Fifty years after Mao Zedong stood atop the crimson Gate of Heavenly Peace and proclaimed the People's Republic, China remains a nation caught between extremes: of poverty and wealth, of change and continuity, of order and chaos.
Fifty years is but a blink in China's long history. But the decades of communist rule since Oct. 1, 1949, have transformed this nation perhaps more than any half century before.
For many of its 1.25 billion people, today's anniversary is truly cause for celebration. Mao's triumph united China, ending a century of civil war and predatory treatment by foreign powers. Market-oriented reforms begun 20 years ago have raised standards of living for many Chinese.
PHOTO: REUTERS
In Beijing, Shanghai and other cities, forests of glassy skyscrapers, modern expressways, elegant shopping malls and upscale apartment buildings attest to the new wealth. City streets teem with cars that have replaced bicycles, sewing machines and watches as new ``things that go round'' status symbols.
In the countryside, heartland of Mao's revolution, factories dot the landscape. Surrounding them are sturdy two-story brick and tile village homes built by farmers freed from state communes to sow and market their own crops.
Yet for all the urbanites who have prospered, many have not. Millions of workers accustomed to cradle-to-grave jobs, housing, education, health care and pensions must fend for themselves now as state-run factories are weaned from government support.
Farmers in remote, barren regions like western Qinghai province are barely kept from starvation by government handouts. In many villages, the loss of the communes has meant the disappearance of the ``barefoot doctor," roving medics who provided free rudimentary care. Schools starved of government support charge fees too steep for many villagers; girls often go unschooled.
As social controls have eased, rural migrants have flooded into the cities looking for work. Their manpower shouldered the construction boom that has transformed Beijing. Older rural women stay behind to raise children and tend farms. Young women leave to labor in factories or work as housemaids.
City dwellers blame the migrant ``floating population'' for rising crime rates and overcrowding.
Drug abuse, prostitution, kidnapping, bandits, superstitions and cults -- the troubles of the pre-1949 society that Mao ended through ruthless suppression, are flourishing anew. Faced with a huge pool of urban and rural unemployed and a slowing economy, authorities struggle to keep chaos in check.
``Without the Communist Party, there would be no new China,'' China's rulers say. Inheritors of Mao's revolution, today's leaders base their power on their ability to keep control, to deliver prosperity.
With communism a vague ideal of past generations, patriotism and nationalism are now the staples of the party's ideology. Regaining Taiwan, split in civil war from the mainland in 1949, is a sacred mission.
No challengers to the party are allowed. Chinese are the freest they have ever been to choose their own lifestyles and line of work, but public political dissent is harshly suppressed.
Most Chinese are politically wary. Elders, veterans of virulent political campaigns past, know to lie low.
Young people are more interested in jobs, clothing and enjoying life. China's next half century will be theirs. It seems appropriate that it begins on the cusp of a new millennium.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued a sea alert for Typhoon Fung-wong (鳳凰) as it threatened vessels operating in waters off the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), the Bashi Channel and south of the Taiwan Strait. A land alert is expected to be announced some time between late last night and early this morning, the CWA said. As of press time last night, Taoyuan, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties had declared today a typhoon day, canceling work and classes. Except for a few select districts in Taipei and New Taipei City, all other areas and city
VIOLATION OF NORMS: China’s CCTV broadcast claimed that Beijing could use Interpol to issue arrest warrants, which the MAC slammed as an affront to order The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for attempts to intimidate Taiwanese through “transnational repression.” The council issued the remarks after state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) yesterday during a news broadcast aired a video targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋), threatening him with “cross-border repression” and saying: “Stop now, or you will be next,” in what Taipei officials said was an attempt to intimidate not only Shen, but also the broader Taiwanese public. The MAC in a statement condemned the threat, accusing Beijing of trying to instill fear and self-censorship among Taiwanese and
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