Living in Communist China

It is easy to look past communism in China because it is so capitalistic in nature. Everyone is out to make money so in many aspects it does not feel like I am in a communist country – especially when from my bedroom window I see the Intel building. It kind of feels like any other big city around the world. You can go to McDonalds, talk freely on a cell phone, etc.

Then you have these moments of extreme discomfort, and where you realize that although huge advancements have been made in China towards democracy, you are still in a communist country. In our apartment complex there are banners hung from each of the buildings telling foreigners that they must register with the local police station. That is concerning enough, but I have been stopped on two occasions and asked to see my papers. Ironically one of the times I was walking down the street with one of my American Chinese friends. They didn’t request to see her papers.

Another reminder is church – Chinese nationals are not allowed to attend church with foreigners. I didn’t think/care much about it until the other day my friend’s husband in passing told me that he and his wife want to attend church with me. I have been warned that there are many people in China in jail for proselytizing. Once again you do not think much about it because you don’t see jails on your walk to and from kindergarten, but they are there, and I have been warned to be cautious.

Of course websites are monitored and the government chooses what you can and cannot see. I find it rather ironic that major news channels like MSNBC are not blocked, but libertarian websites are. It makes you realize that government not only clamps down on freedom of speech to protect their power, but also to implement policies that otherwise would be very unpopular if people knew what the government was doing.

The government often monitors expat groups and their discussions. You hear and read on various yahoo groups where one member requires other members not to disclose VPN companies, etc. because the government has a history of shutting them down. As of last week my website promoting Congressman work, live, and vote from their home district made the list. www.GovAtHome.com . Now I have to sign into my VPN to access it. A VPN routes all of your web requests through routers in the US or Europe so you have access to all of the news.

It has led to some interesting discussions with Gavin – he wants to know why he can’t watch youtube.com. It is such an amazing educational tool. Anytime he was curious about the body there usually was an animated video that we could pull up to explain how the body worked, diseases, etc.