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A letter to the Net Nanny and CCTVPosted by Jeremy Goldkorn, June 25, 2009 9:38 AM
I like the People's Republic of China. A lot. I love living in Beijing. I unashamedly love China and want to stay here and be a part of China's rise and China's success. Despite their frequent missteps, I genuinely think the Chinese Communist Party is doing a great job running the country. Sometimes I look at countries in my native continent of Africa, and wish there would be more Chinese Communist Party style practicality, and less European style fixation on human rights that do not increase the GDP. But whoever is running Internet regulation policy right now in China needs to see a psychiatrist. Blocking Google.com, Gmail and other Google services? You are making Chinese people look like children on the world stage. You are bringing shame to the People's Republic of China, and the Chinese Communist Party. Whoever made this decision, you have lost face for the Chinese people. As of tomorrow, Thursday morning June 25, you are going to be punished for it in the Western media, for weeks and weeks and weeks. And that is nothing compared to what the Chinese media and Chinese Internet writers are going to do to you.
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Comments on A letter to the Net Nanny and CCTVSigh! I share your feelings. They are master on killing flies with cannons... Of course they hurt themselves doing that. bloody hell jeremy: a lack of human rights I can handle (as long as long as GDP is up), but don't dare mess with my internet connections you fascists! you know how petty this sounds? This from a foreigner writing sometimes provocative stuff, in English. Imagine if you were Chinese, writing in Chinese. Haven't heard anything so offensive in quite some time. Would be fun to know which African country spends too much time in regards to Human Rights since not one single country in Africa has a Human Rights record that's better than bad, if even that.
Dear Ivory tower Human Rights addicts, Please note that Jeremy does not state that human rights are of no importants. In my understanding, he actually follows CCP in the argument that actually the right to have enough food to sustain oneself and the right to have shelter and education are of more importants than e.g. the right to try and overthrow a government (that does serve the people by increasing GDP) in another 'coloured revolution'. I do share his opinion that I do not fully understand the reasoning behind the recent crackdowns on the internet in China. How about the right to not get sent to a mental facility for protesting against unfair policies? I could be a very optimistic sort, but I'm pretty sure that and feeding a populace/keeping financial stability are not mutually exclusive. I'm glad Jeremy had the good sense to revise this post. I'm also glad he had the guts to keep it archived as a reminder that even the most thoughtful amongst us can sometimes have really really dumb reactions. Seriously you what? Dude ya might need to see a psychiatrist I'm afraid. Google accepted this as part of the agreement to gain market share in China...and they will never leave as long as they think they can make money..Yahoo and Google will be around long enough to turn in many dissenters to win favor with the PRC. US companies should have to maintain the same standards they do in their native land, why support a company that is in league with China. It is Google/Yahoo that has lost face for all Americans. Thanks for the post. Many people have felt like you last days, including myself. |
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