Free Republic

<p>The meeting turned violent. They went at it hammer and sickle. Xi Jinping tried to calm them down. He put himself physically in the crossfire and unwittingly into the path of a chair as it was thrown across the room. It hit him in the back, injuring him. Hence the absence, and the silence, and the rumours.</p>

Mao-era songs make comeback in China BY KOICHI FURUYA CORRESPONDENT 2011/01/07 CHONGQING, China--The sound of voices extolling the virtues of communism in stirring revolutionary songs strike a discordant note in this central Chinese city, where the average citizen is more likely to be a member of the church of Mercedes than a Maoist. Recently, about 50 middle-aged residents gathered at an outdoor restaurant in the suburbs of Chongqing and belted out a revolutionary song with lyrics redundant but pointed: "The Communist Party is wonderful, the Communist Party is wonderful, the Communist Party is wonderful." Many view this surprising campaign as...

June 6, 2010 China snaps at its junior princelings Public anger is growing at the wealthy offspring of the communist elite who are poised to inherit their parents’ power Michael Sheridan THEY may look bland, studious, glamorous or dowdy, but the generation of younger men and women rising to power in China have two things in common — perfect ancestry and lots of money. They are the new generation of “junior princelings” who stand to inherit power and wealth from their parents, the aristocracy of the communist system. Their influence is everywhere. As strikes spread and workers fight for higher...