Big Brother is creating a two-tier society in China

(Sept 26): Even for Chinese authorities, who have long tried to limit the influence of foreign media and ideas, last week marked an escalation. In the span of a few days, authorities blocked access to Twitch, the video-game live-streaming platform owned by Amazon.com Inc; ordered a purge of foreign content from school textbooks; and proposed restricting foreign programming — especially current-events shows — from television and online streaming sites.

One might take the clampdown as yet more evidence of the government’s hold over what Chinese can see and read. In fact, such restrictions are only further dividing China into a society of information haves and have-nots — of cosmopolitans and everyone else. Chinese with money, especially in cities, can circumvent official controls via technology and travel. Meanwhile, rural and less-affluent Chinese are left to consume what censors deem appropriate. It’s a chronic condition that underlines existing economic and social divisions, and it’s sure to get worse.  

The urban-rural divide has been a source of social and political tension throughout Chinese history. That’s not news to the current government, which has recently doubled down on efforts to spur rural growth. Yet by almost any measure, the divide persists. According to a recent working paper from the International Monetary Fund, income inequality has widened more in China than in any other developing region since 1990. Among the contributing factors are a lack of educational opportunities in rural China and the resulting lower incomes. For more than a decade, average disposable incomes in cities have been more than double those enjoyed in the countryside.

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