A Change is Gonna Come

It’s a strange time in China. And no, it’s not the wintertime warm-then-cold weather. Others have said they were feeling changes. I dismissed these claims thinking they were jaded and that “you’ve just been in China too long.” Well, I’m going on six months in China, and I’m starting to feel the changing winds as well. And there’s plenty of media reporting it as well.

With probably thousands of articles, blogs and other reports, I don’t need to brief you NYAFC readers of last week’s Google announcement. But in the last few months, I have read eye-opening articles about the government’s text monitoring of text messages, frightening exposes of treatment of drug users and, maybe most appalling of all, reports on the camps where dissenters or complainers of their local governments are sent. Most recently, a friend showed me an article about one small town’s support of the teen who killed a Communist Party official. The report sites many sources in the village who all supported and praised the boy for killing the party official. It barely mentions that the teen killer deserves his punishment - death. These issues are nothing new, although they are gaining more media attention as China continues to grow.

While China may be the next “superpower,” the government has a lot of work to do. Not only are tensions growing among the people toward their often corrupt local governments, but the international community has continued to convey their lack of respect for a country who misuses its power treats its citizens like mindless sheep (or worse). And while reports of misuse of power within small town governments and the horrible treatment of drug users may not be an immediate roadblock to China’s success, the more China alienates itself from the international world the more one has to really evaluate just how far China will make it in the long run in the international community. Just in the last two weeks, China has blocked another site, IMDB. Why the Internet Movie Data Base is a threat to the Communist Party? Why do text messages need to be monitored for “unhealthy content”? Perhaps it is the Chinese’s attempts to hold on a little tighter to control of their country that seems to be slipping away.

With China’s disregard for international business ethics through the next level of “cyber warfare” and the continued dismissal of criticisms of human rights within the country, this writer (and resident in China) doesn’t see how this country will survive in a globalized world. As they continue to alienate themselves from the outside world, hide information from their people and allow for the misuse of power on all levels of government, from farm villages to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, you have to wonder when this control will meet its demise... Or at least seriously bite them in the ass. It may not be this year, or this decade, but it can’t last forever.

As for me, I think I’ll stick around. As twisted as it is, my fears of how much monitoring the Chinese may be doing on me isn’t enough to make me want to leave. A a proponent of free speech, a supporter or improved human rights and an aspiring young journalist, I would like to think that one day (soonish) this country will not have the filters and monitors that it does. For now, I’ll just be more cautious in my messages, chats and emails, but it’s not enough for me to go back home. However, the day they block gmail and gchat, then that will be another story.

New Year, New Resolutions, New Look.

Happy 2010! I hope you enjoy the new look of NYAFC. I got a few complaints that it was hard to read, so I decided it need a little change. Is this easier? I’m bummed I can’t make it more personalized, but with this proxy I’m using, I don’t have much of a choice.

Anyway. I know I said before that I would start writing more.... And December only saw one post. Sorry. But it is a new year with new priorities. And since January has already been newsworthy for China, I know I better keep working out my fingers on my keyboard.

So please check up on NYAFC in the coming weeks! One resolution is to write more so I’d better keep it up!