Wikipedia : The Global Times is a daily Chinese newspaper produced under the auspices of the official Chinese Communist Party newspaper, the People's Daily, focusing on international issues.
The value of freedom of self-expression and openness is universal. These are not "western ideals" that are being "imposed" upon a different society, they are universal rights. The basic notion of simply existing is in fact a form of self-expression, i.e. to be who you are. To not be afraid to say, "I am gay."
Whoever the author of this propaganda piece is, if they were actually genuine in their call for "intellectuals in developing countries" to resist the very notion of truth itself, they could have at least provided the reader with some rational arguments to that effect. To do so would be an impressive feat, so it's not surprising that no such justifications were given.
I've a friend who was born and lived for about 14 years in mainland China, and holds the belief that the bulk of the chinese people are somehow not 'ready' for real freedom.
Of course, her head nearly imploded when I had to be the one who told her about Mao's 50-80 million killed.
"As many as 81 percent of those polled are opposed to Chinese government accepting Google's demands."
Having been to China myself, this result does not seem doctored. One argument often made is that censorship as necessary to keep people in order, and particularly necessary in China due to the population. The Western doctrine of freedom of speech, as the argument goes, has little applicability in a country with over 4 times the population.
Revolts and rebellions are also often seen in a much more negative light in China. Here in the west, they have resulted in many very positive changes, and are widely-regarded as being sometimes necessary to growth, and a way to keep the government in check.
Many of the Chinese I've met are also fiercely patriotic. "Why should our country cave into demands of a foreign company?"
Obviously, I'm generalizing here, and from a small sample size too. This is just my personal experience from the people I met and spent time with there, and opinions held by more highly-educated people often did not follow this trend and tended to be more critical of the government.
Note that this is a regurgitation of some common arguments I heard- absolutely not my personal view.
But they do have one point: Why do we care so much about Chinese censorship, as long as it is only affecting people within China?
> But they do have one point: Why do we care so much about Chinese censorship, as long as it is only affecting people within China?
Because as shown quite colorfully in the recent attacks on Google and others, it doesn't only affect people within China. I believe Martin Luther King said it best when he said "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" in his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail:
Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Yikes ! Communist-endorsed BS !