Posted on 07/25/2008 2:46:56 AM PDT by robertvance
While Mao’s body has been amazingly preserved since his death in 1976, it seems that his spirit has not survived the test of time. He may lie in eternal peace inside his Mausoleum but the world around him has changed considerably; China is no longer the gray and drab country that it was during Mao’s time. It is now a place where people can dream and then go out and make that dream come true. It is not like the old days. People other than just high government officials can drive cars. Chinese people can do business and store up wealth for themselves. Peasants can go to the university now; finding food to eat is no longer such a grave concern. Just around the corner from where Chairman Mao lies in State, the American restaurant chain McDonald’s is full of Chinese people enjoying greasy food and a cool environment. Inside homes, people can watch Western movies on DVD and even occasionally on state owned television. The world is just a mouse click away for the millions of Chinese people who have access to the Internet. Friends and family are no longer afraid of discussing politics with each other. It is even acceptable to criticize the government behind closed doors. All this is happening as Chairman Mao sleeps peacefully at Tiananmen Square. If only he knew.
(Excerpt) Read more at teachabroadchina.com ...
Why yes, and Christianity is spreading like wildfire, right? Party Members are now free practicing Catholics, Lutherans and Baptists, right?
Families are now free to raise as many children as they wish, right?
If government control of all major industries is "capitalistic" then I guess you're right.
Just because a "Party Member" tells you communism is no longer existant in China is like Nancy Pelosi telling you that she is not a Democrat but rather a Moderate Republican who filled a vacancy on the Democrat ticket..........
(SDS) Students for a Democratic Society: Ask any of them, they'll tell you they are not marxists.
The Weathermen Underground Organization: Ask any of them, they'll tell you they were not marxists.
A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism): Ask any of them and they'll tell you they are not marxists but just a bunch of Americans wanting to end the war........
But because it chooses to build autos, airplanes, and launch satellites, it begins to tread on sacred ground. Sacred ground that is reserved only for the West..
Then tell us Mr. Vance, what makes a country Communistic and how does your definition of Communisim differ from what is occuring in China?
So, the political prisoners who were in their predicament due to speaking out against govt. policies have been released? The Chinese people are now free to become Christians?
America changed with the Civil Rights act of 1964. No such change has occured in China. Now why don't you compare China today with the USA today, or Germany today, or the UK today or any other free and democratic society of today?
You can't because there is no comparison........China is still a communist, totalitarian country that now relies on foreign trade to sustain it.............
It sure was good to read your words!
There are changes going on in China, some good and some bad, but that is simply 'human nature' and 'human nature' has no boundaries.
China has a massive population, but they also have the national minorities which number in the millions ---- each with their own language and customs. There simply has to be a strong central government.
But when you travel around China, you find people just living their lives. Many doing as they have done for centuries. But even in the 'boonies' you find modern conveniences and a standard of living unknown only a few years ago.
In just a few years they have come from the dark control of the Mao years to the freedoms they have now. There is a sense of unity in China that has kept them together throughout their long and turbulent (and absolutely fascinating) history. They are an amazing people.
And as with any group, they want only what others want ---happiness and prosperity for themselves and their families. Not any different than us.
To my knowledge, the Nazi Party has never been part of the US government. The Chinese propaganda ministry and Xinhua journalists are part of the Chinese government.
Thanks! You’ve got these guys pegged. They don’t see that they’ve got a lot in common with the hard core left. I read on Drudge this morning that Chinese Islamists are threatening attacks on the Olympics and have taken credit for the various bombings that have occured in Yunnan and elsewhere over the past few weeks.
If China cracks down hard on these SOBs, watch the Chinaphobes around here cry even harder about Chinese oppression.
It's all on record. If this is what you call "handling" me, then I guess I have many good laughs to come.
Just look at China before Deng. That is how I define communism.
Japan hasn't fought half a dozen serious border wars resulting in thousands of dead troops. China has. Japan doesn't routinely engage in minor, but armed border clashes with its neighbors. China does.
I have read some of the cases. There was one case where an accused who thought a particular item that was made public was okay to bring to China. It cost him 30+ years. Some of them appear to have been poor judgement that resulted in extremely long prison sentences. I believe, when it comes to China, we are back in the McCarthy era.
