April 1st ‘24 - ProBoards Forums pulled down ??

Yes that day was known in China as Internet Maintenance Day. Generally speaking though the censorship is not that bad. The main reason they have it is to silence political dissident groups. No one in China is allowed to challenge the authority of the government, and how they explain it is the government is a people's government, so if you fight the government you are fighting the people. 1989 is believed to have been an operation which was backed by Western intelligence, so it was a direct assault on the governance of China and risked the stability of the entire country. Even Deng Xiaoping reluctantly agreed the measures to protect the state were necessary, albeit very regrettable. However at the time the leadership was split between hardline old guard communists, and the new liberal reformers. The hardliners were bad news, and as time went on they faded into history and retired. You see the government was changing from a military-led regime into a modern liberal state. The process of liberalisation continues even today. They do it slowly and one step at a time. 

Anyhow, today some 90% back the government and most are keen supporters, and won't have you say anything bad about them. Insulting their government is taken like a personal insult. As for the rest of what you can say, it does not feel like there is censorship. I did speak to my brother's wife about the past in China and she said, there are some things in China we don't talk about. Her view though is this country is a bloody failure and she thinks China is great. I guess it is hard to imagine how Chinese think, but she is happy. She spends most of her day chatting on her phone in Chinese to the friends back home. She has been really helpful towards my family as well.