Amongst the hype and excitement surrounding the Beijing Olympics there are some reports coming out of China that are disturbing to say the least.
Like the farce of the angelic singing child in the opening ceremonies, the religious freedoms being shown by the Chinese government during the games is just a pretty facade.
Inside the Olympic Village there is as much freedom as one would expect from a democratic country. Bibles are supplied, as are places of worship for all the major religions. But it seems as soon as one steps out of the confines of the Village, everything is back to ‘normal’. Churches must be registered with the government or run the risk of arrest. Carry a Tibetan flag and you’re likely to be jumped on by a group of armed military police. Being a Pastor of a non-state-sanctioned church is a crime, as is buying a Bible without registering with the Government. Far from being “One World, One Dream”, China is one communism, one regime, and anybody who stands in the way of that is to be eradicated or at the very least hidden away.
To ward off accusations that they are disallowing protestors, Beijing has three allocated “protest zones” for those who are wishing to voice their complaints. Nobody has used them yet, which is understandable when the number of rules for mounting protests there mean there is nothing people are actually allowed to protest about, and people who have applied for official permission to protest have been turned down or arrested.
The crackdown on local organisations, Christian or otherwise, has been devastating. Underground house churches have been raided, pastors incarcerated indefinitely and people arrested for crimes that aren’t even real crimes under the communist government. Harrassment and persecution are even worse than usual, with China pulling out all stops in order to show the world how free and lovely they are.
We can watch these games on TV and see the brightly-coloured brand spanking new venues that have been built on top of the broken lives of China’s own people. But please remember what lies beneath, and pray for those who are suffering.
—-[EDIT 14/08/08 09:50]—- This morning there is more news – a reporter and a bunch of protestors were arrested for unfurling a banner in support of Tibet. I suspect we’ll hear more reports of this type before the games are over.
[...] The Real China Hmm. The Real China… it’s worth a LOOK. [...]
It is bad in some places in China. My step-son went to China to adopt a baby girl and he described the conditions there as deplorable. He had pictures to support what he said. One example was that in one area the people “shared” a common sewage ditch that ran down the middle of the “road” just outside their front doors. Children could/would play there???? And so much more! I have one of the gray prayer bands to remind me to pray for China.
Jabe
Maybe I’m just a meanie, but I have thought from the beginning that having the Olympics in China is just wrong. They made all kinds of huge promises that they haven’t followed through on or have lied about. Are we surprised?
Oh and I hope you know I mean nothing against the people of China; it’s about the government.
I knew what you meant Erin. The Chinese people are beautiful, as are the Russian people, but their governments are just pure evil. The Olympics Comittee is just as unconcerned with human rights as the UN. Could you imagine the world outcry if the US had an opening ceremony that was a religious celebration of all things American? I, for one, would puke.
And those gynmasts are NOT WOMEN or even YOUNG WOMEN…. they are obviously children.
Wow, I knew China was Communist and had it’s problems, but I didn’t know there was this much persecution and oppression.
~Amy
Yeah; all the stuff going on there is just…abominable. I think a country’s human rights record should be taken into consideration when choosing a host city.
And those gynmasts are NOT WOMEN or even YOUNG WOMEN…. they are obviously children. (Tyler Dawn)
I know! They’re little freakin’ girls! That’s just wrong, too.
Jabe, thanks for sharing. There are huge problems all over China, many of them very sad situations involving children.
Erin, I agree very much with your point of view – that the IOC took the Chinese promises at face value and that the Chinese government hasn’t followed through. With all their silly facades they might as well have had the games on
the Narnia movie set. It would have been just as meaningful. It’s definitely not the people – it’s the government. A prime example of the fakeness are the government trained cheer squads they’re busing in. Why could they not have given those tickets to some of their people who couldn’t afford to go to the games? That would have been a much nicer gesture. Instead, they produce a robotic cheer squad that will look nice on TV with matching shirts. *sigh*
Tyler, sad as I am to agree with you, it seems the IOC hasn’t done all it can to ensure the Olympics are as human rights friendly as possible. I know it’s difficult, but if they couldn’t hold China to their promises they shouldn’t have given them the games. And I agree – those Chinese gymnasts would struggle to look 14, let alone 16. I have a nine year old girl, and she would have fit right in with them.
Amy, a lot of people don’t know anything about these things. The Chinese have bullied the world press who are covering the games into silence. The IOC won’t say anything for fear of offending the host country. It’s all a big farce, really. An extremely sad one.
The gymnasts are disturbing, I agree. 16, my ass.
And the IOC is happy to accept Chinese government passports as proof, when they were listed as 14 years old this year in Chinese newspaper reports pre-Olympics.
They’re choosing not to see what’s right in front of them. *sigh*
Heather, thank you for posting the truth about what is going on in China. I knew the Chinese government was corrupt but I had no idea the about the IOC. I don’t have cable so I haven’t watched any of the Olympics and after reading this, I am glad that I haven’t supported it in any way.
I am an American who has been living in China for the past twenty years. I own a home in Beijing where I have a wife and two kids. We speak Chinese in our home.
