Three weeks ago I traveled to Beijing for a scientific conference. This is my first trip to China and I really did not know what to expect. The primary was heavily on my mind and influenced my impressions and also served as a topic of discussion with my hosts.
The Chinese I met were friendly, curious about the "America" (in China, America=US) and above all, down-to-earth. They are concerned about sustainability and about how they will feed their people. They are convinced that China cannot go to the international market for food. The country is simply too big and they have promised the other Asian countries that they will be self sufficient. They have 9% of the arable land and 22% of the global population.
Some of the faculty have spent time in the US or abroad but all of faculty and students I am interacting with are conversant in our politics, regardless of whether they have traveled to the US (most of them have not). A few have asked me who I am supporting and cheered or grinned when I showed them my Obama button which is pinned on my backpack. Many were skeptical that America would elect a black president. The students asked wistfully if the young people were engaged in the election. Another student saw my button and said "Go Obama!".
After being here a week, I thought, well, they have a different government structure but things seem to be OK (other than the usual state sponsored aggression which all governments engage in). I saw a lot of efforts aimed at improving things for the Chinese peasant farmers. I saw how a coordinated national effort had made great strides in some key areas.
Then I learned a few more things.
When I was discussing a collaborative paper with one of the Chinese faculty, I mentioned the need to consider policy and address the changes that might need to occur to solve the particular problem that we would be analyzing in this paper. He stopped for a minute and then carefully said, "We need to be careful, it is dangerous for us to criticize the government." This hit me hard. I mean, I know it is not a democratic government, but it is impossible to write a paper about environmental issues and policies without discussing how to change the policies. I am constantly criticizing US environmental policies using results from my research. I am still thinking about how can you make changes in a situation where the government policy is creating the problem if you cannot discuss the short-comings or needed improvements in the policy? ? ??
As time passed and we became better acquainted, more comments were dropped about lack of freedom. "We do not get to decide."
Then I went to Tiananamen Square. I had asked to go to visit Tiananmen Square while I was here. I wanted to make a pilgrimage to the square and give respect to the protesters who were killed in the 1989 democracy movement. I felt a kinship with them because I have also engaged in civil disobedience in the US and while it was scary at times and some of us were injured by police brutality, no one was shot. The night before we were to go, I decided I’d better try to learn a little more about the square and the protests that took place in 1989. This was my first experience with censorship. I could not get to any website that showed up on Google with information about the protests. The Tiananmen Square page at Wikipedia could be accessed but not the section on the protests. Interesting.
As I walked though Tiananmen Square the next day, I had a chance to reflect and to think about how lucky I was to have had the opportunity to participate in democracy, even a flawed democracy. I felt the hope of the million Chinese who had gathered in the square and who had that hope shattered as tanks moved in and shots were fired on June 4th 1989. I have not participated fully in our democracy.
And I thought about my hope for our county. I did not vote in the last presidential election, I was too discouraged. In fact, I have not be active in a political campaign since I was in graduate school in the 1980's. I am another person who has re-joined the process because of the Obama campaign.
I watched the end of the primary from here in Beijing. I was glad that I could follow it on the internet. (Daily Kos is not a blocked site. At least not yet!) The contrast I have just experienced has been powerful because of this movement that is emerging in the US. If there was any doubt about whether or not I will continue to be engaged, my experience here in China has eliminated the possibility that I will drop out again.
We are very lucky to have the possibility for democracy, and the possibility for free speech. Yes, I know that there are lists. And I have experienced some serious violations of my civil rights. But we can still prevent our country from becoming yet another repressive state. I promise, from this day forward to pay attention to what my representatives in government are doing and to demand that they are accountable for their actions. I will add my voice to the progressive movement, give some of my time and money to make sure we have a better democracy for future generations.
Go Obama!!