Is that the best you can do Turquoise? Throw the infamous Falun Gong card at me, and them imply I am brainwashed? Like many other people, I simply see a less skewed view of the country. You could say I see closer to the truth, than someone who has never talked in irl to the local people and have lived with them. It is not good to name everyone brainwashed. Too convenient and silly, as everyone in indoctrinated in some way, or we wouldn't be able to function in society, and armies wouldn't follow orders.
The FalunGong are a can of worms, I admit, and it is a pity they (perhaps under outside influence) decided to use a pseudo-Buddhist mantra to hide a strong political agenda. Many people joined because the spiritual vacuum left by the CCP after the Cultural Revolution was large. Was the crackdown the wrong thing to do? In a nutshell:
In one way yes. It probably will be a major stain on the govt's reputation for a long way to come; a convenient card to play in order to criticise ( & I think justly so) the actions of the CCP. It would have been "morally" right for the CCP to not touch them, but perhaps rein them in somehow.
In one way no. The 1990s saw the first fruits of Deng's economic reform being implemented, but many in the inland areas were still shit poor. Social stability was key for economic reforms, and maybe letting the FG do what they did may have been a risk to that.
I guess a cliche like "for the greater good" would fit in here, but that would sound corny. One good example is this: The Tiananmen Incident - caused by disgruntled intellectuals arguing for freedom, as well as workers arguing for a return to the old Socialist system ironically. Would the same incident happen today? No. Why? Social stability- no one would want to. And before you shout "oh its the govt using more hardcore controlling techniques", forcible controlling that many ppl is a bit of a challenge, demonstrated clearly by the Cultural Revolution ( unless if they had brainwave technology or sumtin). For proof, 58000 protests went on in China in 2005 of which a substantial number were over 10k ppl. 30 years ago, no one would have dared. Now, the local govt, while still corrupt, realise they are becoming more accountable for their shit because any wrongdoing and the internet would explode with video footage etc, and they would be stuffed. (
http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/20 … _CT240.pdf)
I would love to see the Govt. lift all internet restrictions and introduce proper property rights, and the country still has a long way to go, but it is NOT what you believe it is. After all the right to be out of poverty and live in security are basic Human Right, and in that regard the govt have done a better job than anyone else. ( I reckon you Turquoise would be pushed hard to even find 1 good thing the govt has done in the past 20-30 years. Don't you think there is something wrong with your POV?)
I know you are going to sling the "dissident" card at me next, so I'll preclude you. Last time I went back, my grandpops, a longtime CCP member came back from a briefing for retired CCP members. We started debating the Justice system in the restaurant. Before long everyone, including him was saying "all the prosecutors are bastards!" or " there is no good execution of law in this country!" blablabla. Who the fuck cared? No one. (When my mum was in uni 20yrs ago, people got into shit for kissing each other outside marriage and therefore being "Rightist"!)
So the question that remains to be answered is "Who are dissidents?". Intellectuals who openly disagree with the govt? No, there are plently of those around. Many uni professors are not CCP members and their "White Papers" are accepted into the govt think tank CASS. Sometimes they are even given a chance to explain their reason for reform (whether democratic, social or economical) in front of the Politburo. Are they bloggers who criticise the govt? Not really. Blogging is prolific in China, and some especially scathing blogs are closed down - which i think is wrong ( but they are recached soon after ). But contrary to popular Western ideals, these people are not shot or whatever. There are simply too many of them for the e-police to deal with frankly.
Are the "dissidents" a convenient label for anyone who has some other ulterior motive? Don't Know. The overly publicised case of Hu Jia drew bemusement from local netizens, as he clamored for better HIV treatment, the Govt. pushed ahead a widely unpopular policy of re-allowing HIV positive people to re-enter the country.
As I said, you need to look beyond the horizon when forming a view on a country, especially one as complex as China. Reinforcing a comfortable opinion is easy - there are many anti-China sites out there - but forming your own comprehensive picture is much, much more harder to achieve. Strive for it. I am happy to continue this debate, but as this is a thread about gymnastics, PM me or something.