To Beijing, democracy
is Western conspiracy
By Troy Parfitt
When China¡¦s political leaders speak, what they say is seldom what they mean.
Consequently, Western analysts are left to play the role of interpreter. Such
was the case recently when the words of Chinese President Hu Jintao (JÀAÀÜ) were
published in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) magazine, Seeking Truth. At an
annual policy meeting, Hu warned the CCP¡¦s powerful, 371-member Central
Committee of the ¡§international hostile forces ... intensifying the strategic
plot of Westernizing and dividing China,¡¨ adding that ¡§ideological and cultural
fields [were] the focal areas of [the West¡¦s] long-term infiltration.¡¨
Citing accompanying statements and a directive to ramp up cultural production at
home while further promoting Chinese culture abroad, Western media have taken
Hu¡¦s remarks as a sign China¡¦s rulers are principally concerned with the
corrosive influence of Western soft power.
However, if China¡¦s senior leaders are worried about the appeal of Western pop
culture (as a pledge to spend US$6.4 billion on propping up Chinese culture
strongly suggests), they are infinitely more anxious about the allure of Western
political ideals. Many Chinese wish to see, if not democracy, a more democratic
way of doing things: more transparency, greater accountability, less corruption
and fewer restrictions.
Hu¡¦s statements are a reminder to his ¡§subjects¡¨ and his subordinates that
challenges to the CCP¡¦s integrity and supremacy will not be tolerated. For
Westerners, Hu¡¦s pronouncements betray the Chinese government¡¦s true feelings.
They are as close as we might ever come to China¡¦s No. 1 saying to the Western
world: ¡§We don¡¦t like you.¡¨
In the Chinese world, blaming the West is an old standby. Mao Zedong¡¦s (¤ò¿AªF)
censure of ¡§imperialism and its running dogs,¡¨ crusades in the 1980s to
eradicate ¡§spiritual pollution¡¨ and ¡§bourgeois liberalism,¡¨ and a cadre¡¦s
denunciation last year of the meddling foreign press during a prolonged ¡§mass
incident¡¨ in the village of Wukan are modern-day expressions of the
millennia-old notion that China represents the pinnacle of civilization and is
surrounded by marauding barbarians.
This year, millions of Chinese schoolchildren will be taught that China¡¦s
greatness was derailed by Western imperialism. The Opium Wars and the subsequent
¡§century of shame¡¨ will be presented as the starting point of modern Chinese
history. An eighth grade social science textbook opens with the line: ¡§Our
motherland ... was once an advanced and great nation ¡K but after the invasions
of the European and American capitalist Great Powers, a profound national crisis
occurred.¡¨
It is not so much Westerners themselves or their decadent lifestyles that
China¡¦s politicians deride, but Western democratic governance, often portrayed
as treasonous ¡X a threat to China¡¦s very existence. In 2009, a politburo member
said China needed to construct a ¡§line of defense to resist Western two-party
and multiparty systems, a bicameral legislature, the separation of powers and
other ... erroneous ideological interference.¡¨ Another senior official argued
against having an independent judiciary because of ¡§enemy forces¡¨ attempting to
hijack the law and divide the country.
One wonders how China, with its desire to become a nation among nations and
restore itself to its former glory, is going to cooperate with the West while
blaming the West for its problems. One also wonders to what degree the party
believes in its own rhetoric.
Hu¡¦s statements are not exactly in the spirit of diplomacy. Perhaps Western
heads of state should try to establish a dialogue with their Chinese counterpart
to get to the root of the matter and prevent any misunderstandings.
Troy Parfitt is a freelance journalist.
|