AN INTERVIEW WITH A PERSON WHO EXPERIENCED THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION (PART 3/3):
Do you think present day China is free?
It is not completely free, but it was much better than the environment during the Cultural Revolution. Punishment was not as severe as in the Cultural Revolution though bad talks about your employer or the government would make you look really bad. I'm glad with these expansions in freedom of expression, but I am still hoping for more rights that would make China a better country.
The New developments
As China reformed, the government took up the responsibility of managing the country, started the first wave of foreign direct investment in 1985, and opened its borders for trade. The 2012 Gross Domestic Product is about 159 times greater comparing to the GDP at the end of Cultural Revolution, making China second in 2012 World GDP ranking. Education were also improved. Universities were reopened, but the ones who were eligible to enroll were students recommended by the political officials. In the fall of 1977, Deng Xiaoping, released an examination which is now officially known as National Higher Education Entrance Examination. It was a fair test that gave everyone a chance to get into college. In 2010, more than 31 million students took the exam and received higher education.
the free thoughts
Presently, at least 300 million Chinese have joined social networks to express their thoughts or create their own copyright information. 99% of 420 million people who have internet access use the search engine Baidu that is similar to Google and enjoy the freedom of press. On August 14, 2009, theSina Company launched a government approved program, Weibo, where citizens were given the rights to freely express their ideas and share others' post for more to see. In 2012, Weibo had more than 350 million users across China. Weibo not only widened citizens' freedom of expression, but it also quickly inform citizens with the latest news.
The secured rights
Now the citizens in China enjoy a range of speech, assembly, association, procession, and demonstration freedom. From creating one's own blog to owning historical artifacts, Chinese citizens' rights had substantially improved, comparing to the Revolution period. Also, due to their awful experiences during the Cultural Revolution, article 43 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China passed in 1979 by the newly formed government stated that "the death penalty is only applicable to criminals who have committed the most heinous of crimes…”, thus limiting the government from giving capital punishments to citizens without a proper trial or judgment.
"For the freedom of expression, there was no level limit to movies and books; we can access the knowledge whenever we want to. I loved the new social media website that allows me to express my feelings while hearing other’s. There are no “restrictions” to how far your criticisms can go, and it was better than before, where we weren’t allow to criticize Mao even if the Revolution ended."
--Personal interview with whom experienced the Cultural Revolution
With the balance between government responsibilities and citizen rights, together they have put in every effort to rebuild the country from its dark past and welcome its unknown future.