Kunming Freedom

[Mandy Muffin]

As the Japanese were bombing Pearl Harbor, in western China some Americans had been fighting to save that country for a couple of years.  Here  is my version of their story:

I had occasion to spend  a month in China about 12 years ago in a cultural exchange program, as I attended universities there and studied the culture.  My favorite city was Kunming, where I attended Yunnan University.  Kunming is famous in the annals of fighting for freedom, as  it is the terminus for the Burma Road and the Flying Tiger Base that defended the Chinese by flying mercy missions from Rangoon and warding off the Japanese invaders. 

There in the center of town is a statue commemorating the famous Flying Tiger squadron that helped to save China.  My personal tie-in is that I worked in the General Electric Aircraft Engine Division for most of my career and our leader was Gerhardt Neumann, the mechanic for the General Chenault led aviators.  He went on to a distinguished career in the aviation industry.

During the time of my stay I was housed at the local Hilton Hotel that featured cable TV with a CNN feed,  the Atlanta based US network, as one of the choices.  It just happened to also be a time when China was having relationship problems with both Tibet and Taiwan.  So one day when the news and commentary was especially disparaging to China,  the CNN feed developed technical difficulties and was no longer available. 

Now, being a brash American and not afraid to ask questions, I posed  the question to one of our escorts and was told, "China envies America and wants to be like them.  However, you have freedom of the press, which China doesn't like as much.  China wants to have their cake and eat it too, to use an American expression.  They haven't realized yet that is not possible."

So when I see people who want to filter what gets reported or discussed and what does not, I think it is Kunming freedom.  They are taking a hard won freedom that people fought and died for and being subjective about what part of that freedom they will allow.  I will expose it and fight it at every turn.  I am a Flying Tiger.