People's Republic of China

The People's Republic of China is a communist country that has many strict regulations and laws concerning freedom of the press, and filtered access to the internet. Chinese citizens cannot enjoy all of the privileges of freedom in newspapers and magazines, and internet sites such as YouTube are filtered. I believe that Americans may take these rights for granted, but after studying and looking into these regulations, I believe that the American society is very lucky to be able to read what we want, and watch what we want on television and the internet.

In the World Press Freedom Review, by The International Press Institute, and Barbara Trionfri, she says that the Chinese government even went so far as to censor the events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She says, "Covering the events wasn't an easy job. The government imposed restrictions on the media to prevent reporting that could harm the golden image the government was trying to portray for the summer olympics. Even after the games ended, Chinese journalists were pressured to refrain from reporting about the impact of another major story of the year -- the global financial contagion. Journalists who defied the rules faced arrest, detention, harassment, and other forms of intimidation." I cannot imagine the United States with these restrictions. My favorite television shows would cease to exist. "Saturday Night Live" and Will Ferrell would have to stop imitating George Bush, and programs like "Colbert Report" would be taken off the air. It is hard to imagine the United States of America, or any country for that matter, having these restrictions. But the fact is, China experiences these conflicts every day.

In a YouTube video titled, "Free Hugs in China!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLImQtyjI10 the audience can really see some of these restrictions that the government has placed on residents of China. At the beginning, the "Free hugger" is not getting any business. No one seems comfortable coming up to him and giving him a hug. I think that this shows some of the restrictions by the government. No one has ever seen this before, and they are very reluctant to come up. Then, one by one, individuals come up and hug this man. By the end of the clip, everyone is hugging everyone. I think this is a very interesting clip, and it effectively demonstrates some of the restrictions being imposed on these Chinese people. This clip also shows some good geographical aspects of China as well. The video takes place on crowded streets in suburban areas. You can see many vendors and businesses on the street, as well as cars and bicyclists. I enjoyed this video from YouTube because it shows some of the geographical aspects of China, as well as some of the government restrictions that are being placed on these people. I gave it five stars.