China was once the most advanced civilisation in the world. What happened?
In the late 20th and early 21st century, things were improving in China.
Now China’s future looks grim.
The Chinese people are caught between a rock and a hard place.
They are beginning to despair.
Some westerners think the Chinese government is a better form of government than our western forms of government. They would do well to consider the answers to these questions.
What will happen to you if you live in China, and you publicly criticise the Chinese government?
What will happen to you if you live in Australia, and you publicly criticise the Australian government?
What will happen to you if you live in America, and you publicly criticise the America government?
Like the west, China is in a moral free fall. And like western nations, many of the social problems are a result of government policy.
The Chinese do not like westerners drawing attention to things like this. (TikTok was all about making China look good and the west looking bad. That is one of the reasons why the Chinese government fought so hard to keep it under their control. Saving face is very important to the Chinese.)
How China appears is more important than political reform for many, perhaps most Chinese. So much so, that if you criticise the Chinese government many Chinese will take it personally. They will act as though your criticism of their government is a criticism of them. The Communist Party of China have successfully managed to convince many Chinese that any criticism of the Party is a criticism of the people and is therefore viewed by many Chinese as being racist.
This is strange. If people criticise my government, I do not feel like it is a criticism of me personally. I may even join in the criticism because I know the only way to correct a problem with any government policy is to first draw attention to it.
All sorts of problems are difficult to address when you do not allow freedom of speech.
Enormous amounts of money are wasted in China because people are afraid to criticise government projects. (See 127m Shiplift & 500t Ship Navigating on Viaducts | 471 Million USD Stupid White Elephant Project). Censorship comes at a cost.
“But what about all those videos by foreign influences saying things in China are great?”
How can a people or a government improve if they are not willing to listen to criticism and admit to their mistakes? Confession is not a weakness, it’s a strength. (See China Really Doesn't Want Anybody to See This - CENSORED to the max!)
Is it painful to admit to mistakes? It can be. But “with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2).
The Chinese Communist Party is not really concerned about what is harmful to the people. They are far more concerned with what is harmful to the Party. That's why many books have been banned and people are often persecuted for saying what they believe (e.g. Only the Chinese “approved” version of the Bible is allowed and at present, the Bible is being rewritten in an attempt to destroy Christianity in China because the CCP regards Christianity as a threat. See China Rewrites the Bible | Christian World News - August 25, 2023 and Is China Rewriting the Bible?).
It's time for the Chinese people to ask themselves the following question: What would China be like if it had the same form of government as Taiwan?
If enough people in China (and Chinese oversees) admit to the terrible things the Chinese government have done—and are doing—there is hope for China. If not, China will continue its present decline.
Peter Hartcher on why China is tanking its economy on purpose
America Bad, China Good Because China Said So!