Rodrigo Cortez
Freedom to speech
From the beginning Chinese citizens did not have the right to express their opinions publicly without consequences. The emperors forced citizens to obey their orders no matter if they want to or not. During communism Chinese citizens had severe punishments if they did not obey the supreme leader instructions. Before going to the trip I expected to see how Chinese people deal with the isolation of the Firewall of China, the freedom to choice, and the government restrictions.
In the past the Great Wall of China helped emperors to control Chinese borders. Nowadays in a multimedia era the Chinese government needs to control the Internet as well. They use the Firewall of China, which does not allow people in China to access to specific websites. This kind of isolation from the world helps Chinese government to filter any possible information against its government going in or out China. When we arrived to the hotel in Beijing, the first thing that we asked for was the Wi-Fi’s passcode. We wanted to access our Facebook account; however, it was not possible because the Firewall of China. Chinese government blocked some websites and cellphone applications such as Facebook, Google, and WhatsApp to make communication difficult between Chinese citizens and the rest of the world. During our time in China we downloaded WeChat, an allowed app equivalent to Facebook and WhatsApp, to communicate with our Chinese friends. I asked a BUU student her opinion about the prohibition of Facebook in China, and she told me “it is ok; at least we have WeChat that it is almost the same.” She was right it is almost the same; however, it is not the most popular way to communicate in the rest of the world. Outside China people use Facebook to express their opinions about different political or controversial issues publicly. It would be easier for Chinese citizens to have the world attention about political issues if they could have access to Facebook in China.
Chinese people have fewer restrictions now than before. During Mao Zedong era following communist ideas Chinese people were not allowed to believe in any religion. Religious people were persecuted because of their believes. Nowadays, Chinese people have more power of choice. They can choose what they want to believe, where they want to work, and with whom they want to marry. I think like Gifford about Chinese people: “once you allow people to choose their pizza toppings, sooner or later they are going to want to choose their political leaders.” The government gave up some limitations of choice to Chinese citizens; however, China does not have a democracy yet.
The freedom of speech problem has been present during communism and Chinese dynasties. In both periods people cannot choose authorities; they had to give up their freedom to vote and respected governments or emperors decisions. Chinese also have a different point of view of what a leader is and what it represents. While visiting Tiananmen Square our tour guide explained us the differences between a Chinese leader and an American leader. On one hand, an American leader has a higher ranked level than any other citizens. People admire him because of his actions or thoughts. On the other hand, a Chinese leader uses to be almost a god for Chinese citizens. For example, following the communist ideas of idolatry Mao’s photo is shown everywhere. We saw his photo hanging on the door of the Forbidden City, small stores, and hotels. When we went to the National Museum, there is a complete gallery of pictures and paintings dedicated to Mao Zedong. Communist believes make Chinese citizens to be obedient servants of Mao, submissive to the authority of a supreme leader.
The government restrictions, the idolatry to Mao, and the freedom of speech impressed me when I was in China. Chinese people do not make a big deal about these problems. I find them kind of tired about the government; however, they do not have many options if they do not like it. Chinese know about the advantage of living in a democracy, but they are not willing to do something to have it. They do not have other options than accepting the way they live.