Did Obama smuggle a little democracy into China?

// video added November 16, 2009 // 17 comments //
afitzgerald

more from Tech:

http://blogs.current.com/news/2009/11/16/did-obama-smuggle-a-little-d...

I was watching Obama's town hall meeting with students in Shanghai last night. As he wrapped up his prepared remarks, stepped away from the podium, and began to explain the format of the town hall portion I realized that this might be absolutely foreign to many of these students. Here is a country's President, a very famous and powerful man, asking them to raise their hands and ask him a question. Whatever they asked him, he'd answer. We obviously take this sort of thing for granted - heck our most recent town halls seem to have devolved into purely shouting at our elected officials. But I couldn't shake the feeling that Obama, who was not joined on stage by any major Chinese official, had smuggled a little democracy into the PRC.

[Video is featured. This video of his introducing the concept is from CNN and their anchor, predictably, talks all over him, but you can hear the second half. If anyone can find a clean video - I'll replace this one with it.]

He also, and this was the headlining remark, asserted the American position that it's okay for everyone to use Twitter.

"President Barack Obama pointedly nudged China on Monday to stop censoring Internet access, offering an animated defense of the tool that helped him win the White House and suggesting Beijing need not fear a little criticism...."I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable," Obama told students during his first-ever trip to China. "They can begin to think for themselves."

If the President's goal was to sneak a little democracy into the People's Republic, it seems to have not reached too many citizens. The event was not broadcast nationally - only on local Shanghai stations - and the live feed from the White House web site was reportedly choppy and hard to watch in China.

FROM THE BLOG: http://blogs.current.com/news/2009/11/16/did-obama-smuggle-a-little-democracy-in...

SOURCES: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obama-holds-town-hall-chinese-students-introduces...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091116/ap_on_bi_ge/obama
http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2009/11/15/live-blogging-obamas-shanghai-town...
  1. groups:
    Tech,   News,   Technology,   News_Featured,   2 more
  2. tags:
    Politics,  Barack Obama,  Internet,  China,  11 more

17 comments // Did Obama smuggle a little democracy into China? // Video

  • goodhelvetica
  • EmperorThan
    • 0
      EmperorThan  

    • I bet anything that the Chinese student's 'online questions' were asked by the Chinese government. They sounded too staged. "Mister Obama will you stop giving weapons to Taiwan, prease? We rearry want to take it over..."

      Obama: "What a very, very strangely worded question, but thank you young lady."

    • 3 months ago
  • CarolineS
    • 0
      CarolineS  

    • It's all an act, a big theatrical expensive act! There's no true democracy or communism anywhere, these are just words to divert us, and because it makes us feel better when we label everything.

    • 3 months ago
  • calm_incense
    • 0
      calm_incense  
    • CarolineS:

      Quite true. The United States isn't a democracy in the fullest sense of the word (that is, a direct democracy); it is a republic. And the People's Republic of China isn't any more communist than the United States (that is, it isn't).

    • 3 months ago
  • DRudeBoy
    • 0
      DRudeBoy  
    • CarolineS:

      I don't think there's anything wrong with these things. I prefer living in a Republic to a Direct Democracy, and I bet a lot of people in China prefer the improved standard of living they have now compared to the pre-reform Mao years.

    • 3 months ago
  • fernweher
  • carmalite
    • 0
      carmalite  

    • China is a totalitarian capitalistic country now. A one party state that centralizes authority and ecconomic planning and protects and allows capitalistim that benefits the state.
      They will eat our lunch and it was the doing of our own government by passing NAFTA and encouraging corporations to leave us high and dry. Our scum legislatures helped to destroy the USA and build a potential enemy's strength. We don't even make the giant machines that we need to generate electri ity here! The corporations got rich on the slave labor. They sold out America for CEO and corporate greed.

    • 3 months ago
  • DRudeBoy
  • Nephwrack
  • UrbanGypsy
    • 0
      UrbanGypsy  
    • Nephwrack:

      Yeah, he had to measure his words carefully. I just wish a brave student would have asked him a question about human rights in China. It would have been really great to here what Obama had to say...

    • 3 months ago
  • Nephwrack
  • UrbanGypsy
    • 0
      UrbanGypsy  

    • China is turning into a great country. The one thing that is missing from the equation for China to be a truly great place to be is the authoritarianism of its government...

      As the Chinese people begin to realize their place in society they will begin to ask for rights nd the government will have to begin to accept more particiption in government from them. Obama going over there and holding a Town Hall meeting in the trditional American way will hopefully help awaken this desire in them...

    • 3 months ago
  • DRudeBoy
    • 0
      DRudeBoy  
    • UrbanGypsy:

      I'm not sure how democratic China would come; I think they will, but not our way. The government is pretty good at stopping any protests once they take a political tone. You can protest if your company lays you off, but if you criticize the whole system, they'll tell you to stop.

      My hope is in a new generation of progressive Party officials, there's definitely conflict within the Party, hopefully it will manifest itself in something wonderful for the Chinese people.

    • 3 months ago
  • 402Chicago
    • 0
      402Chicago  

    • very cool to see. It is shocking that we take so much for granted...weird to think that they actually did need to be taught this. Another interesting thing is how he makes it known he'll alternate between girl and boy, knowing China's history. Also, it amazes me how well they all know English, while American students can barely use it correctly let alone another language.

    • 3 months ago
  • samthesixth
  • calm_incense
  • CarlosIsDown

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