"China Inside Out" Chapter 1

Bill Dodson's book “China Inside Out” offers an interesting insight into the country China and its severely controlling government. One thing that I learned from reading the first chapter is that citizens sometimes come together to have “Human Flesh Searches” to hunt down someone through the internet and physical means, someone that they believe should answer and be criticized for actions they have taken. These groups are defined by the author as “digital lynch mobs...” which “make their targets miserable” (Dodson 5). This idea is both terrifying and fascinating to me. China seems to control almost everything in their country, which strict laws on expression, censorship, et cetera, but then these mobs come along and take action to bring discomfort to wrong doers that were not condemned by the government. Even though China is presented as a pristine country that works like a well oiled machine, the lack of a regulated justice system for so called 'minor' issues leads to “squabbles and outright fights between individuals, which... draw large... crowds...” on the street (Dodson 7). This environment seems to be teetering on the edge of collapse to me, and being on these Chinese streets where people can hunt you down and fight with you over small things is a frightening prospect.

It makes sense to censor pornography on computers at least some of the time. Making it an option on search engines (like Google's SafeSearch) seems best to me. I do not advocate pornography and have no interest in it, but I still believe that people should be able to search what they want. China, however, seems to use pornography as an excuse to block other websites they do not want their citizens to see, such as social media websites and blogs. The author says, in reference to China blocking such websites, “the government justified its actions as an antipornography drive; however, it was clear that... politically sensitive issues were prime targets for elimination” (Dodson 16). Using the guise of clearing pornography, China continues to control its citizens from seeing alternate political views.

Overall, I was absorbed in Dodson's method of putting the chapter together. He begins with a couple stories that relate to his topic and then launches into an explanation of all the factors that contribute to those stories. He combines research of facts with news stories and even anecdotes to bring in a multi-faceted view of China that is thoroughly engrossing and fascinating.