The Great Firewall of China has struck again, but a bit late this time. Zhang Hong, the chief editor heading one of China’s most important and widespread daily papers, was fired after his article dared to criticize the highly suffocating bureaucracy in China’s legislative customs. One of the main concerns of Zhang’s article turned out to be the one reporting on the Chinese registration system that today ties the population to its original birth town and thus hinders the free flow of citizens migrating around the country. The only problem the Chinese government commando made this time was not preventing this snippet of news reaching some of the major news outlets in Europe and the US. The scandal erupted.
As it is obvious, people from the countryside are the most endangered segment of the current Chinese population, since in order to pursue a financially successful (= not starving to death) life, many of them are lured to the larger metropolises, such as Beijing. However, due to the good old registration system in China, many of the citizen’s rights are only available (!) in their birth town. Such reference to some vague “right of birth” is not as new as it might seem. The notion of "divide et impera", as the great Romans would recite all over the basin of the Mediterranean Sea two thousand years ago, is becoming ever more timely in China. This large country cannot actually afford the larger mega-cities and cannot compensate the economic loss that origins from a shrinking agriculture of the countryside. But the main problem is not about economics. The main problem is about preventing huge masses of people to hear about valuable information that is relevant to their lives; not letting them be near the news outlets and to experience the cracking and popping of the cultural melting pot of the city. The main problem is about preventing people to gather; since if there is a smaller gathering, there surely will be a larger one, and after that: an entire anti-governmental revolutionary party might form itself right there on the street.
The recent Google-scandal that involved Chinese hackers having a little fun with the Great Western Search Engine shed light on the strict Internet censorship in a country which, by the way, fed itself on its own self-esteem one and a half year ago when hosting the Summer Olympics in 2008. Back then, China showed the world what it has got. Zhang’s paper criticized the government, and a few hours later, Zhang was already dismissed. His former colleagues were too terrified to acknowledge the utter nonsense of such governmental repercussions.
What could still intrigue any readers of those few news outlets that could actually snatch the info covering Chinese registration issues is why such an overt punishment, arriving from a centralized government, can still nourish from people’s fear. Of course it can, but until when? Wouldn’t it be a more rewarding strategy to just simply pat Zhang on the back for his effort and make sure he disappears in a few years time, discreetly and quietly? Chinese tyrannical censorship and fake bureaucracy have been outdated to such an extent it could surprise anyone. Well, anyone who does not need to calculate with the everyday fight for survival in the Chinese idyll of living outside a “protecting” city. Still, China’s governmental behavior, especially if we consider this behavior as a strange but potentially dangerous phenomenon that is (most importantly) monitored by the entire West, is something that needs to be put into museums. Under thick glass.
