The natural disaster will be televised
(posted by Angelica)
It seems a little odd to be offering political analysis in a moment of so much human suffering, but it must be noted that the Chinese government’s response to the massive recent earthquake in Sichuan province is a damned sight more open and competent than I expected. On the negative side, China is still blocking international aid workers. On the positives side, the state media is broadcasting in what appears to be an accurate and timely manner and foreign correspondents are allowed to do their jobs. It seems that the regime is learning from the past. From the NY Times:
In its zigzagging pursuit of a more nimble and effective form of authoritarian rule, China may be having a defining moment. Its harsh crackdown on discontented Tibetans bore the hallmarks of Beijing’s hard-line impulses. But its decision on Tuesday to scale back the elaborate domestic leg of the Olympic torch relay — after a flood of Internet protests calling it insensitive — is a sign that officials are not deaf to public sentiment. [snip]
Chinese Web sites remain heavily censored, and a brief flirtation with openness and responsiveness does not mean that China is headed toward Western-style democracy. On the contrary, if China manages to handle a big natural disaster better than the United States handled hurricane Katrina, the achievement may underscore Beijing’s contention that its largely nonideological brand of authoritarianism can deliver good government as well as fast growth.
I’ve recently read a book called “What does China Think” which does a good job of introducing the different intellectual schools of thoughts that currently exist (are allowed to exist) in China. One theme that pops up over and over again is a government that remains authoritarian but are more responsive to popular sentiments. China, in so many spheres, is a country on the move.
It’s an interesting trend to be observed for sure. But I don’t know exactly how to <i>feel</i> about this. I’m sure the Chinese people prefer living under a responsive authoritarian regime than an unresponsive one. But part of me is also terrified that the Chinese government is going to do such a good job of placating their citizens that they are going to look at western democracy and say “no thanks.”
I used to take it for granted that as China gains in prosperity, openness and a demand for democracy will inevitably follow. I am no longer quite so sure.
Tags: authoritarianism, china, disasters, media
May 14th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
In fairness to the Chinese govt, the federal authorities in NOLA took a pretty negative and authoritarian attitude toward aid workers after Katrina. My email groups were filled, in Sept. ‘05, with first-hand accounts of armed thugs in uniform manning bridges and freeway exists, turning away unapproved aid workers at gunpoint. And the population inside the city were treated as an occupied enemy population. It’s pretty clear where Jericho got the ideas for Ravenswood.
May 14th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Kevin, that is a good point about New Orleans after Katrina: the government hired a bunch of Blackwater thugs and sent them in to “defend” the city. Consider what Lindsay Beyerstein wrote here:
May 14th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I suspected the repressiveness of the Chinese regime is blown out of proportion by Westerners seeking to score some ideological or political points. I know a number of Americans who’ve lived or worked in China. They don’t have any more horror stories about life there than an attentive American would have.
I know someone who was riding in a car in Beijing when the driver was pulled over for drunk driving. All the police did was give the driver a ticket ordering him to go to a class on the evils of drunk driving. That’s more lenient than American police and courts typically are.
May 14th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
That Blackwater idiot is lucky he stuck his head in a window that didn’t have the barrel of a 12-gauge waiting for him.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Keith,
To me, getting the book thrown at me as a drunk driver endangering the life of others is much more acceptable and less repressive than being thrown in jail for criticizing the government or having all the information available to me censored, taking out whatever the government does not want me to see.
The point of my post is not that the Chinese regime is not repressive. They are. And I would loath to live under such a system. However, it must also be acknowledged that they are evolving to be less heavy-handed in their tactics.
Jackson,
That’s awful. The fact t that the US treatment of Katrina might compare unfavorably with how the CCP is dealing with Sichuan really flabbergasts me.
b-psycho,
Nice fantasy.
May 14th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
I was being serious. Even in non disaster areas rushing someone’s vehicle isn’t smart.