Do you think that if the Chinese govt is trying to coax citizens on what to say to foreigners...?

Question

for the Olympics that its quite possible that they try to surpress what people say that work for adoption agencies/orphanages adopting out kiddies to foreigners?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcb_china/20080722/wl_mcb_china/theeightdontasksoftheolympics

Answer 1

As (for example) English is not the "first language" of most Chinese (and probably only a second language to a minority), I don't think the Chinese Government has to worry itself too much about foreigners "chatting to the natives" about internal matters.

I am positive that the people working at the Olympics have been screened and selected to ensure that there isn't any "bad publicity".  But I defy you to find one single modern-day Olympiad where the workers/volunteers weren't screened.

Newsflash:  China hasn't cornered the market on "nuisance makers" who take advantage of international events to air their grievances.

That China has strict laws, prohibitions, and censorship goes without saying.  And I don't doubt the Chinese Government has coached all the people working on the Olympics on what they can discuss and what they can't.  Goes without saying.  I also don't doubt that foreigners visiting the Olympics will probably find that they are not free to travel anywhere they please.  I'm sure there will be restrictions on access to certain areas; but there are a lot of Governments guilty of this (Burma, Thailand, et al) -- so I don't think the Chinese should be singled out for taking this stance.

Answer 2

According to this

http://w     ww.you    tube.co  m/watch?v=OgFxEPePO6g

China controls quite a bit of what their citizens are able to talk to foreigners about.  Why should it be any different because of the Olympics?

(Link to the China's Stolen Children HBO special, on youtube)

Answer 3

Dear Independant,

Interesting Q. From what I understand:

A large number of children in Chinese orphanages are there because of China's policies regarding reproduction. The One Child policy was put in place to curb the population but it has had many sad side-effects. Having "extra" children requires paying fines and sometimes losing certian rights.

Due to the urban One Child Policy, many families who have a female children place them in children's homes, abandon them or even commit infantcide in order to try again for a male (which is traditionally more desirable). This even happens in more rural areas where the policy is more relaxed and sometimes allows for more children - especially if the first child is a girl. Boys are more valuable which is why there are so few Chinese boys available for adoption.

People are occasionally forced to place "extra" children in Orphanages too, because they cannot afford the fines imposed by the government for the "crime" of having more than one offspring and especially in poorer and more rural parts of the country, birth control is expensive and difficult to obtain.

I would be willing to bet that if the One Child policy were to be lifted, there would be far fewer Chinese children available for adoption because people would be more likely to keep them. It isn't that they don't want these children, it is that the government will not allow them to.

We are talking about a country that, at one point, did not even allow its citizens to have their own taste in art. So, yes, I feel that Chinese governmental policies have A LOT to do with how many of its children are "placed" for adoption.

The Chinese culture is steeped in tradition and although the attitude of the PEOPLE may have progressed, the government hasn't quite caught up. (Seems to me they aren't the only country that has some "catching up" to do.)

Answer 4

I'm not going to comment on the ethicality of China's government policies and big brother practices here, we all know what we think of that...

The Chinese people however DO believe that it is their place to make change if they want it and they get offended quite quickly when we go around saying they "should" do this or think that...

As to the "Most don't speak enough English to make it an issue" thing, Well very much to the contrary, in places like Beijing and its suburbs, Guangzhou and Shanghai, all cities FAR, FAR bigger than ANY city you've probably ever seen or even can imagine with out actually going there (for example GZ where I spend a lot of time for work is considerably bigger than NY and LA COMBINED!) there are a lot of people who speak a reasonable amount of English or at least a form of intelligible Chinglish that I hear almost everywhere I go.  Massage girls (don't think dirty, just going out for a foot massage with your friends is a normal nonsexual - no happy ending - thing all over China), waitresses, hotel workers, just people you meet in bars etc often can speak enough of SOMETHING you will understand to communicate with you and they LOVE to talk to Westerners both to practice their English or just because you are a novelty and they are curious or want to make friends...  The Chinese government knows this and are justifiably worried that all their effort and money spent trying to make the world think China is so great will be undermined by all the uncensored truth being told to the tourists (and journalists) by the locals.

Statistics coming out of China are HIGHLY censored and completely unreliable propaganda.  I am sure the official party line on adoption, the one child policy and any number of other issues is dictated to those organizations ahead of time and they know what face they are expected to project to the outside world.  Still I have many Chinese friends and they are pretty genuine and in their day to day life they speak pretty freely and aren't really that affected by government oversite.  There is a surprising amount of freedom within China, its just where it starts to intersect with the outside PUBLIC world where it suddenly gets all paranoid and strange.  China is a facinating place.  I LOVE traveling and working there.  I would definitely live there for a few years stint, but I would NEVER agree to give up my citizenship and willingly subject myself to life under their system of government with all its corruption and general lack of respect for the individual.

Answer 5

china is a shining symbol of human rights. they have no censorship whatsoever. they are a perfect democracy.

that is why we buy so much of our lead based goods from them. so we can grow there economy. i cant wait til the day we are like china.

Answer 6

Do bears c**p in the woods?

The simple answer is "duh."

Answer 7

MamaKate is absolutely right.

ETA:  I just find it odd that a gov't could get away with dictating mass amounts people on what to only speak about.

They can get away with it because China is a COMMUNIST COUNTRY. We should all count our lucky stars that we live in countries where we CAN have our own opinions about absolutely everything.