7 ms·

Yes. I do.

by ajkirwin 16y ago

Yes. I do.

ycseattle 16y ago
Let me guess, you've never been to China and you don't know anybody who grow up in China.
- dschobel 16y ago
  What's your point? We live in a world where communication obviates the need for everyone to be first hand witnesses. The entire concept of news reporting is predicated on credible third parties.
  - ycseattle 16y ago
    My point is that majority of western news about China are biased and sensational and taken out of context. You form your opinion based on the source that is already filtered by the journalists. You will have much better view of the whole story if you can read Chinese media, just for the full story. You might refuse to do so because they are controlled by the government. I ask you to talk to Chinese, you refuse as well because you think there is no need. How "sound" do you think your opinion will be?
    - krschultz 16y ago
      I have friends born & raised in China who say the exact opposite of what you are are saying.
      - papersmith 16y ago
        I was reading a popular Chinese forum (tianya.cn) thread on contaminated food, and I was surprised at how anti-government the tone was. (think reddit, but more extreme) There were jokes taking direct jabs at the party and state, and I was amazed that they didn't get taken down. I think Chinese tend to avoid talking shit about their country in front of foreigners to "save face". It seems to be part of the culture.
        ycseattle 16y ago
        I am not surprised that you are surprised that tianya.cn ( hosted in Beijing) is still online. We talk shit about Chinese government like that when I was in college, and that's more than a decade ago. One of the most famous forum at the time is called "Shui Mu Qing Hua." This is just one of many mythes that western media contributed to, and that's why I ask people to get some first-hand source. Just to clarify, I don't mean there are free speech in China in the same level with that in western countries. I mean the fact that you are surprised is because western media is doing a bad job reporting China and people seem to have complete faith in those news. Now when it comes to talking shit in front of foreigners to save face and part of Chinese culture, I hope you don't mean that Chinese culture is inferior. When my Americans friends talk shit about their government in front of me, they understand that I speak fluent English and I know exactly what they mean. I don't talk shit about Chinese government in front of westerners I am not close with, because I know they don't speak Chinese, know nothing about Chinese culture (or feeling Chinese culture is inferior) and will take my comments out of context. Let me give you an example: giving cash as gift to people you know, friends, colleagues, bosses, is a new year tradition in China, and the money amount can be very large. We have similar gift-exchange for many occasions. This is a tradition that everyone in China follow, and it does make it difficult to fight corruption. In western countries when nobody should accept gift of more than $25 from people with working relationships, there is no way people can understand this, and most likely, they will (or self-righteously) say this tradition is backward. Power to you if you can change a culture, but it is ridiculous to see westerns response when hearing you might receive a cash gift worth a week of your income and there is nothing wrong with it. Culture difference between China and the West, is much bigger than the difference between western countries.
        deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
- chollida1 16y ago
  Lets attack this question from another angle then. Why do you think that China would never do anything to a Google employee if Google the company did something that China didn't like. It has already happened in countries that are supposedly less strict than China, See the case of Italy issuing an arrest warrant for Google employee's due to a youtube video.
- ErrantX 16y ago
  Hello been to china multiple times. Worked with/for Chinese people - from intellectuals to the government. Yes, I can believe something like that could happen. It could be a way to get back at google for defying them, for example.
- nopassrecover 16y ago
  You haven't seen what's happened to Australian mining employees have you. Look up Rio Tinto.

Yes. I do.

ycseattle 16y ago

Let me guess, you've never been to China and you don't know anybody who grow up in China.

dschobel 16y ago
What's your point? We live in a world where communication obviates the need for everyone to be first hand witnesses. The entire concept of news reporting is predicated on credible third parties.
- ycseattle 16y ago
  My point is that majority of western news about China are biased and sensational and taken out of context. You form your opinion based on the source that is already filtered by the journalists. You will have much better view of the whole story if you can read Chinese media, just for the full story. You might refuse to do so because they are controlled by the government. I ask you to talk to Chinese, you refuse as well because you think there is no need. How "sound" do you think your opinion will be?
  - krschultz 16y ago
    I have friends born & raised in China who say the exact opposite of what you are are saying.
    - papersmith 16y ago
      I was reading a popular Chinese forum (tianya.cn) thread on contaminated food, and I was surprised at how anti-government the tone was. (think reddit, but more extreme) There were jokes taking direct jabs at the party and state, and I was amazed that they didn't get taken down. I think Chinese tend to avoid talking shit about their country in front of foreigners to "save face". It seems to be part of the culture.
      - ycseattle 16y ago
        I am not surprised that you are surprised that tianya.cn ( hosted in Beijing) is still online. We talk shit about Chinese government like that when I was in college, and that's more than a decade ago. One of the most famous forum at the time is called "Shui Mu Qing Hua." This is just one of many mythes that western media contributed to, and that's why I ask people to get some first-hand source. Just to clarify, I don't mean there are free speech in China in the same level with that in western countries. I mean the fact that you are surprised is because western media is doing a bad job reporting China and people seem to have complete faith in those news. Now when it comes to talking shit in front of foreigners to save face and part of Chinese culture, I hope you don't mean that Chinese culture is inferior. When my Americans friends talk shit about their government in front of me, they understand that I speak fluent English and I know exactly what they mean. I don't talk shit about Chinese government in front of westerners I am not close with, because I know they don't speak Chinese, know nothing about Chinese culture (or feeling Chinese culture is inferior) and will take my comments out of context. Let me give you an example: giving cash as gift to people you know, friends, colleagues, bosses, is a new year tradition in China, and the money amount can be very large. We have similar gift-exchange for many occasions. This is a tradition that everyone in China follow, and it does make it difficult to fight corruption. In western countries when nobody should accept gift of more than $25 from people with working relationships, there is no way people can understand this, and most likely, they will (or self-righteously) say this tradition is backward. Power to you if you can change a culture, but it is ridiculous to see westerns response when hearing you might receive a cash gift worth a week of your income and there is nothing wrong with it. Culture difference between China and the West, is much bigger than the difference between western countries.
      - deleted 16y ago
        [deleted]
chollida1 16y ago
Lets attack this question from another angle then. Why do you think that China would never do anything to a Google employee if Google the company did something that China didn't like. It has already happened in countries that are supposedly less strict than China, See the case of Italy issuing an arrest warrant for Google employee's due to a youtube video.
ErrantX 16y ago
Hello been to china multiple times. Worked with/for Chinese people - from intellectuals to the government. Yes, I can believe something like that could happen. It could be a way to get back at google for defying them, for example.
nopassrecover 16y ago
You haven't seen what's happened to Australian mining employees have you. Look up Rio Tinto.