Analyses - 17. page

After the Xinhua website reprinted the article “China in the Eyes of the World in 2004: The whole world suddenly wants to learn Chinese” published by Jingbao [1] on December 31, 2004, the Chinese version of the book Beijing Consensus is about to be published in China. The hot topic, “Beijing Consensus will replace Washington Consensus,” was widely circulated back in May of 2004, and is once again being brought to the Chinese public’s attention.

According to the official interpretation by the Chinese government, the Beijing Consensus covers, in addition to economic ideas, many other topics such as politics, quality of life, and the balance of power in the world. Taken as a whole, the theme of “Beijing Consensus will replace the Washington Consensus” is one political value system replacing another.

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Free information flow is a an integral part of the fabric of democracy, something that is currently unavailable in China. In an assessment of the Chinese media, the BBC wrote on its website,

“China’s media are tightly controlled by the country’s leadership. Beijing also attempts to restrict access to foreign news providers by jamming shortwave radio broadcasts, including those of the BBC, and blocking access to web sites.

“The Chinese press report on corruption and inefficiency among officials, but the media as a whole refrain from criticizing the Chinese Communist Party’s monopoly on power.”

In recent years, a number of private organizations have begun to pose a challenge to the Chinese government’s censorship. These organizations, often non-profit and staffed with volunteers, operate on a minimal budget. Surprisingly, they have managed to achieve significant results.

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Every March, representatives of the National People’s Congress and members of the Political Consultative Conferences gather in Beijing for the annual “Two Conferences.” The conferences are meant to be platforms for the delegates to voice their local citizens’ concerns to the central government and make policies to solve the country’s most pressing issues.

This year, it was widely hoped that the government would do something to buoy the stock market, which hit a new six-year low after a four-year slide. However, the government had a different agenda in mind. The People’s Congress unanimously passed an “anti-secession” law, which mandates the use of military force if Taiwan declares independence. The news caught many China observers by surprise and served as a reminder of China’s militant mindset.

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The United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura announced on
April 7 in Paris that Mr. Cheng Yizhong, the former Chief Editor of Southern Metropolis News (SMN), was named as the laureate of the World Press Freedom Prize 2005, on the recommendation of an independent jury of media professionals from all over the world.

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An Interview with Mr. Lin Zhenyang, a Veteran of the East China Sea Fleet and Chairman of the Overseas Chinese Veterans Association

Mr. Lin Zhenyang, currently residing in Seattle, served in the East China Sea Fleet of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) for five years. He was discharged from military service in 1989 and came to the United States soon thereafter. In 1992, he founded the “Overseas Chinese Veterans Association,” and chaired the “Frontier for People’s Rights in China.” Mr. Lin has been actively promoting soldiers’ rights to those who are in military service in China, including veterans’ benefits and the rights and responsibilities of soldiers in democratic countries. He has been striving hard to educate soldiers in China that the military in a modernized nation serves only as the supporting machinery for a nation’s constitution, not as the servant of a certain political party. To make China a truly democratic, liberal, and prosperous nation, China’s military must avoid the fate of becoming the servant of any political party.

The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party published by The Epoch Times has recorded in depth the history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), including the CCP’s history of controlling the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to massacre its own innocent citizens. Having learned that Mr. Lin has been actively observing the impact of the Nine Commentaries and the resulting wave of people renouncing their CCP membership, the author interviewed Mr. Lin.

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In 1987, the Chinese National People’s Congress passed a law calling for direct elections in the country’s rural villages, where 900 million people live. It instantly caught China observers’ attention. Some view the village elections as a sham to fool the world, since in fact the Communist Party is in complete control. Others see elections as a dramatic step forward on the road to democracy, hailing it as a “training ground for democratization.”

Yet, when a grass-roots cadre in a rural area of Sichuan Province, China, seized the opportunity and pushed for a general election for the key posts in Pingba Town, where he lived, the result was devastating. Instead of being promoted for his successful experiment, his boss delivered a dreadful blow to this fledgling political apprentice: “You’re fired.” What went wrong?

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