I am sure that by now you have heard much about the devastating earthquake that happened in China. Being here in China I had the opportunity to experience some of it firsthand. I also had the added opportunity of experiencing a number of things from a better vantage point than those of you located outside of China. I have been able to talk to the Chinese about it and watch their reaction. I could watch news cast from both China and the US on my laptop.
As I watched the coverage here in China I realized something very quickly. The TV coverage was not being censored, but was freely being reported in a manner we would expect in the west. Students started talking about this in the coffee shop and said that there was a feeling of freedom and trust that was really touching their hearts. Seeing this kind of coverage was decreasing their resentment, anger and lack of trust, replacing it with compassion for those suffering and increased trust toward their government. Because this compassion is so real the government is allowing certain groups of people to assemble, to help in the rescue, which were restricted in the past.
One morning, just before I was going to watch the news from a Chinese TV English station, I happened to catch the end of a dialogue program about the TV earthquake coverage that the Chinese government was allowing. These journalists said the coverage was a major milestone and opened up communication freedom in a whole new way. This kind of reporting shows how bad it is; it shows what is being done and why it might be slow; and it reveals the poor quality of the buildings being used for schools and hospitals. When things are exposed, as they are in this current coverage, people begin to see what really happened and where there may have been a lack of responsibility. Granting this freedom of communication makes the government much more vulnerable to questions relating to possible neglect that resulted in excessive suffering.
It will be interesting to watch this and see where it leads and how this might relate to the Olympics. The cost in human suffering is very high because of this earthquake, but when has greater freedom not been costly. Think of all the lives lost in various wars that were waged to obtain freedom or maintain it. I really believe the seeds of something big have been planted. We will have to wait and see how good the harvest is.
As I watched the coverage here in China I realized something very quickly. The TV coverage was not being censored, but was freely being reported in a manner we would expect in the west. Students started talking about this in the coffee shop and said that there was a feeling of freedom and trust that was really touching their hearts. Seeing this kind of coverage was decreasing their resentment, anger and lack of trust, replacing it with compassion for those suffering and increased trust toward their government. Because this compassion is so real the government is allowing certain groups of people to assemble, to help in the rescue, which were restricted in the past.
One morning, just before I was going to watch the news from a Chinese TV English station, I happened to catch the end of a dialogue program about the TV earthquake coverage that the Chinese government was allowing. These journalists said the coverage was a major milestone and opened up communication freedom in a whole new way. This kind of reporting shows how bad it is; it shows what is being done and why it might be slow; and it reveals the poor quality of the buildings being used for schools and hospitals. When things are exposed, as they are in this current coverage, people begin to see what really happened and where there may have been a lack of responsibility. Granting this freedom of communication makes the government much more vulnerable to questions relating to possible neglect that resulted in excessive suffering.
It will be interesting to watch this and see where it leads and how this might relate to the Olympics. The cost in human suffering is very high because of this earthquake, but when has greater freedom not been costly. Think of all the lives lost in various wars that were waged to obtain freedom or maintain it. I really believe the seeds of something big have been planted. We will have to wait and see how good the harvest is.
