I think sometimes with all the production coming out of China, people get the impression that it's now a more or less free country. It isn't. It's still very much a dictatorship, if a little less totalitarian than it was under Mao.

Take a look at this example. The New York Times reported Friday on China Lectured by Taiwan Ally and mentions that "Li Ao, a defiant and outspoken politician and author who says that Taiwan should unify with Communist China...chided China's leaders for suppressing free speech, ridiculed the university administration's fear of academic debate and advised students how to fight for freedom against official repression." All this during an address at Beijing University.

How was this reported in China you might ask? Well, not surprisingly, it wasn't. Take a look at this story on the speeches from the China Daily. Here's the only content from the speech that the story mentions:
In the speech, he claimed that China had never been as prosperous as it is today.

He said that the Communist Party of China is "the only party" that can take China on to global success.

In a similar vein, Li, in his speech at Peking University, said that young students should not only care about themselves and he encouraged them to build the confidence to shoulder responsibility for their motherland.

That country still has a long way to go.

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Posted by Gideon to Thrutch at 9/25/2005 12:08:24 PM