Before US President George W. Bush ended his Asia tour yesterday, he and his delegation went to the Palace Museum in Beijing and the Great Wall -- places many Chinese view as concrete manifestations of China's great successes in its 5,000-year history. However, anyone with a slight knowledge of Chinese history who visits those places has to wonder why living standards and the quality of life remain so low in a country that boasts such a rich cultural heritage? Why has China fallen behind Japan or even Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore?
Leaving aside Communist theory and methods -- such as the proletarian revolution and dictatorship of the proletariat -- let's look at the comments made by Bush and Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
Jiang said China's Constitution guarantees religious freedom but that adherents of all religions must abide by Chinese law and no violation of the law can be forgiven on account of one's religious affiliation. Bush responded by saying that all the people of the world, including the Chinese, should be free to choose how they live, worship and work.
Perhaps everyone except the martinets of the Chinese Communist Party knows that China's Constitution guarantees not religious freedom, but religious control. China allows only state-approved churches that stress patriotism and obedience to the communist regime. Roman Catholics who remain faithful to the Pope instead of the state-approved Catholic church have been arrested and persecuted. Other Christians belonging to underground churches are routinely harassed. The Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported that 47 Christians at a church meeting in suburban Beijing were detained for holding an illegal meeting on Thursday. The Falun Gong (
In his speech at Tsinghua University yesterday, Bush stressed that the American experience shows there is no need to fear freedom as long as it comes with the rule of law. In a free society, pluralism does not mean disorder; debate does not mean conflict; dissidence does not mean revolution. Hopefully, such powerful remarks will have an impact on the university students in the audience as well as Chinese who watched the speech on TV.
However, the likelihood of religious freedom developing in China remains remote as the chance of true democracy taking root there. Even if the Chinese political structure sheds its socialist cloak, Beijing's rulers will retain their imperial attitude. One will still have to follow orders from Zhongnanhai -- which has replaced the Forbidden City as the center of China's universe -- on everything. No self-initiated civic groups will be allowed, nor any political party capable of challenging the Chinese Communist Party. Those who defy the rules will still be sent to prison, labor camps, face execution or simply be banished, as happened with exiled pro-democracy activists Wei Jingsheng (
This is in stark contrast to Taiwan's successful democratization. People in Taiwan enjoy full political and religious freedom. Pluralistic values also allow people with different political platforms to establish parties in Taiwan. Comparing the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, one can easily see that the Chinese Communist Party and its bureaucracy are a major obstacle to China's development. Naturally the US would favor that side of the Strait which shares its universal values.
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