You’d think it’d be a great time to be Chinese. After all, consider: Year after year since 1979, the economy has expanded. Most Chinese have never known recession, or even a slowdown.

Wages have risen, better housing has become available, and Chinese are generally free to change jobs if they like. Freedom to travel is up, and in many areas of life the Communist Party no longer interferes.

So it’s always surprising to come across signs that Chinese don’t see their lot in such a rosy light. I was perusing a press release from Reporters Without Borders, a freedom of expression advocacy group out of Paris, and came across the following:

“Two editors on the Netease (http://www.163.com/) website, Tang Yan and Liu Xianghui, were demoted after posting a poll on 4 September that asked readers: ‘If you were reincarnated, would you like to be Chinese?’ Of the 10,234 site visitors who had answered by 10 September, 64 per cent said they would not, 37.5 per cent said ‘the dignity of Chinese people is not sufficiently respected’ and 17.6 per cent said ‘it is impossible for a Chinese citizen to own his home.’”

It illustrates how sensitive authorities are to even the appearance of discontent.

Of course, a voluntary poll on a website self-selects a rarified group. But it is by nature a wired, young crowd that has benefited greatly from China’s advances. And it is not altogether happy. No wonder the censors leaned on the company.