Thursday, March 3, 2011
China does not Like Protests and Foreign Jornalists: We are Reminded Yet Again
China seems to be looking nervous, but unreasonably so? The government is performing a crackdown of sorts on proposed protests, which began in late February . These small gatherings were supposedly inspired by and brought about as a result of the anti-government unrest in the Middle East. Reporters covering the story were harassed by police, and some equipment was confiscated. Is it just me or is this a complete overreaction on China's part? These were not huge protests, and the government probably got more bad press just by doing this. Can you imagine what would happen if something like this were to happen in the U.S.? I suppose that it's incidents like these which really illustrate what it means to be without freedom of speech and of the press.
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Yep, yet again. China is a country that suppresses free speech and once again we see such an action occurring (although I do realize this is the first time since 2008).
I do feel however that this is an overreaction on China's part as they are fearful of what happened in Tianmen Square 30 semi years ago. However, I do feel China is making an example out of these protestors. Also, when a couple people are willing to sacrifice their lives for the good of the country, eventually it starts to become contagious.
This kind of action did occur during John Adam's reign with his Alien and Sedition Act. Of course at that time, most people were unwilling to take a firm stand against the President. However, now I do feel many people would react in an extremely angry fashion. There would probably be multiple lawsuits costing the government millions, if not billions.
I definitely do agree with Jeff's comment about what "really illustrate what it means to be without freedom of speech and of the press", it is really sad that only do we have a comparison that we realize how much better our country is than others. It is kind of sad that until we see the lives of other, most of us are unable to appreciate how truly lucky we are to live in a country of so much freedom. It also drew comparisons to Congresswoman Giffords and the immediate aftermath surrounding, when people suddenly woke up and said how about lets try and cooperate or September 11 and realize oh maybe we have other things to do or Sputnik. America has always been a country of change, but it always need that spark to get that fire ignited.
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