International Chinese Student Speaks About the “Fresh Air of Free Speech” in the United States

Free speech is a right that is taken for granted in the United States—that is, since all American citizens are born with the right, they do not fully realize the value and worth of such a privilege.  While free speech is exercised freely in the United States, it is not present in many other countries in the world.  Countries like China, for instance, do not allow for free speech or the right to free press—information is censored and citizens must be conscious of the words that they speak.

Yang Shuping, an international Chinese student at the University of Maryland, spoke on Sunday, May 21, during the commencement at the college.  She spoke of the wonders of free speech in America, how it came as a breath of “fresh air” to her neglected senses dulled by China’s censorship laws.

Appreciated by many throughout the university, her words were not so much appreciated back in her homeland.  According to The Washington Post, “A video of her eight-minute address at her commencement ceremony at the university went viral in China, attracting 50 million views and provoking hundreds of thousands of critical comments by Chinese netizens the following day.  Even the People’s Daily, a Communist Party mouthpiece, weighed in, reporting on a crescendo of criticism of Yang for ‘bolstering negative Chinese stereotypes.’”

Thus condemned by fellow citizens of China, Yang was forced to voice an apology for her words on Monday, May 22.

People often ask Yang why she came to the United States for her schooling, and she continuously responds, for the “fresh air”.  She explains, “I grew up in a city in China where I had to wear a face mask every time I went outside, otherwise I might get sick.  However, the moment I inhaled and exhaled outside the airport, I felt free.  I would soon feel another kind of fresh air for which I will be forever grateful.  The fresh air of free speech.  Democracy and free speech should not be taken for granted.  Democracy and freedom are the fresh air that is worth fighting for.”[4]

Coming from a country in which truth is only distributed by the Communist government, opponents to such “injustices” are either silenced or purged—it is evident that those who wish to lead safer lives do so by staying silent.  Yang, through her commencement speech, has respectfully informed people of all backgrounds that free speech and democracy are things that are worth fighting for—without the two, the groundwork for this country is nothing and the world we know now would be different.