In reading the second excerpt from Guthrie, it really shows that communism in China is vulnerable to collapse. There are several forces from past and present situations that have lead to this unstable state of politics.
Guthrie continues to assert that Deng's push for economic reform and freedom in China is a huge reason that political freedom is increasingly being called for. With private enterprises forming in China, more jobs opened up for young people to take up. These jobs, unlike government jobs, would allow them to express their opinions without fear of losing their job, career, or freedom. Additionally, if college students decide to express support for democracy in their clubs and scholastic life, they still have numerous business-related companies willing and happy to hire them. This type of climate encourages young Chinese to think however they desire.
Then Tiananmen Square protests and subsequent military intervention occured in 1989. This movement seems important for democracy in China for a number of reasons. First of all, students opened the movement to ordinary, less educated citizens in a way it was never available to them before. All of a sudden, a different, much larger population felt power to change their status. Second, the violence taken against the students really showed how oppressive the government was. The pictures and stories spread by the international media also helped to show both internal and external parties that communist forces were using violence to squash something other societies in the world feel is a human right, freedom of expression.
After this pivotal event, free enterprise in China really took off. This lead to another group that erodes the communist hold in China: entrepreneurs and private business owners. These people have security in their businesses and money and this are not fearful of the starvation and loss of jobs that can occur when someone fights the government. Thus, this group is not afraid to fight for democratic practices that would further benefit economy and autonomy for their industries in China.
A final factor in creating an environment for democracy in China is the currently evolving free-flow of information evident not only in China but also the whole world. Journalists in China have more choice in opinion after Tiananmen allowed them to showcase the human rights issues. And now, the Internet has allowed internal journalists to communicate with the world and the world to communicate with China about political issues. Thus, with current technology, people in China are more aware of what other political systems exist in the world.
It makes sense that China is on a path to be more open and grass-roots centered. The people have more choice between communism and other ways and feel less fear that going against the grain will ruin the rest of their lives. The evidence is clear in the dissident blogs scattered all over the Internet.
One such site I visited is . The site is interesting because it not only lists current issues important to non-party members, but it also has a special section devoted to current political prisoners. This can be accessed through Beijing Olympics 2008 Take Action Now! link and selecting one of the photos listed. It provides a face to the human rights violation previously abstract to both the Chinese people and more importantly the rest of the world. A picture of the prisoner featured this month is above. He is one of the brave faces of the new, less cautious Chinese people.
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