Friday, January 05, 2007

Started Class

Cara started her MBA class on Thursday (re: excuse). This first class is Business Ethics and so far it has been a very interesting class and Cara has been excited to come home and talk to Michael all about it.

For instance, did you know that there is a Chinese Constitution? And even more interesting, it talks about freedom of speech and religion? Here is a copy of the appropriate articles

Constitution of the People’s Republic of China

Article 35. Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration.

Article 36. Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. No state organ, public organization or individual may compel citizens to believe in, or not to believe in, any religion; nor may they discriminate against citizens who believe in, or do not believe in, any religion. The state protects normal religious activities. No one may make use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state. Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination.

For comparison's sake, here are the similar US Amendments

US Bill of Rights, the Amendments of the US Constitution

Amendment I - Freedom of Religion, Press, 12/15/1791.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


One of the big differences is that the US Bill of Rights is a trump card in the US legal system, but in China, well... not so much. Still, it is pretty exciting to even see it written down. As a further point of interest, in my small discussion with the 3 Chinese nationals in my group, all 3 of them thought that having a functioning democracy is extremely important for China and other countries and they seem to be confident that China is moving in that direction.

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