Human Rights: China (2) Nationalism and Democracy

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

A recent op-ed piece in The Los Angeles Times (5/6/08) , "China's next-gneration nationalists", by Joshua Kurlantzick, falls into the ..."be careful of what you wish for category". He writes about the resurgence of aggressive Chinese nationalism over the issues of human rights, the Olympics (especially the torch problem), and Tibet.

Kurlantzick is a fellow at the Pacific Council on International Policy and the author of "Charm Offensive:How China's Soft Power is Transforming the world".

In his article he points out that this generatiion is much different from the generation that fought and died at Tiananmen and elsewhere in China to bring about a more democratic China. This generation is mad that the Central government was not tougher on Tibet and they are intolerate of any criticism of China.

In the past The PRC has tried to control this nationalism and direct it towards foreign policy ends [the Japanese textbook controversy, the spy plane collision, the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade]. But as the Chinese people become more confident this aggressive nationalism may prove too difficult for the Central authorities to control.

He points out, as have others, that since Tiananmen this generation has been subjected a diet of super nationaistic textbooks about China's mistreatment at the hands of the West....while ignoring the millions killed in the Party's various anti-rightist campaigns, the Hundred Flowers purge, and especially the 30 million that died during Mao's "Great Leap Foward" [see Jasper Becker,"Hungry Ghosts"], and the millions killed during the ten years of Mao's Cultural Revolution.

He also points out that the state media is increasingly focusing on the problems of rural China..."suggesting to urbanites...[an] economic and political catastrophe ...might befall them if these rural peasants swamped the wealthy cities".

This is an interesting question : what kind of democracy would China be with an aggressive, xenophobic, irredentist foreign policy. If Chinese society were freer would the populace push for an invasion of Taiwan, a reconquering of Mongolia, Vietnam, Korea, more parts of India, eastern Russia?....all parts of a former "Greater China"?

He states that many Chinese academics think that a freer China could be a more dangerous China.

What do you think?[Edit by="mwhittemore on May 13, 4:51:42 PM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="mwhittemore on May 13, 4:55:20 PM"][/Edit]

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