I find your China narratives difficult to reconcile with my own experience - albeit brief. Are Chinese allowed to travel, settle and work anywhere they wish in China? Is it possible to criticize the ruling Communist Party? Isn’t most of the middle-class comprised of the Communist Party elites or their children?
What kind of religious and political freedoms do the Tibetans have? How would you explain the forced confinement of 1M+ Uighurs?
I know Shanghai rivals any advanced western city. But this and the middle-class elites represent a tiny portion of China.
Are Chinese allowed to travel, settle and work anywhere they wish in China?
Yes, of course. Don't be silly.
Is it possible to criticize the ruling Communist Party?
Nope. They make the rules. Is it ok to to criticize Hillary Clinton without risking your life?
Isn’t most of the middle-class comprised of the Communist Party elites or their children?
No. No. No. What a load of BS. I think you really need to read my posted links, because your imaginations are way, way off the deep end.
What kind of religious and political freedoms do the Tibetans have?
I have no idea. They live far away from me. Tell me, what about the religious freedoms that the Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut have? How about the businesses that they own and start up?
How would you explain the forced confinement of 1M+ Uighurs?
I don't know. I don't know any Uighurs. Do you? I do know that they attacked a train stain and killed a few hundred people.
I know Shanghai rivals any advanced western city. But this and the middle-class elites represent a tiny portion of China.
Nope. You are very, very wrong.
Your perceptions sound more like a rehash of talking points off CNN or MSNBC. I would strongly urge you to buy a ticket and visit it yourself. In lieu of that, just read my post
HERE.
Meanwhile, Im' just going to sit drinking my wine, go ahead smoking my stogie and petting my dog inside Starbucks here in China. China is not what you think it is. Not by a long shot.
My argument is a simple one. The world outside of America does not look like a "save the children" commercial. China is no longer run by hard-line communists, it is run by Chinese conservatives following free-market (Deng) policies. It is not a democracy, and I am glad that it is not.
Do you know the first shock that I had when I moved to Massachusetts? It was that I was not allowed to pump my own gasoline in the car. I was outraged. But you know what, after a while, I liked the law. I did not pay more for the privilege. The so-called value added savings for pumping my own gas was just a marketing gimmick to get me to do work instead of the stations having to hire people to do it.
I live in China. There are things that I do not like about it. For instance, I really miss a Ruben sandwich. But overall it's ok.
I note that the questions that you raise are NOT about your day to day life. You raised key issues promoted by the American media. Day to day issues are the cost of Netflix movies, the traffic going to work, the taxes you pay, and how easy it is to get healthy food. You didn't ask me any of those things. You asked me about soundbites...
What the heck doe the Uhiguars have to do with me? Nothing. What do they have to do with you? Nothing. So why talk about them?