A little bit of China-bashing

[kyllo_in_china]

Lately, there's been a string of negative news articles about China in the NYTimes.
I'm starting to wonder if the Times is just really anti-China, or if the Chinese government just really is that bad.

Probably both.

Comments

[wuyuansheng]

Every government has its own dirty tricks to make sure the people thinks in the same way the government does.

[kyllo_in_china]

Indeed. That includes both China and the US.

The difference that the US government's "dirty tricks" are much more subtle, and they're open to public debate and criticism. But that doesn't mean they're any less effective.

[wuyuansheng]

Agreed. People in US has lots more freedom of speech for sure, which I really like.

[kyllo_in_china]

So why do you think Chinese people so rarely talk about democracy and freedom of expression?

I have seen a few Chinese people argue with each other about democracy. But generally speaking, when these issues are brought up, especially around foreigners, Chinese people tend to want to change the subject.

I think they generally dislike hearing foreigners criticize their government, or criticizing their own government in front of foreigners, because it offends their sense of patriotism. Chinese people don't like feeling inferior to the West. To them, Western political ideals like freedom, democracy, and human rights are not as important as seeing China big and powerful enough to stand up to the Western countries that have bullied her around for so long.