While many students who viewed President Barack Obama’s inaugural address Jan. 20 have since shared their thoughts about the new president, some Chinese Internet users and UW students have also responded to the Chinese government’s censorship of the address.

China Central Television (CCTV), a state-run network, broadcasted the live address last Tuesday, but it abruptly cut away from the speech after President Obama mentioned communism.

“Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions,” President Obama said in his address.

Chinese Internet users expressed their opinions regarding the censorship after a video of CCTV’s broadcast was posted on Tudou, the Chinese equivalent of YouTube. On Tudou, comments are not attributed to individuals making them, and read simply as “Tudou user.”

Some were critical of the program’s attempt to censor the speech.

“Whenever you get something that’s sensitive, you just cut it off. Garbage,” one user wrote.

Another questioned the government’s trust in its own people.

“The government should have more confidence,” another user wrote. “Don’t treat everyone like idiots and just think you’re smart. The world doesn’t have any great political parties, only great leaders.”

Still, others defended the government and instead directed their criticism toward the U.S.

“The current state in China’s censorship is pretty good,” one user wrote. “At least we’re not constantly at wars with other nations. Development can only occur at peace, and I am happy for China’s peaceful stance.”

Regardless of these differing opinions, it was clear that the majority held a positive view of the new president.

“The moment that we’ve been anticipating is finally here,” one user wrote. “I’m just hopeful that after Obama takes office, he can establish good China-America relations... You [Obama] have a lot of responsibilities and we support you.”

Jacob Dawson, a UW graduate student studying Chinese linguistics, has been closely following the comments left on the video on Tudou.

According to Dawson, pro-China and anti-U.S. comments are common in the Chinese online community, but seeing the topic of censorship brought up by Tudou users was new to him.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “I think we’re seeing a lot of intellectual responses against censorship.”

Dawson also pointed out that free speech didn’t necessarily have to mean democracy.

“You can allow for a free exchange of ideas with a certain degree of control, and I think this is what the people are asking for,” he said.

Jimmy Xu, a Chinese-American UW graduate student, thinks these developments show that China’s censorship policies are gradually relaxing.

“The censorship is definitely getting better,” he said. “China was really open to foreign aid and press during the Szechuan earthquake, and that wouldn’t have happened in the past because it would show them in a weaker light.”

Xu also held an understanding view of China’s decision to censor President Obama’s address.

“The Chinese mentality is all about the good of the country over the good of the individual,” he said.

One UW political science student from China didn’t see the government’s censorship as an act of complete selfishness. The student has plans to return to China for work and asked to remain anonymous because she feared her comments would ostracize her from parts of the Chinese community.

“The government doesn’t want people to be hurt,” she said. “Connecting fascism to communism is a hurtful thing to hear for those in China.”

She also held a viewsimilar to Xu’s when it came to China’s censorship policies.

“Collectivism has been valued traditionally in China, while America focuses on individualism,” she said. “The censorship policies are the government’s way of making that collective outcome possible.”

Reach contributing writer Jenica Rhee at news@dailyuw.com.