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A University of Maine professor spoke on the poor conditions of the civil societies of China, Korea and Vietnam last Thursday in continuation of the Controversy Series.
Ngo Vinh Long, a history professor who recently returned from a visit to Vietnam, was critical of these regions governments, due to the repression he felt these groups bring to their people.
“China has generated mass pollution and has robbed the people of their savings,” Long said.
He said the Chinese government created the greatest gap between the rich and poor, while years before they had one of the smallest gaps. Long went on to speak on the conditions of workers and the problems that exist within the country.
“I would like to stress that repression [in China] started with workers,” Long said.
Problems like unemployment are prevalent in China. Long said over 300 million Chinese citizens are without work or are partially employed. He also pointed out China’s economy appears to be booming to outsiders, but economists have come to realize the Gross Domestic Product in China is actually closer to 5 percent, as opposed to the higher percentage the country portrays.
A student attending the lecture, Edward Fountaine, said he felt the American government wasn’t doing enough to help the suppressed in these areas and that big businesses would rather exploit them for the cheap labor.
Long said China was able to grow from its repression over Korea. This led to the thinking that other totalitarian regimes in the area may adopt the same model of governing, which frightened Long. He said demonstrations against the government have increased each year, reaching 58,000 in the last 12 months.
The problems of civil suppression are not limited to China; Vietnam and Korea are heading down this route as well. Long stated that the American company Nike was recently exposed for their suppression of civilians when it beat and killed Vietnamese workers. While incidents like this are not isolated to one company and seem to show the overall conditions in the country, the Vietnamese government is doing little to help its people.
Long told of a government official who bet 2 million dollars of the government’s budget on a horse race and participated in numerous sex parties funded by public money. Charges were filed against him after the story was released through the news. After being found guilty, he was jailed and soon released. Later, the journalists were brought to trial for supposedly abusing their power.
Justin Bouchard, a student in Long’s history class, enjoyed the lecture, and how it was different from what Long teaches in class.
“We usually focus on the history further back, but today was more of a modern thing that I thought was very interesting to get a different aspect of how East Asia is today,” said Bouchard.
The Socialist and Marxist Studies Series will continue Oct. 30 in the Bangor Room of the Memorial Union with a panel of speakers talking about key issues in the upcoming election.
Bangor Daily News