In the United States Free Speech is defined as “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Freedom of speech is a highly discussed issue as many Americans feel as if there really is no freedom of speech and you can’t just “ say whatever you want.” In reality, yes, you can say whatever you want in the United States- yet depending on what it may be, there are consequences. For the most part, the rules in the United States are, what I perceive to be, for the purposes of protecting its citizens and to ensure safety and comfort for all. In comparison, China claims to have “free speech”, yet the government has shown numerous examples of controlling and restricting speech past what they have stated is acceptable. The Chinese law regarding free speech states, “Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution states that Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of speech and freedom of the press.” China's Publishing Regulations, specify that groups and individuals may not interfere in the lawful exercise of these rights.
According to http://www.cecc.gov/pages/virtualAcad/exp/, Chinese government has gone as far as to put journalist who bring news to foreigners in jail and even blocks broadcasts of certain foreign television shows, websites and radio stations. Chinese government even controls and regulates religious materials in the country and will only allow government-licensed printing enterprises to produce religious materials Perhaps this is for additional revenue to the government? Or the Chinese government is simply that restrictive and truly has a strong, communist-like hold on their citizens. I feel it is a little bit of both. The arrests of both Wang Zaiqing and Cai Zhuohua, pastors of the Christian faith, were arrested because they printed and gave away Bibles and other Christian literature. This clearly is a violation of the International Human Rights regarding the freedom of speech. How can a government imprison a man of “faith” because he GAVE away some literature regarding a religion? It’s not like the men even made profits off of these prints. That is what seems ridiculous to me. Just from this simple article about how there are crazy restrictions in China on speech makes me appreciate even more what I have in the United States. China has always notably been restrictive and "protective" of its citizens- ex: great wall of China- huge wall to seclude themselves and ignore and abolish the idea of foreign interaction or influence. Although I do not have an extensive learning about China, I do feel that a great deal of their history was changed and the culture of the country was developed because of the time in history when China was cold and shut off from the world.
I am anxious to go to Poland and Prague next month because I am beginning to think about how differently people live, have grown up and think of restrictions as " normal" and " average." I feel this may evoke some passion in me to encourage change in these countries, yet I must realize even those that are restricted may even like the idea of being restricted, yet I believe the freedom of speech is something that in some way or another every person in the world yearns for in some way or another. Everyone has an opinion and at some point, wants to share.
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I have always heard stuff about China in the news about how they restrict their freedoms there and what is said on television and on the radio and I think it is just ridiculous. I feel like the Chinese government is trying to make decisions for its people by choosing what they watch, what they hear and eventually everything they do. We are lucky to live in a society where we can choices regarding the media.
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