ESWN posts an interesting article, The Predicament of Knowledge Development, by Steven N.S. Cheung, that speaks to the apparent incompatibility of knowledge development and restrictions on free speech. What occurs in China will surely find resonance with others in developing civil and economic societies. Although I wouldn't agree with the author that the arts, unlike scholarship, are "not restricted in speech and thought." Excerpted texts from the article are below. -RST

Here, I must attribute the disarray of scholarship in China as being first due to the residues of the Cultural Revolution and then to the wavering of the Beijing authorities towards speech and thought.  Isn't that true?  In piano music, the Chinese youth are astonishing the westerners, and the same should be happening to violin playing.  The development of drama is promising.  The western auction houses are now hyping up Chinese oil paintings -- even though I don't understand the "Expressionist school" from China.  The development of art is going well, because it is not restricted in speech and thought.  Scholarship is different.

The publishing industry is subject to various restrictions.  There are extraordinarily large book cities, but the quality of the popular books is amazingly poor.  Perhaps I am guilty too.  If private publishing were allowed in China, I would have done it on behalf of the young people of China.  I am not exaggerating when I say that I know about all manners of knowledge, Chinese or foreign, ancient or contemporary.  Unfortunately, I am getting old and I won't have the chance to show the young people.  I'll stick to writing instead.

I can understand why Hu Jintao wants a harmonious society.  I have no reason to oppose that, but the problem is how to achieve it.  The development of knowledge requires the clash of ideas, and clashes are considered disharmonious.  But a country filled with top scholars will seldom be racked by disturbances.  That was the experience in England, which had a harmonious society.  The problem is how to get from "here" to "there."  I don't have the answer.  I am only certain that if Beijing handles speech the way it does now, it will never ever reach "there."  I also believe that, in the long run, an important part of achieving a harmonious society has to do with rapidly elevating the knowledge level of the people.

 ESWN. The Predicament of Knowledge Development in China