…repudiation of the
“historical purpose” of the Chinese revolution….rejecting
“the scientific and guiding value of Mao Zedong thought,”….“tantamount to denying the legitimacy of the CCP”…….“I admit that what I have done touched on legal issues and threatened national interests….My
actions were very wrong”
Next time, any damn fool of a 70-year old lady dares complain about how Hindu imperialism imposed slavery on Shudras and Dalits or how Muslim-Anglican imperialism imposed slavery on the rest of us, we can always compel them to repent publicly for having committed one of the seven deadly sins- “historical nihilism.”
The seven deadly sins are appropriately named from a sense of forbidden fruit. God forbid the Chinese get a taste of the free press and free elections – it may lead to statues of Mao being toppled in public squares. So much devotion for the greatest mass murderer in history…it is awe inspiring indeed.
…….
In late April, a 70-year-old Chinese journalist, Gao Yu,
was taken into custody, one of several human rights activists rounded up
to keep them from observing the 25th anniversary of the massacre of
student protesters by government troops in Tiananmen Square.
Shortly
afterwards, Gao appeared on television, confessing to a specific
offense: leaking what the Chinese news agency Xinhua described as a
“highly confidential document” to a foreign website.
“I admit that what I have done touched on legal issues and
threatened national interests,” she said, according to the BBC. “My
actions were very wrong.”
What had she revealed? Not the plans for a new Chinese
warplane or cyberattack. Not even details about the real health of
China’s economy or major industries. Rather, as her lawyer has all but
acknowledged, the secret paper Gao made public was “Document Number 9,”
issued a year earlier by the main administrative office of China’s
Communist party.
Entitled “Communiqué on the Current State of the
Ideological Sphere,” it demonstrates what the leadership of China
regards as truly threatening: not the West’s economic or military might
but its political and philosophical ideas.
Pronouncements such as this—the ninth issued in 2013—aim
to instruct the party faithful throughout China on official doctrine as
promulgated by the Central Committee and, importantly at that time,
newly chosen President Xi Jinping. Like the others, Document Number 9
was meant to be discussed at local party meetings and inform party-run
publications and websites, but was not for public consumption. It opens a
window into what China’s normally secretive government officials are
thinking, or at least want loyalists to think, which, thanks to the
unfortunate Gao Yu, everyone can now know.
The communiqué focuses on seven “false ideological trends,
positions, and activities” that the party leadership believes are
spreading in the country and endangering “the great rejuvenation of the
Chinese nation.” Foremost among them is “Western Constitutional
democracy,” the idea that good governance requires a separation of
powers, general elections, a multiparty system, an independent
judiciary, and other features. According to Document Number 9, China’s
system of government should reflect “Chinese characteristics.” It should
place “the Party’s leadership” and “the People’s Democracy” ahead of
the political and legal processes championed by the West.
Likewise, in the eyes of China’s leaders, advocating for
“universal values” amounts to claiming “that the West’s value system
defies time and space, transcends nation and class, and applies to all
humanity.” Such arguments are “confusing and deceptive,” they contend,
because China—and “Socialism”—should subscribe to fundamentally
different values.
These include rejecting individual and economic freedom.
Document Number 9 dismisses “promoting civil society” as based on the
idea that “in the social sphere, individual rights are paramount and
ought to be immune to obstruction by the state”; it pits “the Party
against the masses.”
Nor does “neoliberalism,” defined as relying on
private property and markets to shape economic activity, fare any
better. The “catastrophic consequences” that have occurred in “Latin
America, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe” show its flaws, the
authors write, and underscore the dangers of efforts “to weaken the
government’s control of the national economy.”
Also disparaged is freedom of the press. It is an idea,
says Document Number 9, which challenges “China’s principle that the
media and publishing system should be subject to Party discipline.”
Those who embrace it “gouge an opening through which to infiltrate our
ideology.”
Writing about the past is suspect as well. “Historical
nihilism,” which Document Number 9 defines as the repudiation of the
“historical purpose” of the Chinese revolution, such as by rejecting
“the scientific and guiding value of Mao Zedong thought,” is not only
mistaken, but also “tantamount to denying the legitimacy of the CCP’s
long-term political dominance.”
Finally, the communiqué makes clear that questioning
public policies, even in the name of “reform” or of “opening,” is
impermissible.
Raising doubts about the direction or pace of the
government’s current course will “disturb people’s existing consensus on
important issues like which flag to raise, which road to take, which
goals to pursue, etc.,” ultimately retarding China’s “stable progress.”
Not least of all, Document Number 9 warns that this could encourage
“Tibetan self-immolation,” “terrorist attacks in Xinjiang,” and the
breakup of China along ethnic and religious lines, among other dire
consequences.
To prevent those, the party leadership called on its
followers to work harder in the “ideological sphere.” They should do
more to “distinguish between true and false theories” and be steadfast
in their efforts to control the media. “We must reinforce our management
of all types and levels of propaganda on the cultural front, perfect
and carry out related administrative systems, and allow absolutely no
opportunity or outlets for incorrect thinking or viewpoints to spread,”
Document Number 9 concludes.
…..
Link: http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/articles/forbidden-thoughts_795409.html
…..
regards
