Lately I’ve been spending a lot of
time discussing the different types of information control exhibited by the
Communist Party both in class and informally with my peers. These discussions
have enlightened me to a side to the Chinese that gives me a hopeful outlook to
the future of this country. Though the CCP is still strong in its authoritarian
ways, the expanding modernization of the country is putting them in an
increasingly difficult position. The Internet by its nature is a difficult
thing to control, and even in China it is a place where people can begin to
speak their minds behind the safety of the anonymous Internet. The “Great Fire
Wall” as it is popularly known, is the CCP’s attempt at information control on
the fast growing information sharing medium that the world has ever seen.
To their credit, it is the most
sophisticated online censorship tool in the world, and works by finding key
words on websites such as “democracy” and “Tiananmen massacre” etc. What people
are beginning to do however, is express discontent in more subtle ways than
blatant criticism. Artist add critical elements into their work, an example is
the Chinese artist Ai WeiWei who has also become a anti government pop culture
figure with world wide recognition. Users of the Internet use irony and similar
devices to construct critical campaigns against the Party’s actions. An example
here is the Grass Mud Horse Internet phenomenon, characterized by a
particularly vulgar play on words in the Chinese language. If pronounced
correctly, it refers to an animal identical to a Llama, but with a slight
variation in the tones used to pronounce the words the meaning changes entirely
to f*** your mother. It isn’t just an attempt to be gross, the campaign that
follows the slogan is a cleverly crafted push against internet censorship,
using a song with several similar play on words to slip past the filter system
while still addressing the desire for freedom of speech.
Many of my students are aware of
these kinds of things, and think that it’s cool. Contrary to some western
stereotypes, the country is not just full of a bunch of complacent Chinese who
are okay with their right to express themselves being smothered. One of my
friends has a VPN, a software used to mask the region you are accessing the
internet from and this allows her to see the internet as we do in America.
Another student, when I asked him why Chinese students are becoming more
critical, responded by saying “Critical thinking is important, most students
are just taught to memorize. But if we can think critically we have more power.”
The educated youth are making their
way up, and the old structures are crumbling. It is a natural effect of
modernizing, and I find the entire thing a bit ironic. The Communist Party
takes long strides to improve the country’s domestic and international economic
health, and I think they do a pretty good job of that. However with increased
economic well being you get more educated youth, wider access to information,
and people who have more time to think and need less time just to work and
survive. The CCP seems to be digging their own grave here. I believe that
eventually the reigns will be loosened on the people of this country, and the
change may be sudden and brutal, however I think it is more likely that the
change will come silently and gradually with the changing times.
So here are some unrelated pictures I’ve taken over the last
few weeks, it isn’t much because I’ve been quite busy with school and things.
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| Temple in The Summer Palace |
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| Overlooking the Summer Palace lake |
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| Huge, sprawling, Beijing. Make no mistake, the city extends well outside of frame and the smog only lets you see no more than 1/4 into the depth of the city. |
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| The Summer Palace |
