Standing up to China’s censors

Joseph Kahn of the NY Times has an interesting article on a group of former Communist party officials and journalists who are objecting to the CCP’s censorship apparatus.

A public letter issued by the prominent figures, dated Feb. 2 but circulated to journalists in Beijing on Tuesday, appeared to add momentum to a campaign by a few outspoken editors against micromanagement, personnel shuffles and an ever-expanding blacklist of banned topics imposed on China’s newspapers, magazines, television stations and Web sites by the party’s secretive Propaganda Department.The letter criticized the department’s order on Jan. 24 to shut down Freezing Point, a popular journal of news and opinion, as an example of “malignant management” and an “abuse of power” that violates China’s constitutional guarantee of free speech.

The letter did not address Beijing’s pressure on Web portals and search engines…

The authors of the letter predicted that the country would have difficulty countering the recent surge of social unrest in the countryside unless it allowed the news media more leeway to expose problems that lead to violent protests.

“At the turning point in our history from a totalitarian to a constitutional system, depriving the public of freedom of speech will bring disaster for our social and political transition and give rise to group confrontation and social unrest,” the letter said. “Experience has proved that allowing a free flow of ideas can improve stability and alleviate social problems.”

I need to make clear that the authors of this statement are calling for a free press in order to preserve Communist Party rule and stop a potential cause of major unrest. That said, I personally believe “a free flow of ideas” will lead towards a loss of the CCP’s power, if it is truly a free flow. Free speech is inimical to everything the Chinese government stands for and represents a grave threat to their stranglehold on power.

If freedom of speech, assembly, press and religion are installed in China, democracy may not be too far behind. Democracy will be the end of the CCP, make no mistake. The unfulfilled demand for human rights by the people of Tibet and China exists because the CCP has refused to grant them the most basic rights. I hope steps towards a free press are steps towards democracy and the ultimate downfall of CCP rule. In the meantime, a free press would benefit the people of Tibet and China by creating an atmosphere capable of handling criticism of corruption and repression. The Chinese government knows change will not come while they gag the media and prevent journalists from speaking out against their tyrannical methods of governance.