China's rulers are betting their regime that the Chinese people will accept a few silver shekels in exchange for oppressing any hopes for greater personal and political freedom. With living standards on the rise, at least in the growth cities along the coast, and high tech gadgets finding their way into the homes of the increasingly large middle class, Communist Party leaders, joined by legions of apparatchiks, are gambling that the masses will willingly pay for their material goods with their dreams for a freer tomorrow.
But the Internet is making that gamble riskier for sclerotic leaders who know that material well-being, welcome though it is, cannot fill the void in the human spirit caused by their ongoing repression of political and religious thought they deem subversive.
An op-ed by Emily Parker in today's Asian Wall Street Journal ($) [update: it's now free online] examines this problem from her post in Hong Kong. She writes that Chinese citizens were outraged by the news blackout that followed the death of former leader Zhao Ziyang's death last week. Because they can't express their views openly in print, on the radio, or on television, they turned to the Net to learn about Zhao and Tiananmen Square and to express their disgust with authorities for attempting to keep them in the dark.
Authorities anticipated this, of course, and tried in vain to block access to web sites that carried accurate stories about Zhao and his role in trying to prevent the Tiananmen Square Massacre of June, 1989.
But as the following statements from Chinese web sites (reproduced in Ms. Parker's op-ed) demonstrate, China's strongmen failed in their efforts to prevent the truth from leaking out:
*"In 1989 I was only seven years old, I only have a fuzzy impression of what happened that year, as for Zhao, I don't have a very detailed understanding. . . But today, while I was eating, my grandmother said, 'Zhao Ziyang died, why isn't the news or the papers reporting it?' I was curious, so I went searching on the Internet, but I found that I couldn't open many Web sites, which made me think something was strange. It was extremely difficult to even find this Web site, but after reading it, I was shocked. . . I now can't help but feel worried about the future of our country."
*"I'm too young, I don't understand the reasons or the results, I pay a silent tribute. This morning I couldn't connect to any overseas Web sites, and I realized that something had happened. What I really don't understand is . . . [why it's necessary to put so much effort into] blocking all overseas Web sites, it's as though they have a guilty conscience."
*"I live in Guangzhou, and that night I wasn't able to access two Hong Kong TV stations, so I realized immediately that something major had happened, it turns out that general secretary Zhao had died! . . . In this era, how much longer can you block information?"
*"Today I heard from a friend that secretary Zhao had died, I felt shocked, but what made me even more furious was [the government's] conduct. People can't forget history. . . I'm really furious!"
*"Putting aside Zhao's merits and faults for the time being, we have already completely lost the right to speak, and to hear about him! What kind of world is this?"
*"Our party blocked information on the Internet. . . and didn't allow freedom of speech. . . The party did the same thing during SARS, what was the result then?"
*"Under Communist Party tutelage, there aren't many young people who remember Zhao. Please allow me to represent young people by saying: . . . 'The people won't forget you, history won't forget you!'"
*"I still don't really understand, because in '89 I was only four years old, can someone senior to me please let me know what happened in that year? What is the truth? Thank you."
*"Is there anywhere that has a detailed report [on Zhao]? A lot of Web sites are blocked!"
Emily Parker concludes her essay on a poignant note:
China's leaders may hope that prosperity will help justify maintaining a wall to block information. But the cracks are beginning to show. Amidst all the sadness and frustration expressed online, there was one ray of hope: "Thank you, Internet, for giving us one last place to speak!"
| Jan. 26, 2005 | 11:10 AM