What does made public mean - it was shown at an airshow? Spare me the Chinese lies.
How long ago was that? BTW, the US appear to be more involved with Pakistan than China.
Actually, this was in the past several years. The US has paid Pakistan a few billion dollars, and released some old technology in order to get transit rights to Afghanistan without fighting a full-scale war with Pakistan. We have not, however, given Pakistan nuclear weapons plans.
And has also worked with the US on the six-party talks and have been praised by the Bush Administration (your own government).
Wait - isn't that *our* own government? I forget - you're a US citizen who considers himself first and foremost a Chinese national.
The US has done her share of proping of dictators. Don't forget, Russia also vetoed sanctions against Mugabe as well. And Russia has more nuclear missles (by far) than China. Russia also has openly and publicly stated that they will build a dozen or so SSBN's by the end of the next decade. Yet, China gets attention for having just one.
China has three, and is in the process of building more. But the point is that the Cold War is over. Neither side ought to be propping up dictators. China is propping up dictators in North Korea, Burma, Zimbabwe. (Note that during the 70's, Chinese Red Guards were on hand to help Cambodia's Khmer Rouge carry out its Year Zero purge that killed just under 2 million Cambodians (including large numbers of ethnic Chinese).
How much? And are they still doing it? Is it a concerted government effort? There are people in the US that has done shady deals outside the juridiction of the government. I'm sure it has occured in China as well. But China has no incentive to aid the Taliban.
Rumsfeld was unwrapping freshly made Chinese weaponry captured from the Taliban, over six months after 9/11. The Chinese incentive is secondarily to profit from arms sales, but primarily to weaken what China sees as its main enemy.
Another difference, Japan invaded all the surrounding countries throughout the pacific. Prior to, it went on a massive military build up that consumed it's entire industrial capacity. And China, like Japan today, use it's current industrial capcity for civilian pursuits..
China has spent most of its two thousand years of existence conquering and slaughtering its way across Northeast Asia. China is what Japan failed to become - an continental-sized empire built at the point of a sword. Japan is now quiescent. China isn't.
I still stand by my conclusion. China is folding herself into the global economy. The development of a system that had a significant about of US influence. And now that they are practicing capitalism and free market, effectively joining the economic system of the free world, it isn't appreciated. I'm convinced some Americans would just prefer they return to communism where they could be kept in a bottle.
I've never felt Chinese communism to be the problem for either us or China's neighbors. The problem has always been a Chinese will to universal empire, whether under communists or non-communists.
Observing the political spectrum for the last three decades, I can only conclude, that many American are simply uncomfortable with an industrialized non-Western country. If China had gone down the road and devoted her energies into other types of economic pursuits, like what Mexico did in building up Cancun or even what the Emirates did with Dubai, I'm sure China would not get as much flak as it does now. But because it chooses to build autos, airplanes, and launch satellites, it begins to tread on sacrid ground. Much like the Japanese did decades ago.
That's ridiculous. We're not uncomfortable with Japan. The main problem with Japan was its protectionism. They exported to us and slapped all kinds of restrictions on our exports to them. The problem with China is the same. They export to us, but we can't export to them without having to pay high tariffs. I think the main problem with the Chinese is that they see themselves as racially superior and not subject to rules like other inferior peoples.
Your words ring very true. You obviously have spent some quality time in China. People are just living their lives wherever you go. Most I talk to are extremely thankful for the incredible changes that have taken place here over the past 30 years and they are optimistic about the changes that will occur as China moves forward.
I was not trying to let China off the hook when I wrote the article. There are still a lot of changes in the works. But I do know one thing...much of the information that the West is still circulating about China is 10 years old...a lot has changed in a decade.
Anyone who denies the incredible changes in China over the past 30 years is either 1). completely blind or 2).hates everything about China and wishes it was still ruled by Mao.
Anyone who denies that China is still an authoritarian communist regime that murders thousands every year is blind or an apologist/party hack.
Anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of the internet in China can easily thwart those internet filters. The problem is, most Chinese people that I know don’t even try. One positive development this year, however, is the unblocking of Wikipedia in English as well as the BBC. We’ll see how long that lasts.
“Clearly the government still holds great authoritarian control, but the point has come where so many freedom “genies” can’t be put back in the lamp.”
The Tibetans would beg to differ.
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