China Censors Video Games

Chinese Premier Hu recently warned his political party of danger from the west. Uh, not military danger, but rather the danger of video games. Yes, video games are now seen as a threat to the dictatorship in China. He announced in a speech that was publicized widely by the Chinese press that "international hostile forces use thought and culture to Westernize and split China."

I guess he is right if you define "hostile forces" as the movement to more freedom in China and "westernizing and splitting China" as allowing ideas to enter China without censorship by the government. The Chinese dictators have always censored speech and ideas, even the most innocent music (they once banned a syrupy Backstreet Boys tune). But the fact that non political video games is on their list shows they are losing the battle between dictatorship and democracy.

Since opening the country to capitalism, China has tried bring economic gains without the political and personal freedoms that are attached to them. That can be achieved for awhile, but as the economy grows more and more, democratic cultural and personal freedoms are put on display, and the dictators will gradually lose control. Through massive government investment in China and attempts to censor anything that is contrary to the Communist party line, the dictators think they can control the culture in China and steer it to acceptance of the dictatorship. It is doubtful that will work. Essentially, the dictators have to either reassert total control over the population and deny any freedom at all, which endangers the economic growth, or they can continue to open China to whatever cultural contamination (the freedom) that comes into China along with the economic benefits.

Recently the dictators banned about 2/3 of the Western and Chinese created copies of Western entertainment shows on Chinese TV (silly, harmless stuff like American Idol style shows) because it was claimed that they are "excessive entertainment and a trend toward low taste. They are probably right on both counts. Western TV shows are mostly mind mumbing drivel. But people everywhere do want to decide themselves whether to watch that mess or find more enlightening alternatives.

In fact, this nervous reaction against harmless western influences shows that the Chinese government is worried that the "Arab Spring" revolutions might eventually spread to China, endangering their control and eventually mean they would be overthrown and replaced with some form of less restrictive government. The Chinese dictators have always believed that the citizens can be controlled by controlling the culture. But is it possible to control that now, in the age of multi communication devices that spew forth any idea one is curious to see or read about?

Too, the dictators think they can solve China's domestic problems by manipulating the culture and information it allows the residents to hear. But the manipulation and control is also why China is such a non creative society that produces little cultural products (art, literature etc.) that other societies want. No doubt lessening the control today in China would regenerate today the once great cultural contributions China gave the world, pre Communism. But then, dictators are only really concerned about keeping control, not strengthening the cultural identity of the nation.

So the struggle between economic prosperity and freedom versus dictatorship is heating up in China. Has the government opened the door too widely to close it again? We may find out sooner than later.