Modern day China oppressions its people freedom of speech and expression more than any other county in the world (Chu). Oddly enough, Article 35 of the current Chinese constitution, written in 1982, stipulates Citizens of the PRC have freedom of speech, publication, assembly, association, procession and demonstration (Chu). China has a tight grip on the media of the country, forcing all published information be vetted through the state (Chu). Many assumed the government's ability to crack down on dissent would be destroyed by the increased prominence of a dynamic and nearly infinite internet space. However, China has adapted its censorship policies to the internet, and by many standards managed to stay ahead of the curve in restricting free speech in the digital realm (Chu). Meaning even with the advances in internet usage, China still maintains its dominance over its peoples freedom of speech. The Chinese people feel they have these freedoms but in reality, the government controls all.
Another insistence of communism control in this movie is with the Poet Henry Solomon. Solomon wrote a poem about Marx and how he developed his ideas with the help of others previous ideas and theories. The party demanded that Solomon retract his poem because the communist party believes that Marxs ideas were uninfluenced by previous ideas and theories. Solomon refuses to do so and destroys his membership card, thus believing that he has cut all ties with the party. By refusing the accept party believes, Solomon was blacklisted. Students of the party that once greed him with honor now deliberately avoid making contact. The party uses the newspaper to expose him for being an ex-communist party member, making it nearly impossible for him to keep a job. It is against the policy of the firm to employ people who mix in alien movements against the United States government(RM, Springsteen 1949). (RM, Springsteen 1949).
