A 15-year-old girl from China has shared my home for the past ten months, and she knows nothing about the Tiananmen Square incident that occurred 20 years ago today. She attends school back home until 10:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and half a day Saturdays; she's already had three years of physics; and in general she's educated way beyond the typical American of the same age. Yet she knows nothing of Tiananmen Square. Those words don't ring the same bells for her as they do for the entire Western world.
What is going on in China? They have a remarkable system of censorship, cover-up and brainwashing, as I've discovered the past ten months. When our exchange student first arrived, she still got her news from Chinese sources online, and I quickly learned she was not getting the same news as I was.
For example, when it came out that the little girl was lip-syncing in the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies, this detail was missing from the official Chinese news. My exchange student didn't believe me when I told her! Same thing when it came out that the Chinese government was squashing inquiries after the earthquake. You wouldn't find that in Chinese news sources, either.
As for the touchy subjects, she had an official party line response. Take Falun Gong, for instance. When I said the members were harmless and being sent off to labor camps in China, she didn't believe me. She said they were dangerous, that all they wanted to do was publicly kill themselves, and that they didn't exist anymore! I said they exist right here in the United States, and also in China, and she couldn't believe it. Never even heard of labor camps. Do labor camps really exist? her quizzical expression seemed to ask.
As for the Dalai Lama and Tibet, don't even mention it. That topic gets a very sharp response from a Chinese person indoctrinated in the party line, and coming from a proud Communist family.
Still, I've encouraged her to learn whatever she can about all the sensitive topics -- from the Western perspective -- while she's able to, and to also read Western news sources while she can, because she definitely won't be getting the same news when she returns to China! So many websites are blocked, and so many stories are skewed or wiped under the rug. Yet this also was news to her. I pointed out all the lists of blocked websites and news stories, especially during the Olympics, and it was the first she had heard of the matter.
So far, I haven't seen a huge change in our exchange student's opinions, except perhaps in the area of religion. She has been involved in a local Chinese Christian church, and she plans to take back to China a collection of Chinese language Bibles and Christian literature -- for her own reading and to share with her parents. I'm a little concerned about how this will go over, both in her home and in her community. I'm concerned they might even confiscate her books at customs, or that she will face persecution if she gets involved in an underground church over there -- the only churches that seem vibrant, as the official churches are largely spurned.
Back in China, however, her parents and friends have different concerns for her upcoming return trip. "Wear a face mask on the plane," they tell her, so she won't get swine flu. "And be prepared in case the government quarantines you for several days upon arrival."
What is going on in China? They have a remarkable system of censorship, cover-up and brainwashing, as I've discovered the past ten months. When our exchange student first arrived, she still got her news from Chinese sources online, and I quickly learned she was not getting the same news as I was.
For example, when it came out that the little girl was lip-syncing in the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies, this detail was missing from the official Chinese news. My exchange student didn't believe me when I told her! Same thing when it came out that the Chinese government was squashing inquiries after the earthquake. You wouldn't find that in Chinese news sources, either.
As for the touchy subjects, she had an official party line response. Take Falun Gong, for instance. When I said the members were harmless and being sent off to labor camps in China, she didn't believe me. She said they were dangerous, that all they wanted to do was publicly kill themselves, and that they didn't exist anymore! I said they exist right here in the United States, and also in China, and she couldn't believe it. Never even heard of labor camps. Do labor camps really exist? her quizzical expression seemed to ask.
As for the Dalai Lama and Tibet, don't even mention it. That topic gets a very sharp response from a Chinese person indoctrinated in the party line, and coming from a proud Communist family.
Still, I've encouraged her to learn whatever she can about all the sensitive topics -- from the Western perspective -- while she's able to, and to also read Western news sources while she can, because she definitely won't be getting the same news when she returns to China! So many websites are blocked, and so many stories are skewed or wiped under the rug. Yet this also was news to her. I pointed out all the lists of blocked websites and news stories, especially during the Olympics, and it was the first she had heard of the matter.
So far, I haven't seen a huge change in our exchange student's opinions, except perhaps in the area of religion. She has been involved in a local Chinese Christian church, and she plans to take back to China a collection of Chinese language Bibles and Christian literature -- for her own reading and to share with her parents. I'm a little concerned about how this will go over, both in her home and in her community. I'm concerned they might even confiscate her books at customs, or that she will face persecution if she gets involved in an underground church over there -- the only churches that seem vibrant, as the official churches are largely spurned.
Back in China, however, her parents and friends have different concerns for her upcoming return trip. "Wear a face mask on the plane," they tell her, so she won't get swine flu. "And be prepared in case the government quarantines you for several days upon arrival."
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