's get some facts clear:
YES China routinely censors web content deemed subversive or 'disturbing to social
stability'
YES China will arrest anyone who speaks out too bluntly against the government.
and YES it will invade the privacy of those deemed dangerous or subversive.
The following sites are inaccessible in China: Wikipedia.com, CNN.com, BBC.co.uk and dozens other less known websites.
However, the intention is not to control/restrict people's lives but to limit the the effect of the fallout of individual grievances on the general public. To be honest, all the average middle class Chinese have accepted this minor inconvenience in exchanged for continued prosperity and rising living standards.
China is not free in terms of speech; there is no democratic government to speak of. However, given the reality of things, this is possibly the best way for its people.
I know this sounds cynical, but look at the alternative: India, the largest democracy made up of starving villagers who are too hungry to care about voting.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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"but look at the alternative: India, the largest democracy made up of starving villagers who are too hungry to care about voting."
ReplyDeleteHa Ha ! I love the way how the chinese always bring India into the picture while discussing chinese political system and feel good about it. China is ahead of India in per capita income today but that does not mean that all Indian villagers are starving or all chinese villagers are not starving.
India is second only to China in pulling more people out of poverty than any other country in recent history.
India does not have a Hakou system like China so a Indian villager can actually move freely throughout the country and can stay wherever he likes and do what ever he feels like to better himself.
China is ahead of India only because it had a 13 year headstart over India in economic reforms. If the argument is that chinese dictatorship is doing well compared to Indian democracy, then the counter argument would be in which time frame.
Until 1980s, the Chinese dictatorship was behind Indian democracy in per capita and Gdp terms. China lead over India was quite recent starting from late 80s when china actually relaxed its dictatorial hold over economy.
It is thanks to Indian democracy, that India did not expereince chinese style cultural revolutions. Not to speak that Indian democracy is more efficient than chinese dictatorship in econoic matters. China with a stimulus package of close to $600 billion acheives 9% growth rate while India with a stimulus package of 1/5th of that acheives 8% growth rate.