China

1
China

• Is
• it
• a
• Democracy?

2
What we will cover

• Religion
• Media
• Politics

3
Religion

• Religion is strictly controlled and you can only
  worship one of the five allowed religions
  Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam and
  Confucianism Not democratic
• Falun Gong is an illegal religion in China only
  because such a mass of people can be gathered
  through it, even if it is peaceful
• The CPC say that they are the head of these
  religions i.e The Pope is not head of the
  Chinese Catholic Church

4
Religion

• House Churches are a quickly growing occurrence
  such places may be demolished
• Consequences of practising non-state religion
  Arrest, Loss of home, ill-treatment, torture,
  fines, loss of jobs and/or execution

5
The Media

• All forms of the media have part of it controlled
  by the CPC.
• The CPC control a series of TV channels, radio
  stations and newspapers (i.e CCTV)
• With the new market economy, a lot of privately
  owned TV stations have appeared giving program
  schedules not controlled by the government.

6
The Media

• With the Olympics on their way, China has been a
  lot more open to foreign media reporters, with
  the views of many people in China finally getting
  heard by other people.
• The reporters are still restricted and may be
  tailed by the secret police if working on their
  own

7
The Internet

• The CPC are trying to control the net in China
• They have created The Great Firewall of China
• They harshly treat people who look up human
  rights and democracy on the internet
• Such people are first spied on and if they are
  too suspicious, they may be arrested.
• Google created some controversy by making a new
  version of Google just for Chinese people, which
  people argued that Google supported Chinas
  horrid human rights record

8
The Government

• It is Communist.
• You cannot vote for the higher levels of
  Government.
• You can join one of the other 8 legal parties,
  but they have no power
• There are some illegal parties, but such parties
  are closed down quickly with leaders imprisoned
  and/or exiled
• You can vote for representatives at local level,
  but candidates have to be approved by CPC.

9
The CPC

• You can join the CPC (Communist Party of China),
  but you have to be approved by another member
• There have been protests against the CPC (i.e
  Tiananmen Square) but all have been shut down
  quickly, efficiently and brutally.
• It is technically separate from the government
• They created local government levels not to just
  make ruling easier, but to also spy on the people
  to make sure they act accordingly

10
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