Zhang，Han:Requirements of the Chinese government to open up freedom of speech
张涵（Zhang，Han）
In today’s China, there is sadly no freedom of speech. With increasing harsh censorship (more and more foreign firms are now facing scrutiny in Chinese media) the freedom of speech has become some luxury item that is so far out of reach. General public are never allowed to freely and openly express their different political views, not to mention publishing articles, papers, or books that are considered having ‘improper’ contents which reflect negatively on the Chinese government. To those who do not follow the rule and dare to challenge the system, local government has a long history of employing violence to threats or to intimidate.
Living in China, all you see, hear, and know about the government or the Communist Party has been carefully filtered. Moreover, almost all news on TV, radio, newspapers and magazines has been censored to make sure it is synchronized in one tone, the government’s official tone. It largely represents what the Communist Party want us to believe. Sadly, state media has often been used as a tool to cover the ugly truth behind China’s one-party autocracy.
Freedom of expression is not a crime. To regain reliability and credibility from the public, Chinese state media should bear the responsibility on telling the truth. And the objectivity of journalists should never be challenged. If the Chinese government continues to adopt the harsh censorship to cover the truth and to mislead the public, it will soon find itself facing more and more angry citizens demanding for basic human rights.
A government should always grant its people the basic rights to speak, even at the cost of exposing the negatives and drawbacks of the society. Truth should never by covered or hidden from the general public. Every Chinese citizen deserves the opportunity to know the true side of his or her own community; deserves the opportunity to freely express his or her view from different perspectives. People will no longer be forced to live a life full of political numbness. Moreover, the Communist Party officials have to awaken themselves from their blind obsessions over political ‘achievements’ and double-digit G.D.P. growth at the cost of environmental degradation. Instead, they need to focus more on understanding the basic demands and needs of aregular household. It is oftenthese ignored basic demands that havebecome the roots of many social problems.
Chinese citizens deserve the freedom of speech, a basic human right that should never be deprived by any government. True voices should always be heard and freedom of expression is never a crime.
Zhang, Han
November 15, 2012 |
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