Yufei Cai (蔡雨霏)
B.S. in Statistics (academic discipline) & History, University of California, Los Angeles (Graduated 2020)Updated 2y
How come China lets a lot of its students go abroad? Isn't it afraid they will come back as people prefer freedom of information and democracy?
I believe I am the type of person you are talking about. Yes, I am a student to probably the largest competitor of China.

Before you think the following answers come from some deliberate “brainwash” of the education I got from China. Let me first talk about my background. I knew the existence of “wall” when I was still in middle school. I could read fluently in English and got access to various sources of information since I was 14. My parents are both professors and highly influenced by desirable aspects of American education. Specifically, they almost never try to instill anything they believe to be correct to me but encourage to read extensively and think critically. They also decided to support me to pursue my higher education in America.

Before I came to America, I indeed thought the political model adopted by this country could largely resolve the societal issues we have back home. However, when I knew about Yu Liu (刘瑜) and read her book Details of Democracy (“民主的细节”) , I became skeptical of what America claimed, especially after reading more of her works and learned that she has been taking a pretty anti-establishment stand after he came back from America with her doctorate in politics from Columbia University. Contrary to previous materials I read, she attempts to approach some huge, abstract topics like “democracy”, “freedom” from personal experiences and negligible yet vivid figures in daily life, which makes her argument much more convincing.

When I have studied in America for more than two years and met and talked to people from disparate backgrounds. Sure, I am moved by the diversity of this country and pleasant harmony of human race. I also enjoy unblocked access to all information available. However, this does not hinder my growth of skepticism in the official accounts claimed by its government. Since I major in both statistics and history, both of them require evidence (qualitative or quantitative) to make solid argument, I sometimes feel outraged when I see some irresponsible and emotional claims made by those in power. If this is what you call “democracy” and “freedom of information”, I do not want the course of a country decided by a group of people like them.

We need surgeons to perform sophisticated surgeries (who know what exactly they are doing), not drunks.

Edit:

It is interesting to read several comments that well show the freedom of Internet. However, the freedom you have does not automatically grant you credibility. Again, as a sensible person educated in both statistics and history, I cherish discussions with evidence and reasoning (of any stands) but despise those ungrounded accusations and naive (yet sympathetic) paranoia.