China is a country that has a greater degree of control over the everyday free speech of its citizens, compared to many other countries. Yet with over half a billion Internet users, even with the resources of the Chinese state at its disposal, keeping a lid on dissenting voices and opinions can be a challenge. Word will come out.
This is a fascinating book that looks behind the “Great Firewall” and considers how China is getting slightly more free speech than it has been used to. Of course, the state has not opened the door and let a free-for-all to take place, but the development and progress we see today is quite surprising. Many Chinese Internet users have learned to be somewhat creative with their communications: thus far it seems a winning formula or the best approach.
Coming from the west, it can be hard to totally understand how things are in China; although the so-called freedoms we enjoy here may be an illusion at times: it often feels that we are heading towards greater restrictions slowly but surely, even adopting self-censorship, whilst other countries are going the opposite way! So this book was an enjoyable eye-opener on so many levels, allowing the reader to see how China’s long march to free speech is developing, prospering and moving forward; even with the watchful eye and potential heavy hand of the State close by.
The Internet and various online services are transforming the life of many everyday Chinese, giving them a voice and potential hope to rally against the rich and powerful, whether it is a mother seeking justice for her 11-year-old daughter who was held in a brothel and raped for months, or someone slowly using social media to expose local corruption. It can be a citizenry blowing off steam about injustices or just rallying support for a new cause. The scope is endless; and that can be a double-edged sword to a cautious administration that has been used to fairly obedient, unquestioning control…
Some of the ways in which the authority of the state is being questioned is quite innovative and clever. Such as this example from the book: “…the movement against Internet censorship has a mascot as cute as any you might find in children's cartoons. The ‘grass-mud horse’ or caonima in Chinese, resembles a fluffy alpaca, but its peculiar name is a homophone for the slightly less cute phrase ‘Fuck your mother.’ Initially, web users lashing out at each other wrote out the homophone to bypass automated censorship mechanisms that blocked foul language. Over time, however, the grass-mud horse came to symbolize anger with the censorship itself, and the ‘mother’ referred to the Party (which often describes itself as the mother of the people)”
This is a book that you should read for so many different reasons. It gives an insight into a wonderful country, it shows a side to its society that you might not ordinarily see and it shows how hope, ingenuity and a bit of daring can yield great results. It is not a book full of nerdish descriptions and neither do you need to have any real understanding about Chinese society. The author carefully and expertly weaves stories together to make this a great general book and a wonderful specialist book, all at the same time.
Reading it was a pleasure. It did not make one negative towards the Chinese state or its people; yet it did make one a little bit more informed and gave hope for one’s fellow man. Out of restriction, adversity or trouble can come innovation, hope and maybe change.
Let 100 Voices Speak, written by Liz Carter and published by I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9781780769851. YYYYY
