The Chinese People and Hong Kong
This course has been riddled with instances of the people conflicting with the government. Protests, movements on government buildings, and large assemblies of disgruntled rural peoples are just some of the examples of the ways the Chinese people have attempted to show their contempt for the government.
As we read in one of our books, the people were forced to find alternative ways to pressure the government since they were not able to meet at the government buildings. They were forced to go about their approach in an almost unnecessary manner. The people had to get people to travel in small, inconspicuous groups to the government buildings and meet up at a predetermined time at the building so that they could protest without getting shut down before reaching their objective. This is just one example of the lengths the people are going to in order to circumvent the government’s strict policies on meetings. The censorship of the internet is another way the Chinese government is cracking down on internal and external negative influences (most being external). One of the articles on theatlantic.com that was posted illustrates a strong opposition from the government towards media incoming and leaving external to the country. The example that was given in the article was a message in WeChat that was mildly critical of the government never reaching its intended recipient. Not to long after, the sender was booted from the system on all devices. Is this a coincidence? Possibly. But its not like this is the only instance of this happening. China has put up a massive firewall around itself, slowing all internet that holds databases outside the country and censoring everything coming in and going out. Looking back, the US proposed a bill tightening up on online piracy. The people shot this down quickly though. Wikipedia had a blackout and megaupload protested, both of which are huge websites used by hundreds of thousands if not millions of people a day. The people here are too ready to stand against the government. This isn’t necessarily true in China, whether it is because they are scared of the backlash, or because they just don’t know how to go about doing it.
I believe that some of the actions that the Chinese government is taking is creating dissent among the Chinese people. In wsj.com article about Xi Junping cracking down on corruption in the military, It is obvious what he is trying to do by doing this. He is attempting to reestablish his image to the people, to present the government as a strong, unified face. In my opinion, Xin Junping is showing the weakness in the government. By having this huge public crackdown, he is showing the suspected flaws for what they really are. The people’s suspicions are being brought to light in this public crackdown. The government, instead of coming across as stronger, is showing the inherent weaknesses in it.
I don’t believe that the Chinese government in hong kong is very successful at the moment. This is evident in the large scale of protests that have taken place there, most prominent being the Umbrella Revolution. It is obvious the people, especially the younger populace, are unhappy with the restrictions the government is trying to place on elections. But the people can not keep protesting without bringing forward a formal solution or a complaint of some sort. A protest or sit in alone will not solve anything. Actions are good but a voice is better.
The Chinese government is never going to get past where it is now without giving the people some kind of voice. Hong Kong and China in general are struggling to keep their people happy. The government is doing its best to hide the fact that it is in a state of disarray, but it cannot. The Chinese government is falling apart from the inside, and they won’t let the people voice their opinions.
