Boy Scouts as Snitches in China

[Eagle69]

Here is a link to an interesting post in today's New York Times about how China is using the Boy Scouts to find and report copyright violations on the Internet. I wonder if they will create a badge for the one that turns in the most people?

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/18/arts/18pira.html

[acco40]

First of all, when one uses the term China one needs to be very careful about whether the reference is to Taiwan, Hong Kong or "mainland" China. This is an article about Hong Kong (yes, I know it is a part of China.) While our western/capitalist ethics reflect the importance of the individual in our country, in communist China "society" holds the trump cards. Youth are celebrated who turn in their parents if their parents are breaking the law. That is their culture and I beg to pronounce that it is neither worse nor better than our culture, just different.

 

Should Scouts in the US be expected to notify the proper authorities of a crime that they witness? Why not do the same in China? (This message has been edited by a staff member.)

[fgoodwin]

According to the WOSM website, there are Scout Associations in Hong Kong, Macau, and Nationalist China (Taiwan).

 

Red China does not have a Scouting Association. So the mainland will have to find their "snitches" elsewhere.