Obama Backs Non-Censorship; Beijing, Apparently, Does Not

President Obama's arrival in Shanghai featured a town hall forum with students watched by the foreign media. During the question and answer period, Obama stated his support for internet freedom of expression in response to a question on Beijing’s blocking of social media sites like Facebook. Meanwhile, Beijing did its best to make the event a non-story within China by carefully choosing the student attendees from the Communist Party Youth League and blocking the talk from the public eye. The 7pm news broadcast on national television neglected to comment on the town hall discussion and only mentioned Obama’s visit after discussing seven preceding stories. Online articles were blocked within hours of their original posting. Though Party youths disagreed with Obama's position on internet censorship, they strongly approved of him on the whole, calling him “warm,” “easy to approach,” and someone “who will really listen.” As China continues to emerge as a global power and its relations with the US become more complex, it remains to be seen how this tension between pride in China and her institutions and desire for a more open society will be mediated. Ultimately, it is a question that can only be delayed, and not erased, by central control of media. – YaleGlobal