I think the whereabout of me has nothing to do with the topic.
I was banned from posting in many forums of Chinese language even the sites are hosted outside China, not to mention to say a word in the forum hosted inside China, China has the world only and biggest national internet firewall, the improvement as you mentioned is not because the government has changed, it is because the modern technology makes the censorship more difficult.
Sorry, yinyin...I wasn't saying that your whereabouts had anything to do directly with the topic itself, but rather with your comments about China, and the situation in China. I'm living here, and have been here more than 14 years now. I don't mean to sound condescending, but there are nevertheless problems when someone comments "authoritatively" on China, yet does so from a position of second or third hand accounts, or experiences that are based on the situation five, ten, or more years ago.
As I've stated, there is definitely still censorship. But you can check the China Daily forums (or the forums at Beijing University, Tsinghua University, or many other such sites) where plenty of posts are made that are openly critical of government policy, discuss controversial issues, etc. There is definitely a line that cannot be crossed -- saying that the government needs to act to clean up corruption is okay, but saying that the government is corrupt and needs to be replaced is not, for example.
However, saying that this is "not because the government has changed", but is due to the internet, is overly simplistic. The China Youth Daily, which as I stated is one of the most progressive and activist newspapers in China, routinely prints newspapers (not online articles) that are critical of government policy, reveal government corruption, etc. This would not have been allowed five or ten years ago.
In addition, when I came to China in 1993, discussing any political issues was verboten, absolutely forbidden. Now, politics are commonly discussed everywhere, with numerous opinions and beliefs. Chinese have far, far more freedom to leave China and visit other countries (whether for tourism, or study, or work), and thus gain access to a wide wealth of knowledge and beliefs that they then bring back with them to China.
I appreciate that you will have differing
opinions to mine; however, if you are going to make apparent statements of
fact about the situation in China, I believe that myself and others here deserve to know on what actual experience and knowledge you are basing your conclusions.
My own background and experience in this regard is quite extensive. I've been a cross-cultural consultant for both Chinese and foreign companies in China for over eight years, and besides establishing my own business in Beijing, have also established an NGO (I was one of the first foreigners allowed to register an NGO in China) in one of the poorest regions of China. So I've seen China at its best, and at its worst. I'm not some pampered foreigner who lives in ignorance of what is happening in China at large; quite the opposite, I'm active in numerous Chinese organizations that actively work to promote development and greater freedom in China. I've served on the faculty of Beijing University (which is home to the most radical and forward-thinking students in China); and I've been a consultant on national education policy.
I don't know how to put this without sounding overly arrogant, or dismissive of your opinions. That is not my intent, and I really welcome a Chinese voice in this discussion. However, if you are going to offer such specific conclusions as to "what the real situation in China is today", I think that people who read it deserve to know upon what actual personal experience of "modern China" you are basing those conclusions.
You've been banned from websites; so have I. As stated, numerous times, there are still problems in China, and plenty of them. But neither is the situation quite so bleak, or the government so all-controlling, as you seek to depict. That is not only my opinion, it is the opinion of the vast majority of mainland Chinese that I talk with. There are problems -- but it is improving, and it is moving in the right direction.
I have never, here or in other threads, made excuses for or denied Chinese government abuses. But I've offered the balancing perspective. And I've always tried my best to not just offer opinions, but to explain as clearly as possible the actual basis of those opinions.
China has the world only and biggest national internet firewall
That is grossly untrue. Not only is China not the only country that actively practices censorship of the internet, but there are many countries -- Pakistan, Iraq, and North Korea spring immediately to mind -- where control and censorship of the internet is far worse than it is in China. And it is this kind of statement that causes me concern about your comments and conclusions about China. It seems based more on personal bias and pre-formed conclusions than on a real desire to examine the full situation and understand what is actually happening in China today.
