Free Republic

China: Two Incidents Open Pandora’s Box – Analysis May 22, 2012 By Bhaskar Roy Two incidents, one regarding Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai, and the other involving a blind human rights activist and self-taught lawyer Chen Guangchen, destroyed the myth that the Chinese system is a well oiled machine. Policy, individual, and bitter factional rivalries are kept sealed from the public to ensure the Party’s inviolability. This is the biggest political quake the country has experienced since the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. The new age of social communication, the internet, has also damaged the Party’s secrecy. Even people inside the...

In modern Chinese history, Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) holds a unique place. He led the revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911; devoted his life to championing an independent and democratic China; and was a revolutionary leader and a man of vision. Sun remains the only political leader honored by both mainland China and Taiwan. What’s fascinating about Sun, but little known in America, is that his birthplace, formal education, medical training, religious faith, and political values made him a true American. Sun’s elder brother concealed the fact that Yat-sen was an American. His family would claim that he was...

China grapples with revolutionary past, 100 years on By Robert Saiget (AFP) – 1 day ago /snip But the celebrations will be muted, particularly compared with those that marked the 90th birthday in July of the ruling Communist Party. That, say experts, is because of the troublesome connotations with democracy and Taiwan. The Nationalist government was overthrown in 1949 after a bloody civil war with the Communist Party that has ruled China ever since, forcing the Nationalists to flee to Taiwan. "The (Communist) party will play up the ability of the people to throw off the yoke of imperialism, that...

COULD Sun Yat-sen, revered by both the People's Republic of China and the Nationalist government on Taiwan, be a son of Hawaii? There's a birth certificate that says so....