It is common sense when travelling to a foreign land that punishes speech. I have been asked about politics pretty much in every European nation I've visited or resided in. It's not unusual to talk politics or disagree, and at worst you should end up leaving a bad impression on someone, not end up in prison.

Note that I wrote "being involved" in politics, which is quite different from what you describe in your comment. I don't think it is common for visitors to European countries to take part in local political demonstrations, for example.

Foreigners in China who end up in trouble are those who show up with a large Tibetan flag in public, not those who say that they disagree with the Chinese government (though it helps to be polite and respectful when saying it, which is, again, common sense).

> It's not unusual to talk politics or disagree, and at worst you should end up leaving a bad impression on someone

Which is what would happen in China. You wouldn't end up in prison...

> I don't think it is common for visitors to European countries to take part in local political demonstrations

Nobody gets punished for participating in local demonstrations in Europe.

That's ridiculous.

I could absolutely go to the UK and bring a pro brexit, or anti brexit flag, and be totally fine.

That's beside the point...

The point is that as a Western visitor to China you would only risk being "punished" by doing explicit things that foreign visitors to any country usually don't do.

There is no practical point in discussing what you could or couldn't do if you never did it and never thought of doing it anyway.

So, yes, in Europe you could freely join a demonstration while in China it would not be a good idea. Does it make any practical difference to you as a foreign visitor? No, because that's not something you would do anyway, and if you did, well, you would probably knew the risks.

It is not besides the point. I went to the UK not too long ago, and visited both some of the brexit and anti-brexit rallies. It was pretty interesting.

I also visited France some couple months ago, and in Paris I had no qualms about seeing what was going on with some of the protests there.

This stuff is perfectly OK and normal. There is nothing wrong with that.

> if you never did it and never thought of doing it anyway.

But I did do it.... It was fun to check out what some of the protesters were doing. Why is it so weird and surprising for someone to check out a brexit rally? Lol. I'd imagine that many tourists did that.

> Does it make any practical difference to you as a foreign visitor?

Yes it does! Do you honestly believe that tourists in the UK aren't going around making brexit jokes all the time, and maybe even seeing what some of the protesters are doing? Of course they are doing this. It is a cool touristy thing to do to check out current events, related to local politics!

"Not too difficult" is not a good way to justify it.

Try using this justification against something with which you agree. You should immediately realize that just because X is not too difficult to do, does not necessarily justify the consequences of doing X. An example: it is not too difficult to not voice our concerns regarding brutality, does not mean we should keep quiet about it.

Do foreign visitors in Paris feel the need to take part in the Yellow vest protests or to show their support/opposition to them? No.

The assumption here that foreign visitors in China feel an urge to become political activists as soon as they disembark their plane or that the political situation in China makes any difference to Western visitors is disingenuous.

I am not trying to justify Chinese policies. I am just saying that claiming that China is a risky place to visit for a Westerner is FUD and does not depict the reality.

Ah, OK, in that case disregard my comment. Just to clarify, I was not disagreeing with you, just assumed that you used "not too difficult to do X" as some sort of a justification. If this is not the case, then I apologize.

> Do foreign visitors in Paris feel the need to take part in the Yellow vest protests or to show their support/opposition to them?

I'd absolutely would feel perfectly fine doing this myself, or seeing other foreigners do this.

Good for them, if people want to go to Paris and participate in the yellow vest protests.

Facebook, Google and Wikipedia are banned in China, and many other sites. Accessing them as w means breaking the law. Since the censorship is mostly for political reasons, accessing those sites illegally would embroil you in a sensitive issue.

I guess for most foreigners, it would be very difficult from refraining to visit those sites

This is an amusing take. Nobody cares if you (as a foreign tourist) go to those sites, in fact if you’re on T-Mobile roaming or in a hotel that caters to westerners, you don’t go through the firewall at all.

I was surprised that you can buy sim cards in HK which are completely uncensored and use them in mainland china, using the same exact networks too (so no slow roaming speeds).

Censorship isn't for you per say. Its for the general population.

They could care less if a foreigner comes here for a few months and then leaves. It won't affect them.

I seriously doubt you would end up in an australian prison because, as a foreign individual, you said you didn't like the current australian prime minister.

Come on. People retweet political things without really thinking about it all the time. I travel to "foreign land" ask the time and don't have anything to fear for my expressions of political opinion because most Western countries protect freedom of expression. As someone who believes in democracy and classic liberalism, I think it is too much to expect.

Saying "it's China, it's a different culture" doesn't make oppression better.

"Come on, people chew gum all the time... saying it's Singapore doesn't make the oppression better"

"Come on, people smoke weed all the time... saying it's Arkansas doesn't make the oppression better"

"Come on, people walk around naked on beaches all the time... saying it's Saudi Arabia doesn't make the oppression better"

Different places, different cultures, different rules. On the plus side, there's no place like home, wherever that is.