Foreign news websites blocked again

sorry, 马多夫 will have to wait until next post...

Hi bfhont, thanks for your explanation.  I guess I got your time references mixed up.  

There are many who would agree with your assessment ala Chinese are not ready for freedom of information, including many Asian leaders as Lee Kuan Yew.  Also, many of the old "Asia Hands" of the British Empire believed the same thing of Asians in general.  There is a very interesting book called Embracing Defeat which discusses this topic with regards to the post-WWII Japanese occupation and how the U.S. occupation authorities handled it.

In regard to the last point, of course I have heard that "only Chinese can criticize China."  Interpretation:  "Don't criticize China." Obviously I disagree.

Blocking BBC sites, or any other foreign news websites, would cause no problem in China. It's not a big deal for most Chinese people. On the other hand, blocking illegal download sites such as 土豆网 would definitely trigger nationwide riots and topple the government. 

Hmm..so hacking that website might collapse the state...interesting idea...;)

Changye 大哥 is right. As long as the people have bread and circuses (rice and karaoke?) , very few care that their freedom of thought is being restricted.

Like a frog in a pot of slowly boiling water, they don't notice before it's too late.

which some say has also happened to the U.S.A, pete

Hi kesirui

We're not as bad as the PRC yet. But we could easily go down that road. When will people learn that passivity in the face of any government, no matter how generous its attempts to buy your silence, is the road to ruin?

Information is the gift we all give each other, and that our ancestors give us. We should fight for it as fiercely as we fight for oxygen and water.

I vote for pearltowerpete, but my company seems to be taking a similar approach to the Chinese authorities, the only option there being to vote with my feet :-(

Hi bendilaowai,

That's an attractive idea. The problem is that there are so many illegal download sites here in China. It's just like a whack-a-mole game!

Hi goulniky,

I don't think that there are a lot of French websites blocked by the Chinese authorities. Is that because the French language is out of missile range of People's Liberation Army?

Incidentally, in fact, the PLA doesn't belong to People's Republic of China, but belongs to the Chinese Communist Party. In short, the PLA is a private army owned by the CCP.

60th anniversary paranoia?  越来越多疑！

Hi tvan,

People's Liberation Army is under the direct control of 中国共产党中央军事委员会 (the CCP central military committee), and therefore, theoretically speaking, the PLA is the army of the CCP, although the logic is a bit tricky, haha. 

For the record, the poster I saw at a police station here in China several years ago said that firstly, the police protect the party's interests, and secondly the police protect the interests of the people!

P/S. The army was named "人民解放军" by the CCP in 1947, two years before the establishment of People's Republic of China.

pearltowerpete,

Well, hopefully things will start to turn for the better! Its been 8 years too many

hi pearltowerpete, this is an interesting discussion, I just wanted to say that to me your comments sound a little western. China is experiencing upheavals that, when America had to go through something similar, didn't have a knowledgable big brother telling them what they should be doing at every turn. Your point is a nice one in reference to the western world in 2008.

bfhont, do you think the U.S. ever went through anything similar to 20th century China?  It seems to me that China's experiences more closely paralleled those of revolutionary France and/or the Soviet Union.  

Though one could argue that both the U.S. and China kicked out European masters (well, I guess the Japanese actually kicked out China's Europeans), yet relied heavily upon European philosphies in establishing their respective governments.

Actually, the real problem does not lie in the fact that some foreign news websites are blocked here in China, but lies in the news websites that are authorized by the government. What you can't see neither hurt nor benefit for you, but you must be very careful about what you are allowed to see.

The letters page of China Daily always make me laugh. I am never sure whether some of them are real or fake though. 

Changye,

"but you must be very careful about what you are allowed to see."

You hit the nail on the head.

Tvan, the US turned from a 'developing' country into a 'developed' one and was among the first countries to do so, so was France. There was no meaning in my comment other than this. I don't see what the Soviet Union has to do with my point, when it was at its most powerful it had a competitor, not the worlds only superpower. 

My point was complete freedom of information is great in theory, but maybe it wouldn't work in China in 2008 due to numerous social and historical reasons. The people who understand these reasons better than anyone are the Chinese so why do other countries insist they know better?

Changye, is that true about the PLA?  Of course, coming from you, I'm sure it is.  It certainly makes sense given the party over country concept,