Tiananmen Square - what do the Chinese think?
Discussion
I was chatting to a Chinese friend recently. He isn’t living in China at the moment but parents and family do. I asked him about what people in China think of the government, treatment of Hong Kong and Tiananmen Square (recent anniversary).
He said - and course this is just his view - that the older generation like his parents are more hostile towards the government and lack of democracy in China but the younger generation (he is late twenties), who were not alive, are much less bothered. Apparently they are quite patriotic and proud of China’s economic development and achievements in the past few decades.
Anyone on here live or have recently lived in China to give their impressions?
He said - and course this is just his view - that the older generation like his parents are more hostile towards the government and lack of democracy in China but the younger generation (he is late twenties), who were not alive, are much less bothered. Apparently they are quite patriotic and proud of China’s economic development and achievements in the past few decades.
Anyone on here live or have recently lived in China to give their impressions?
GroundZero said:
I have a family member married to a Chinese girl and it is an interesting subject matter.
Over the past few decades the communists have been pushing hard for the population to become hard line nationalists. As technology and a whiff of capitalism entered their economy (even though it is still state controlled), there was the thinking that people would become less reliant on the state as personal wealth brought new forms of freedom. So the communists started new campaigns to ensure the mind set was always that the individual is China and China is the individual. (ie. in other words the person is always a slave to the state - the communist ideology from the viewpoint of the top down)
So the young in China these days are very nationalistic and think that if China is independent, strong and pushes back against western evils then their lives will be more prosperous and secure.
The older generations come from a very different view point. Their lives were full of state control, poverty and hardship during the 60's, 70's and 80's. They had family members grass them up if there was the slightest hint of any anti-government sentiments. Their generation was purely there to exist as a means for the state to use their labour.
As a result of the "great leap backwards", the older generations are very paranoid and is why if you were to visit China as a westerner, you may find a lot of them will watch you to see if you are up to something that you shouldn't be doing. Where as the young, unless employed by the state for monitoring purposes, will give you little attention on such matters.
When it comes to Tiananmen Square, the details of what happened were never published by the communists. The story was changed and people are advised not to approach the subject. This applies to both old and young in China.
The only way that people in China get details of what happened is via external sources by which the communists dismiss outright as a campaign to hurt China. (If you hurt China then you also hurt the individual as the mindset is indoctrinated).
Hence total internet censorship.
As an interesting side note, any employees of the government have very strict conditions on applying for visas to travel to other countries. It is said this is the case due to the communist's constant worry that if state employees gain the truth about who they are working for that they could face enemies from within - which is a historical pastime for totalitarian regimes.
Very interesting post.Over the past few decades the communists have been pushing hard for the population to become hard line nationalists. As technology and a whiff of capitalism entered their economy (even though it is still state controlled), there was the thinking that people would become less reliant on the state as personal wealth brought new forms of freedom. So the communists started new campaigns to ensure the mind set was always that the individual is China and China is the individual. (ie. in other words the person is always a slave to the state - the communist ideology from the viewpoint of the top down)
So the young in China these days are very nationalistic and think that if China is independent, strong and pushes back against western evils then their lives will be more prosperous and secure.
The older generations come from a very different view point. Their lives were full of state control, poverty and hardship during the 60's, 70's and 80's. They had family members grass them up if there was the slightest hint of any anti-government sentiments. Their generation was purely there to exist as a means for the state to use their labour.
As a result of the "great leap backwards", the older generations are very paranoid and is why if you were to visit China as a westerner, you may find a lot of them will watch you to see if you are up to something that you shouldn't be doing. Where as the young, unless employed by the state for monitoring purposes, will give you little attention on such matters.
When it comes to Tiananmen Square, the details of what happened were never published by the communists. The story was changed and people are advised not to approach the subject. This applies to both old and young in China.
The only way that people in China get details of what happened is via external sources by which the communists dismiss outright as a campaign to hurt China. (If you hurt China then you also hurt the individual as the mindset is indoctrinated).
Hence total internet censorship.
As an interesting side note, any employees of the government have very strict conditions on applying for visas to travel to other countries. It is said this is the case due to the communist's constant worry that if state employees gain the truth about who they are working for that they could face enemies from within - which is a historical pastime for totalitarian regimes.
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