[geoalchimista]

Couldn't agree more with you. I suspect that their reporters either have a very poor understanding of what a totalitarian state is, or they just couldn't be bothered to visit any place beyond Beijing and Shanghai (which represent < 5% of China) for field studies.

[dnomad]

What's really strange are Westerners who unilaterally deem China totalitarian, a sentiment not shared by most Chinese themselves. You wonder if people will ever outgrow the need to invent a boogeyman to legitimize their own dire circumstances. Imagine, victims of one of the most profoundly inequal systems in the world railing against Communism/Socialism/China/that-other-system.

[b6]

You're right, the sentiment is not shared by most Chinese people. Then again, most of them wouldn't recognize the Tank Man picture. They have no legitimate news journalism. Their version of the internet is profoundly sabotaged. Human rights lawyers are routinely kidnapped and their families placed under indefinite house arrest. When protests happen, they are violently crushed and subject to complete media blackout. If Chinese people were able to express themselves and hear others express themselves, with some semblance of a news media, I think they'd feel quite differently.

[dnomad]

Your fantasy version of China bears little relation to reality. In fact there's vibrant discussion online and in person, frequent protests (which actually produce real change because local officials are very sensitive to protests [1]) and plentiful journalism that is far less corporate controlled and far more relevant to the common person. Feel free to hop on a plane and come visit. This "totalitarian state" can be freely visited by most anybody (stop by Hong Kong to pick up a visa).

[1] http://time.com/5323079/china-army-veterans-protests-xi-jinp...

[The_suffocated]

> This "totalitarian state" can be freely visited by most anybody (stop by Hong Kong to pick up a visa).

Funny. Many Hongkongers (in particular the democrats) have been denied access to not only Chinese mainland, but also Macau. Are Hongkongers not counted as "anybody"? Is this your version of "freedom with Chinese characteristics"?

[b6]

I lived in China for three years. I speak Mandarin. The article you linked is a report in western media. Can you find the same story in Chinese media?

[loriverkutya]

If you have need living in China for 3 years, you are probably aware of how effective is the censorship there.

[dnomad]

Considering that everybody's talking about it online and GT (Global Times) just published an editorial I don't think it would be too difficult. (BTW, congrats on making it out alive. Millions of people weren't so fortunate and failed to escape from such totalitarian states.)

[pertymcpert]

They're right though, and you must not be pushing any kind of sensitive boundary to think it's not an authoritarian state.

Which town are you from? In the countryside there are hilarious Big Brother style posters on houses promoting civil obedience. People don't think it's strange at all, of course they're not going to recognise the depths of their repression unless they're educated and well traveled.

[b6]

I went looking for the story on Chinese sites, even though my Chinese is not quite good enough for this to be practical. I couldn't find anything, so I asked one Chinese friend and two acquaintances about it. Two couldn't find anything. The third found some ordinary people talking about it, but no news websites. She told me without irony that "there are a lot of Chinese people. The societal environment is complex. The government will block the passage of information in order to safeguard societal stability and harmony".

If somebody better at Chinese can find anything, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thanks in advance.

[geoalchimista]

Global Times is like the Chinese version of InfoWars (or worse), which publishes party propaganda and frequently incites chauvinism and hatred towards US, Japan, Australia, Korea, Taiwan, etc. Educated Chinese people usually don't take it as a reliable source of news.