Understanding China

Chinese and Japanese have a love-and-hate relationship. On one hand, Chinese love Japanese products – “Made in Japan”is a sign of high quality and can command a higher premium. On the other hand, Chinese will never forget cruelty of the Japanese army during the second Sino-Japanese war (1937-1945). In the recent years, many Chinese TV series are still about that period – how Chinese army fought against Japanese. It is not that Chinese do not want to forget, but Japanese keep reminding them about that painful history. e.g. Japanese have never officially apologized for its actionsand its leaders keep visiting Yasukuni Shrine, which hosts top war criminals

News freedom has long been an issue in China. The government used to be able to control messages to the public as the media is limited. With proliferation of Internet and progress of many forms of social media, this type of control becomes harder and harder. Instead fighting against Internet, the Chinese government should consider use it to its advantage and become more transparent it its dealing. For example, in the recent Uighurs and Han conflict, banning media coverage only makes the situation suspicious to the outside world Would media freedom also brings distortion, rumors, misinterpretation? Yes, it can also bring many truths for people to judge. No news is not good news.

Tomorrow, July 1st, is the birthday of the Chinese Communist Party. This party is the backbone of the Chinese society.
The late communist party leader, Mao ZeDong, is often credited with founding PRC, at the same time, setting it back… many decades through the cultural revolution. Chinese tend to have bipolar views about him. Contrary to common belief, there are other parties in China, in addition to CP. These parties have a voice in the government, albeit limited. Being a communist party member does help one advance in his/her professional career. However, it is not necessarily a prerequisite.