Government vs People

The government seemed to be preoccupied with the Olympics and what that means symbolically for China. The development that is occurring in and around Beijing is all geared towards creating an impressive infrastructure to greet the foreign visitors. They tore families, entire neighborhoods, from their homes so that those areas could be demolished for new Olympic Park buildings. Yes those housing buildings are nicer than what existed there before and yes the people will be able to move in to them after the Olympics, but to tear people from their homes without giving them the opportunity to express to the government how they felt about it or without the government explaining its reasoning and position fully to the people do not seem like actions the government of a developed nation would take.

There in lies one of China's major problems, I think, evidenced by what I saw and heard while there. The government controls a massive portion of its citizens' lives and the citizens for the most part have no forum to express their feelings and wishes and largely no recourse for actions taken by the government which they find repugnant. Our local Beijing guide An was very nice and very candid with us on the bus, yet when we spoke about the Tian'an Men Square Incident, she warned us not to mention anything about it while there because of the multitude of plain clothed police officers. Not being used to anything like that, I could not help but try to scan all of the people on the Square to try to identify and avoid any police officers. This was also highlighted in my difficulty in asking the Shanghai University students a question about the development of China and the voice of the people when a dispute came up between to students about the issue. I am an American, very much so; I believe in the ideals of American democracy. There is little that pains me more than not being able to have some influence over what happens in my life and further not being able to express my opinion about whatever. I now have a much greater appreciation for the freedoms I enjoy in this country and the influence I have over the political direction of our nation.