At the sixth plenum of the Central Committee of the 16th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) National Congress last September, Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Last months' issue of the Hong Kong publication Kaifang revealed that Hu's succession speech included the following text:
"Enemy forces always use public opinion to build a propaganda base. International monopoly-capitalist groups led by the US relied on ideology to bring down the Soviet Union and the Soviet Communist Party. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Communist Party was absolutely not a defeat of Marxism and socialism. In the final analysis, it was the result of a gradual distancing from, turning the back on, and betrayal of Marxism, socialism and the fundamental interests of the people. Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev is the culprit behind the great changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and a betrayer of socialism. He is absolutely not a meritorious statesman, and anyone who says he is does not stand on the side of the Soviet people and human progress."
On Sept. 29, the CCP's publicity department, in the spirit of the fourth plenum, called a meeting for all the nation's media at which it distributed a document containing 29 articles stipulating issues the media is forbidden to report on. At the meeting, the deputy head of the department, Ji Bingxuan (
The reliability of this information has not been refuted by the CCP, and, what's more, it is reflected in the party's statements and actions.
First, the introductions to the meeting given in the Fourth Plenum Communique and Zeng Qinghong (
Second, just prior to the meeting, in the middle of September, Li Changchun (
Third, following his participation in the APEC summit in Chile, Hu visited Cuba, where he donated goods and materials to a value of more than US$10 million, and signed a 16-item agreement on political, economic and cultural cooperation. Hu and Cuban President Fidel Castro even met twice during the visit.
Fourth, the "rectification" of newspapers and the closing down of Web sites this winter have led to arrests of dissidents. Some have been given prison sentences, while others were released after being given a warning. These dissidents include the well known Internet authors Liu Xiaobo (
At the time, however, Hu seemed to have relied on the expectations about the "new politics of Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶)" to deceive the outside world, which seemingly blames this wave of arrests on Jiang, who was in love with his power and very unwilling to let go of the CMC chairmanship.
Hu's waving of the Mao Zedong (
In order to consolidate his hold on power and play up to the hawkish faction, Hu must make nationalism a big issue.
Not only did he bring forward the anti-secession law, which will unilaterally change the cross-strait status quo, he also -- unscrupulously and in a threatening move -- sent ships into Japan's territorial waters. In early November, Chinese submarines circled the important US naval base at Guam. These openly provocative actions, in conjunction with Hu's recently increased efforts to oppose Japan, should result in the US and Japan, and in particular US President George W. Bush, re-assessing their view of Hu.
The democratic system in Western countries developed from opposition to the totalitarian systems in Europe during the middle ages, survived 20th century fascism in Germany, Italy and Japan, and flourished during the struggle with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
But the West never understood the totalitarian dictatorship of the CCP -- and even to a certain extent sympathized with it -- because of a failure to understand the hypocrisy, deceit and plotting that has been going on during 2,000 years of Chinese totalitarianism. US opposition against China throughout modern and contemporary history has often failed or ended in a draw.
If we want to deal with the CCP, we must learn from the last governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten. While serving in Hong Kong, he was in constant contact with the CCP. Five years of trials and tribulations turned him into a true "China hand."
Paul Lin is a commentator based in New York.
Translated by Perry Svensson
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
The Executive Yuan recently revised a page of its Web site on ethnic groups in Taiwan, replacing the term “Han” (漢族) with “the rest of the population.” The page, which was updated on March 24, describes the composition of Taiwan’s registered households as indigenous (2.5 percent), foreign origin (1.2 percent) and the rest of the population (96.2 percent). The change was picked up by a social media user and amplified by local media, sparking heated discussion over the weekend. The pan-blue and pro-China camp called it a politically motivated desinicization attempt to obscure the Han Chinese ethnicity of most Taiwanese.
On Wednesday last week, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta published an article by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) asserting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) territorial claim over Taiwan effective 1945, predicated upon instruments such as the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation. The article further contended that this de jure and de facto status was subsequently reaffirmed by UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs promptly issued a statement categorically repudiating these assertions. In addition to the reasons put forward by the ministry, I believe that China’s assertions are open to questions in international
The Legislative Yuan passed an amendment on Friday last week to add four national holidays and make Workers’ Day a national holiday for all sectors — a move referred to as “four plus one.” The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who used their combined legislative majority to push the bill through its third reading, claim the holidays were chosen based on their inherent significance and social relevance. However, in passing the amendment, they have stuck to the traditional mindset of taking a holiday just for the sake of it, failing to make good use of
RSS