Fear cuts deeper than swords.
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
When I got my new passport, some friends who know I’m pro-liberty congratulated me: “Now you’re free!” I told them, a little bit sadly: ”Yes. As long as I have nothing to do with China.” In this post I want to share my fear, which I think many other mainlanders are also facing, no matter they’re still in mainland China or already immigrated. Even the second and third generation of Chinese immigrants have the fear, too.
First of all, I have to confess that my personality is a bit sensitive, for example, I would think I could be the next when I see someone got arrested just because of one post, even I don’t care about politics. So I beg your pardon if the content below sounds exaggerating and sentimental.
What am I afraid of?
I’m constantly afraid of two things: Chinese government and the people well educated by it. Chinese government may be the most powerful totalitarian regime in human history. With the help of advanced technology and weaponized legal system, it can locate and punish everyone who lives in mainland China. In China you have to use your phone number to register an account of any social platform and you have to show your ID card or passport when you buy a phone number. If you post something against the government, they can find you and your family very easily when they want. That’s why some people say: Be grateful if Weibo just delete your posts. They’re protecting you from the police.
The regime can get you even you have immigrated, unless you cut all the ties with mainland China. Almost every overseas mainlander has family, friends, or relatives in mainland China, and you want to visit them once a while. The regime can refuse to approve your visa if you dare say something publicly against it. They can arrest you when you’re in mainland China. They can also punish your family and friends as they want. Everything they do is legal in China and they’ll claim they’re just punishing criminals. They can make you a criminal in many ways, such as send a prostitute to your hotel room. In last 20 years they were getting better and better at weaponizng everything, including visa and legal system.
The regime is scary. But the people well educated by it are scarier. Some people are brainwashed by CCP or just want to benefit from CCP, you’re a “bad guy” if you criticize the Chinese government. Some people think they’re open minded and not brainwashed. They’d like to criticize the government. However, as I mentioned in my last post, they’re instilled lots of “red lines” which are against diversity and other western values. If you cross their red line, for example, say “I think Taiwan is not China”, you’re a “bad guy”, too.
How do we treat a bad guy? A bad guy is our enemy. We should punish and humiliate them in any possible way. They would report you to the regime. They would post your private message on Chinese social networks so other Chinese patriots could help doxxing you. The personal information of your family would be posted online. Your parents maybe get humiliated by the neighbors. And they think they’re doing the right thing to protect China.
I’m living in the West and I always avoid to meet other mainlanders unless they’re my friends or friends of my friends. I’m not a racist and don’t hate mainlanders. I’m just afraid that we may have different political opinions and they just report me. When I visited China, I was also reluctant to talk about politics with old friends. The nationalism was so strong in China since Xi Jinping became the president, I didn’t know if my friends are changed.
China doesn’t have strong religions like the West. Chinese people have been ruled by Confucianism for thousands years. In Confucianism family is as important as the religion. CCP knows it quite well, so it always links “family” to “China”, then to CCP. “China is always your family, no matter where you are living now”. Do you love your family? If yes, you have to love mainland China and CCP. This kind of education is very successful. Lots of overseas mainlanders will teach their children to love China, even their children are American citizens. They will also teach their children to stay silent about China, pass the fear to next generation.
Due to the fear, you can hardly hear any public voice against CCP from mainlanders. All you can see is an arrogant regime and many aggressive nationalists.
What can we do about it?
I don’t think we can do anything inside mainland China. CCP is still very powerful and controls everything in mainland China. But in the West we can do something to at least protect the mainlanders who are not agree with the regime. The West has tolerated CCP for too long. You can read this report from Hoover institution: https://www.hoover.org/research/chinas-influence-american-interests-promoting-constructive-vigilance . We shouldn’t allow CCP censor the West in any way. It’s okay to be pro-CCP, but their visa or residence should be revoked if they report their classmates who disagree with them. We shouldn’t tolerate the intolerance.
Another thing we can do is blocking the Chinese social media, WeChat and Weibo. Lots of overseas Chinese consume information in Chinese only on WeChat and Weibo. They don’t read local media. Because there is no journalism and diversity in mainland China, WeChat and Weibo are full of fake news, propaganda, and racism content. That’s why so many overseas Chinese are Trump supporters. They just keep being educated by WeChat and Weibo after living many years in the US. It’s a huge threat for the West. China can manipulate the election in the West by just using WeChat if you know how many overseas Chinese have the right to vote.
I think if we block the Chinese social media, the mainlanders then have to read more in English and leave their echo chamber. (More about how they get the information: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-post-truth-publication-where-chinese-students-in-america-get-their-news) Someone may think it violates the right of free press, but as I mentioned earlier, we shouldn’t tolerate the intolerance, or else we won’t have free press anymore. By the way, it’s also reciprocal to China’s Internet policy. They banned almost every social media and newspapers from the West in the name of national security.
I also hope the West could force CCP open the Internet, but it’s implausible. CCP will lost its control at the moment people could see the world outside.
Please leave a comment if you have any other ideas. I would like to hear from you. And I hope some day in the near future, all mainlanders can live without fear.