Originally Posted by
Triceron
That's because we live in relatively new nations with only hundreds years of history rather than thousands, 1/4 the population, triple the economy and living in a nation built on the backs of slaves and stolen land. I mean we're well in recognition of this, so that's why we have the freedom to criticize our own governments and whatnot. That's why immigrant families come here, it's technically a better life. But at the same time we also face the unique (dare I say first-world) problems granted by all this freedom - freedom to spread misinformation, freedom to change the government around and tear down systems that were voted in just 4 years prior, freedom to go forwards while going backwards. There's no true suffering faced here, few of us living here have faced actual terrorism or actual war (at least in NA). Hell, an epidemic is one of our least concerns, all things considered.
When we're talking about a country that has such a high population where people can freely move around within the nation, the fear of terrorism is substantial and true. With a history of being exploited by foreign powers and division of the country from internal politics and strife going back centuries, even millenia, it's no wonder that China has reinvented itself the way it has. I mean if you delve into Chinese history, it's been taken over by outside powers and inside powers hundreds of times over. The current government is probably the strongest ever seen in the history of their nation, but it becomes very fragile if left open to the same freedoms we have in the west. We bicker amongst ourselves by favouring left/right ideals and tear at the foundations of our own government every time there's a shift. That already happened in China and they saw the results of internal strife- it allowed the Japanese to invade China. They aren't going to make the same mistake again after the revolution, and it's why they're so zealous in stomping out any religious-based terrorism they deem a threat to their society, be it Falun Gong, Uyghur muslims or others. It's totalitarian and it's strict, and it works. We see this resocialization as a bad thing only, and it's a terrible thing, but in the context of the Chinese government it's working towards a unified country, not one separated by culture or creed and left with radical ideals that can tear away at the systems they've worked so hard to build.
Their stance comes from a deep rooted history of internal conflict and having seen how internal politics lead to a complete fracture of their nation. What we observe here from the West is through tinted glasses - How can we judge a nation that is clearly tackling its own issues when we're unable to tackle our own? A handful of refugees enter the country and the government and society flips out. One terrorist event in the US turned the country around. Well, this is what China has been dealing with internally since... forever. It's a damn shame this is what is happening, but at the same time at least they're dealing with the terrorism problem rather than pretending upping security and diplomacy has lead to anything constructive. Unfortunately there is no sure-fire solution to religiously-fueled terrorism. That's the simple truth.
Bad example incoming, but I feel like it's looking at a zombie apocalypse. We're all treating zombies like they're a threat we have to contain, while China is trying to stomp it out completely through extreme means and breaking whatever human rights to do it. We're judging them now for their methods, but who will win out in the long run? We don't know if we can cure the zombies, even if we try our best to do so. But there might never be a cure, so we might be the losers in the long run and it would be our hubris and foolishness that leads us to our demise. We're not even thankful that we are a nation far from conflict.