Much of what is said in the above article is true, some is not. The Chinese do crack down on open demonstrations of any kind. The law says that people can hold a demonstration if it is approved for before hand by the goverment. The result is that no one has ever applied for one and there are no legal demonstrations.
As far as the religious part goes, I feel that they are really quite tolerant of religious people here. I have attended church services in the city of Beijing a number of times (my first wife was Seventh Day Adventist). Church services and home meetings are quite common. However, proselytizing is illegal. You can’t stand in a public place and pass out religious tracts – the police will get you.
The only time religious people get into trouble here is when they get involved in politics or proselytize. If the Chinese police have arrested pastors or other religious people, it is only for this reason. Many American missionaries come here in the guise of English teachers and use their classrooms and home meetings to spread the gospel – both of which are illegal. I have reported Christian proselytizing to the police and to the Chinese Religion Bureau and they did nothing about it. Apparantly, the Chinese will only clamp down if religious people cause trouble.
Oh, and, yes, the Chinese do require religious institutions to register with the government – just more paperwork. However, Bibles are quite available here. They are common in bookstores. I stayed at a hotel in Tianjin one time where there was a Bible and a Book of Mormon placed in the room. The hotel gave them to me for free (Yes, I asked if I could take them.)
During the Olympics, the Chinese government has become much more strict with just about everything. This has had a big effect on me as a foreigner. I get my visa from my status as the spouse of a Chinese citizen. However, now that we have the Olympics, they are not giving me one. In fact, I am sitting in a Net bar in Macao as I write this email because I was required to leave the mainland as my visa ran out on August 13th. I’m usually able to get a visa for a year – this time it will be only a month. I can’t wait for the Olympics to finish. I should get my visa on Monday.
Fakeness is rampant in China. It’s not because of the government, it’s simple part of Chinese culture. This lip-syncing thing is quite common in China. I would say 99% of the music shows on TV are lip-synced. Fake designer products are rampant. Fake Rolex watches, fake Christian Dior bags and clothes are every where. The Chinese are very concerned about how people view them, and if the truth is not good enough, then some sort of fakery is necessary. This is not from the communist influence because the Chinese in Macau, Honk Kong, and Taiwan do it too.
The Chinese have done well with their economic situation in the past thirty years. Thirty years ago, most every one in China lived in abject povery. Now, in the major cities, people seem to be doing quite well, but the people in the countryside are still quite poor.
Alyssa, you’re welcome.
TheAntiChristian, welcome to my blog. Thank you for your reply. I appreciate the feedback from somebody who has spent considerable time in China. I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been unable to renew your visa and you’re separated from your family at the moment.
I beg to differ with your opinion regarding religious freedoms, though. In my understanding, Chinese law prohibits any churches which are not registered with the government. As such, there is still a huge ‘underground’ church system because there are many Christians who want religious freedom separate from the State. It’s not just paperwork, it means that churches must follow rigorous rules including not teaching children about God and other things that would be unconscionable to us. Regarding the availability of Bibles I’m only going on what I’ve read in the media with that so I will take your word for it.
I realise that not ‘losing face’ is extremely important to the Chinese as a culture. It probably galls us in the West a little more than it should, but we generally view being fake as worse than being wrong. It upsets me (and probably most other Westerners) that there is so much pretence. The story of Yang Peiyi, the actual voice from the opening ceremony, really bothers me. I can’t even imagine the detriment it does to a little girl’s self-esteem to be told that she can no longer sing at the Olympics because she’s not pretty enough. That is cruelty at its worst, and completely unnecessary.
I realise the economic status of China has improved greatly, however that alone doesn’t erase the guilt that the government has over the treatment of its own citizens. The media is strictly controlled so bad stories don’t get out, as happened with the media blackout over Yang Peiyi. Access to the internet is censored generally, not just during the Olympics, so Chinese people aren’t allowed to learn the truth. The fact that ‘national interest’ is more important than human rights generally in China is a great injustice. When a country loses its heart and conscience, it loses everything.
Heather,
I’m not arguing with you about the accuracy of your reports. Repression of non-registered religious organizations does go on, and the Chinese government does control the media, including the Internet. And, yes, there are a lot of things that the Chinese people just don’t know about because of this.
As westerners, we are appalled at what we consider the violation of basic human rights, but the Chinese (I mean the Chinese people in general, not just the government.) don’t see it that way. Their values are different from ours.
The thing that the Chinese people value most as a society is stability. Five thousand years of Chinese history has been riddled with uprising after uprising, overthrow after overthrow, and these uprisings all began with little cells of secret meetings. An example of this was the Taiping Rebellion in the 19th century. A Christian leader (his name escapes me) claiming to be the brother of Jesus established a great church and a great army as well. So great was his following that they seceded from China and actually made a serious attempt at overthrowing the Chinese government. Other more recent examples include the Nationalist Revolution of 1911 and the Communist takeover in 1949. The Tiananmen Incident of 1989 was also seen as a threat to the government. You see, overthrowing the government is a very real threat to the Chinese. And each of these began with secret meetings. This is why the government requires all organizations, religious or otherwise, to register with the government.
