Presented by a group of Chinese Americans, who came to the United States for graduate degrees and became truly appreciative of what this great nation can offer: freedom, justice, opportunities and prosperity.
Because we are perfectly bilingual with family ties to China, a glimpse of our families and friends there painted a dreadful picture of life in China, and to certain degree, what America may become …
Our message is strikingly different from any of the past in that it’s not a rant of the well-published tyranny we all fled from; instead, we choose to present a real picture of today’s China, the China that is under enormous pressure to suppress internal dissent while Hong Kong people protest against the extradition bill (amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance) as their last cry for freedom and democracy.
No one can tell that the average Chinese live in horror under the disguise of a rapidly growing economy. They may look contented and act in “social harmony” but they are well aware that any deviating behavior can be quickly detected by a government surveillance system equipped with facial recognition, national biometrics database, and electronic monitoring, just to name a few.
The highly sophisticated system was spearheaded by Huawei, a Chinese tech firm thrived on stealing intellectual properties and facilitating political suppression. Under this system, the authority can track down any dissident in a matter of minutes.
The first thing a rising tyranny takes away from the people is the freedom of speech. Today we are frightened to observe countless worrisome similarities between trends in America and operations of a communist government; between uninvited fact checkers and Chinese state-controlled news filtering; between required social media account verification and China’s mandatory identity authentication; between fake news and twisted government propaganda; between account shutdowns by big tech and blatant political suppression.
To better understand why America is on the verge of losing its liberty and freedom, we shouldn’t look far beyond China.
If you happen to use Chinese social media apps, be it WeChat or Weibo, chances are most Chinese openly criticize Hong Kong dissidents. How can they be this oblivious? Are they completely politically ignorant? Are they so brainwashed?
Before we quickly jump to a judgment, we should better understand how political suppression of a surveillance state manipulates citizens who are misled by propaganda and in turn, involuntarily and unconsciously, perpetuate a tyranny government.
The tactics are quite simple: first, avoidance of media exposure of unwanted news whatsoever, in this case there was little or no coverage of the protests with a historical turnout. But this proves to be increasingly and technically impossible in a world of internet. Next, the state-controlled propaganda machine kicks in.
A typical news piece contends that “the people of Hong Kong rallied in hundreds of thousands to protest against foreign influence that undermines Hong Kong’s long term prosperity and stability.” As the footage was unable to hide the obvious dissent of the protesters, the political buffoonery continues that “the dissent force inside of Hong Kong conspires with foreign political influence to destroy Hong Kong’s democracy.”
How absurd!
Such propaganda practically has no effect if citizens are protected with freedom of speech, which nowadays are social media postings of facts, news, and opinions. As an intimidation tactic, the surveillance system mandates identity authentication in order to activate a social media account for people residing in mainland China.
The authority also went extra miles to ensure no other western social media app is available in the Chinese market so that all digital footprints are recorded by a Chinese technology firm on a server in China. Data are subject to unfettered government review.
But, is the surveillance that smart? So what?
The surveillance is predominantly keyword based as a computer AI algorithm monitors online conversations and postings. If an account is automatically flagged after the computer picks up certain keywords or visual signs, the authority can quickly take the individual into the custody. The “perpetrator” of violating “speech laws” is subject to fingerprinting and a facial/pupil scan.
Congratulations, your account is not only permanently shut down but now you are officially registered! Your families and friends should remain silent knowing that you may “disappear” someday.
Surveillance occasionally can be done much more subtly and cost-effectively. Chinese apps are smart enough to silence an account while keeping the owner blind sighted. These accounts can continue posting and talking; however no one else but only the account owners can see the content.
What about users like us who reside overseas? Do we immune from Chinese government surveillance? Absolutely not! The surveillance is smart enough to flag an account as “non-Chinese” using IP addresses or registered phone numbers. Speech suppression is so sophisticated that these foreign accounts
can talk to each and post anything, except their families and friends in China cannot hear or see, vice versa.
My fellow Americans, do you see a pattern? Do you relate to your day-to-day life? How can we not to take actions to save our democratic republic? How can we not support our president’s policies and his stance on national security?
We DO!
– Asian American GOP Coalition of Chicagoland