What is life like in China? How does its economy work? Is it obsessed with censorship, or actually defending its sovereignty against foreign interference? Jo...
  • Imnecomrade@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
    7·
    9 months ago

    I watched this video this morning, and it was an eye-opener and made me appreciate China more. If the US were to crumble or become too dangerous for me to live in (and our efforts to launch a revolution in the US do not succeed), I have been considering the idea of moving to China (and hoping I have the means to do so). They are already very enticing to work for, especially since I want to be a computer hardware engineer in the semiconductor sector with the intention of making electronics to help people, unlike defense or even agricultural work (designing electronics for combines using AI technology to spray herbicides more efficiently while continuing to impose monoculture techniques across the US and further degrade our soil).

    One of my concerns was regarding China’s firewall. If I were to move to China, I wasn’t sure if the firewall would impact my ability to view blocked websites or my ability (and future hobby) to help archive important resources on the internet. I didn’t look much into it nor did I really understand its purpose. I would hear the argument that the Chinese people often use a VPN to circumvent the firewall, so this sounds already much better than the current (not abused yet) and potential tech laws in the US. I didn’t know if the Chinese citizens were breaking the law for circumventing the firewall with a VPN, but apparently it’s not illegal. The purpose of the firewall is to encourage citizens to use their own country’s software, hardware, digital spaces, etc. in order to help with the testing and development of their infrastructure while avoiding becoming dependent on other countries’ tech. Rich Western nations have done the same with their own resources, but now we are pointing a finger at China while banning TikTok in the US because “how dare they compete with us!” China’s firewall serves as a tariff, not censorship. When I learned this, a light bulb went off in my head, and this makes so much sense now.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmygrad.mlOP
      61·
      9 months ago

      I’ve been studying Mandarin for the past two years here, and I’m seriously considering moving to China if I’m able as well. And yeah, from what I’ve read, the whole firewall thing is really overblown in the west. It seems like it’s largely intended as a way to mitigate US media dominance and it’s basically a blacklist for a few particularly offensive sites like Fb.