Why has there been so many rebellions and overthrows? It has to do with five thousand years of feudalism. Feudalism is a system in which individuals defer rights to those above them in social status. If you were born into a peasant family, you would be destined to a life of hard labor in poor living conditions with virtually no rights whatsoever. The only way to escape your lot would be to somehow gain a following, stage a rebellion and usurp the residing political institution. In short, in Chinese history, gaining political power and social status was the only way to ensure yourself of your rights.
Another reason why the Chinese government is strict with its people is that the Chinese people are extremely naughty. They view laws, rules, and regulations as mere formalities and are there to be broken.
For example, you can go into any restaurant in Beijing, and if there is a sign on the wall that says “no smoking,” I can almost guarantee you that you will see someone sitting right under that sign smoking. Why? They would like to feel that they are more priviledged than others and that they don’t have to obey the rules.
As another example, Chinese students of all ages feel that it is their natural right to cheat on an exam. They will use cheat sheets, right on their arms or hands, look at other examinees papers, whatever. One of the jobs that I do in China is to work as an exam proctor. At every exam, there are at least two or three examinees who are caught with fake IDs taking the exam for somebody else. They feel quite proud of themselves if they can get away with it, and they feel no shame if they get caught, they just think they are unlucky.
Speaking of fake products, a Chinesesretailer would feel quite proud of himself if he could sell a fake product to someone. He would feel that he is more clever than his customer.
As a final example, I used work in a Chinese company in Beijing. I attended a meeting with one of our partners to negotiate a contract. After the negotiation was done, and the partners left, the managers started discussing how to get out of our contractual requirements while getting everything we wanted from them. In addition, the CEO was constantly pilfering money from the company account to do things like refurbish his new home, go on an expensive vacation, etc. I’m sure he felt quite proud at how clever he was.
My point is that Chinese people love to flaut the law. It’s part of their nature. The Chinese would not be miffed at all by the Yang Peiyi incident. Fakery and dishonesty is an accepted part of Chinese culture. The reason that the Chinese government is so strict with their people is because they are so naughty. There would be utter chaos in China if the Chinese people were given the same rights as westerners.
Wow, that is an incredible amount of information there!
I understand that the long history of China makes the ingrained culture very different to ours. But perhaps the law wouldn’t be flouted so much if it was fairer? Rebellious children aren’t often made less rebellious by harsher rules and penalties.
Just an idea. Not saying it would work, or that I am in any way qualified to give advice to an entire government
I can’t truly believe that the Chinese people as a whole are so bad that they require such an enormous amount of rules.
Despite that, I will continue to hate with a passion the human rights abuses that go on in China, as well as the repression caused by not allowing religious (and other) freedoms. A country that so longs to be accepted by the Western world maybe could look at the damage they’re doing to their own reputation by perpetrating such abuse, glossing over their very large number of mistakes and keeping such a tight control over their population.
I very much agree with some of the above comments. In fact today’s Chinese people have become very superficial. If you look at Chinese history, not the propagandistic one projected by the communist party, but the real one – The Chinese, with their High ideals, Daoist and Buddhist values – were a highly civilized race. Taking about “faking”, once the chinese ideal was that its better to lose one’s life than go back on a single promise – much less fake or cheat. In every action people would value virtue and cultivate kindness – such was ancient Chinese culture.
You cant blame the chinese race. We are largely products of the system we grow up in – what would westerners be like – if you were forced to grow up with no belief in God, any values or morality?
What chinese people today have ended up like is solely the product of the communist culture in which they grew up – it urges struggle, fighting for one’s own benefits, no belief in God or morality. In the beginning, to establish that wretched communist culture, they had to kill off tens of millions of chinese but after that it didn’t take long to bring a glorious race down. Now even primary math text books problems start “Three people can make a building for the communist party in 5 hours… ” Constant brainwashing of its citizens which is all the more easier when free media, freedom of speech or unrestricted access to the net are concepts completely alien to the Chinese people. In schools nursery rhymes go ” communist party is good.” Growing up in such a culture how do you expect people to be? If westerners grew up like that – constantly being urged to go against good values, religion, kindness and being brainwashed that struggle and fighting for oneself is the way to go, how would the western world be?
Its a race with rich culture being destroyed by the communists – now on the very verge of collapse. Human beings with no values or belief often turn out to be rather ’self-destructory.’
A series of articles worth reading are the Nine Commentaries ( http://ninecommentaries.com ) – it has lead over 40 million chinese people to publicly denounce the party and the number continues to grow by tens of thousands each day.
Even more shocking are reports of organ harvesting from live Falun Gong practitioners in China – see this article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reports_of_organ_harvesting_from_Falun_Gong_in_China . The source of the organs are people practicing an ancient Buddha School meditative practice for spiritual cultivation – Falun Gong. The persecution of the group is most shocking and to think these are people being persecuted solely for their faith , their determined will to practice their ideals of Truthfulness-Compassion-Endurance – is extremely shocking. The only parallel I can find in history, is what Nero did to kind hearted Christians. What you have there in china is a communist culture that has sunk to the very depths of depravity.
Dilip, welcome and thank you so much for your insight. I really appreciate it.
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