China officially ignored the 30th anniversary of the death of Mao Zedong (毛澤東) yesterday, a sign that observers say reveals authorities' fears that bitter memories could unleash a wave of discontent.
In Beijing, the central government did not organize any commemorations for the man who established the People's Republic in 1949 and was once known across China as the "great leader" and the "great helmsman."
State TV made no mention of Mao, while the People's Daily published only two short news briefs on Internet remembrances and the construction of a new museum at his birthplace.
The Beijing Daily reported on an unofficial memorial concert held on Friday at the Great Hall of the People -- China's most recognized political building -- which hosts the annual legislative session but is often rented out for private functions.
No editorials or retrospectives were found in the capital's major newspapers.
Thousands of nostalgic Chinese, however, flocked yesterday to the Mao mausoleum on Tiananmen Square, the symbolic center of China's political power, to try to catch a glimpse of the embalmed body of their "great savior."
At his hometown of Shaoshan in Hunan Province, 6,000 to 8,000 people visited the Mao memorial museum yesterday -- nearly double the attendance figure seen on other weekends, a curator said.
Tourists bowed at the 6m bronze statue of Mao and offered floral tributes, he said.
Analysts said the government feared high-profile public ceremonies honoring Mao could revive memories of tragic moments in Chinese history initiated by the former leader and maybe spark a torrent of public anger about today's problems.
"When you talk about Mao, you cannot avoid mentioning the Cultural Revolution -- you cannot avoid the fact that tens of millions of people were starved to death," said veteran journalist Li Datong (
Gao Yu (
More and more ordinary Chin-ese, especially those who are hardest hit by the widening gap between rich and poor in the increasingly market-orientated country, are using nostalgia to protest the new harsh reality, analysts say.
They added that the tendency to look back to the Mao era with rose-tinted glasses, longing to return to the days when China may have been poorer but was also a more innocent and fairer society, is increasing.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
‘SALAMI-SLICING’: Beijing’s ‘gray zone’ tactics around the Pratas Islands have been slowly intensifying, with the PLA testing Taiwan’s responses and limits, an expert said The Ministry of National Defense yesterday condemned an intrusion by a Chinese drone into the airspace of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) as a serious disruption of regional peace. The ministry said it detected the Chinese surveillance and reconnaissance drone entering the southwestern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone early yesterday, and it approached the Pratas Islands at 5:41am. The ministry said it immediately notified the garrison stationed in the area to enhance aerial surveillance and alert levels, and the drone was detected in the islands’ territorial airspace at 5:44am, maintaining an altitude outside the effective range of air-defense weaponry. Following
RSS