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China: what is old is new again
by staff report via kwai - News Ltd Thursday, Jul 25 2013, 3:06am
international /
prose /
post
China has always been an Imperial ‘kingdom’ and remains so today. Those that imagine otherwise are deluded or simply ignorant. Thousands of years of inculcated cultural values do not disappear with a change of Emperor. Mao’s revolution was just another regime change with the Imperial blueprint firmly intact. In other words, the only thing that changed with Mao was the Emperor’s face and style of centralist, autocratic rule.
Bo Xilai, quintessentially Chinese
But it was ‘little,’ astute Deng Xiaoping who released the suppressed spirit of the Chinese people.
Throughout recorded history the Chinese have always excelled in business and that trait is deeply ingrained in the culture, permanently removing it would be impossible -- though it is occasionally suppressed for short periods.
Money-making for Chinese is undertaken with religious zeal and fervour; the Chinese would rather die than forsake an opportunity to gain wealth, as has been demonstrated time and again; which reminds me of an old Jack Benny joke:
A Jew was waiting for a cab in New York when a mugger approached, pulled a gun and said, “your money or your life!" The Jew stroked his chin as if unconcerned; the mugger became impatient and angrily repeated the threat, after which the Jew said, “I’m thinking about it!”
So Deng broke ideological ranks and stated nationally that it was, “glorious to be rich,” a very astute political manoeuvre, as it tapped directly into Chinese traditional values/culture, which also has another strong characteristic -- pragmatism -- which politically deft Deng also exploited; “black cat, white cat, is immaterial, as long as it catches mice.” And that dear reader is how a smart leader secured his position by exploiting obvious national characteristics to achieve his ends. Remember that Deng was the new Emperor and his primary concern was securing his position, the welfare of the people/state comes second in China.
Deng was viewed as a breath of fresh air and liberator of the Chinese people but he was just another astute politician who knew how to exploit the situation; those that imagine that Deng was somehow a closet capitalist are sorely mistaken and couldn’t have got it more wrong, Emperors are not concerned with money-grubbing matters, in Asia, Emperors are semi-divine beings that demand tribute from the wealthy -- mere mortals! It would do well for westerners to appreciate Asian culture and history if they wish to succeed in Asia.
Now comes the inevitable -- what’s the point of being ruler/Emperor or a high official in a vast nation if you’re running around in sand shoes and a quilt jacket like the peasants down the street? And so, other cultural characteristics reared their head, corruption, fraud, deceit and trickery, and we make the jump to today where a genuine, traditional Chinese free-for-all prevails; most getaway with it some do not -- from the Herald Sun:
China charges Bo Xilai with corruption
CHINA'S once high-flying communist politician Bo Xilai has been indicted for bribery and abuse of power, state media say, following a scandal that exposed deep divisions at the highest levels of government.
Bo, the former party chief of the southwestern city of Chongqing, will be the highest-profile Communist official to be put on trial in China for decades.
He has not been seen in public for more than a year since he was detained following the murder of a British businessman by his wife and his right-hand man's flight to a US consulate, triggering a huge political controversy.
"The indictment paper was delivered" to a court in Jinan, China's official Xinhua news agency said, citing prosecutors in the city in the eastern province of Shandong.
Bo "took the advantage of his position to seek profits for others and accepted an 'extremely large amount' of money and properties", it said, quoting the indictment.
A source with direct knowledge of the case, who requested anonymity, said the trial could begin in mid-August.
News of the proceedings comes at a time when the party is trying to show it is cracking down on corruption and government waste.
It has also had to manage the political rifts exposed by the downfall of Bo - once one of 25 members of the ruling party's Politburo.
The decision to oust such a high-ranking leader would have required tough backroom negotiations among top leaders.
The trial would be an easier final step after the harder task of defusing any backlash among Bo supporters, said David Goodman, a China expert at the University of Sydney.
Holding the proceedings now would also allow leaders to draw a line under the scandal ahead of a key Communist Party plenum expected in the northern autumn.
A Xinhua commentary warned against resistance to the decision, calling on local governments to "defend the authority" of the Beijing leadership.
It urged people to "soberly recognise the ugly face" of officials "who sought personal gain".
The scandal emerged last year ahead of a once-a-decade leadership transition, in which Bo had been considered a candidate for the Politburo Standing Committee - China's most powerful body.
His downfall was triggered after his police chief and right-hand man Wang Lijun fled to a US consulate in Chengdu city near Chongqing, allegedly to seek asylum. Bo was detained a month later.
He had cultivated an unusually populist public image and led a high-profile anti-mafia campaign, which resulted in scores of arrests but led to allegations of torture against suspects.
Bo also revived some elements of 1960s Communist Party culture as part of a "Sing Red" campaign involving massive rallies, which drew comparisons with China's tumultuous Cultural Revolution period.
Bo's wife was given a suspended death sentence last August for fatally poisoning businessman and family friend Neil Heywood. The penalty is normally commuted to a life sentence in China.
Wang was sentenced to 15 years in prison in September for defection and other crimes.
Bo himself was removed from his party and government posts, losing his legal immunity at the end of 2012.
© 2013 News Ltd
I would add that there is a lot more to this story than its few paragraphs reveal. Consider it an exercise in international political analysis and cultural analysis. It really does go to the Chinese and international economic heart of the matter.
China didn't become a powerhouse economy overnight without assistance from western plutocrats that furnished the trillions of dollars required to build the necessary infrastructure. Without the Rothschilds and other mega-wealthy banking concerns, China would only now be emerging from its push-bike economy! As stated, there is a lot more to this story for a good investigative journalist or China expert to reveal.
http://tinyurl.com/mpjbe2j
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