Chloe Meinershagen - Chinese Actress Disapears

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/14/asia/fan-bingbing-china-celebrity-intl/index.html?no-st=1537156545

China's most famous actress, Fan Bingbing, has not been seen in public since June. There is great speculation on her whereabouts. She is one of China's highest paid stars, and has appeared in both Chinese and Western films, even working alongside actors such as Hugh Jackman and Will Smith. She apparently went to visit a children's hospital in Tibet, and has not been seen since. This may seem unusual for Americans, but in China, under a communist government, it is not uncommon for celebrities to be reprimanded by the government. There were a few cases in the past where if the communist party felt that celebrities where outputting controversial opinions or trying to make social change, they were fined heavily and jailed. Living in a free country means we get to hear the opinions of all celebrities, whether we like them or not. We are a country of free speech, and entertainers have a platform to speak out on issues regularly.

My previous knowledge to this topic was extremely minimal, I didn't have any idea China's government is allowed to have aggression against citizens for free speech. It makes me realize how taken for granted America's free speech policy is. Simply thinking about how frightening it must be to be a person with influence in China makes me shiver. It's strange to think about the movements we've had in America, such as the Me Too movement, and wonder if, had the government had more control, they may not have existed at all. I can connect this article to the colonial time of America, during the John Peter Zenger trial. While it's an opposing idea to the lack of free speech in China, is shows a change in American history. The trial was against Zenger for writing disapprovingly of a British Crown appointed governor. The governor was accusing Zenger of telling lies, and although the jury had some bias to please the governor since he was Crown appointed, the jury pronounced Zenger not guilty. This was an important precedent for American history, setting up the eventual free press and the individual right to free speech, even against the government. It seems China has yet to give their citizens free speech, which comes as a natural gift from America's government.