China : Crash of Economic Power and Status

When I was in the IAF I had visited the Indo- Chinese border in NEFA. As I stood on the border I could see the People’s Liberation Army soldiers digging trenches. Next day there was a flag meet between the Indian their Chinese counterparts. This meet was an eye opener as I found the Chinese officers staring blankly at the chocolates and sweets being dished out. It was something new for them as these were not part of the Chinese army rations. We gave them large helpings of these’ goodies’ which are routine for Indian soldiers and quietly they took them stuffing their pockets. While leaving their senior most officers whispered (he was the only chap who knew English) “Don’t tell the Commissar”. Later I came to know that the Commissar was a Chinese Communist official.

This incident had a profound effect on me and I realized that the Chinese were cutting the stomachs of their own people to try and match the world.China has always been a violent society. Now it is known that the Cultural Revolution and the policy of Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom were in reality a ploy to weed out dissidents. These were promptly arrested and either executed or confined to concentration camps for‘re-education’. I wonder whether people are aware as to the cost of these campaigns. Now it is estimated that 25 million Chinese died during this period, a large number due to starvation because of these hair brained schemes of Mao Tse Tung. Hitler’s crimes fade into oblivion before these deaths.

Mao passed away and the Chinese had a new leadership. This leadership took the cover of Capitalism for economic progress, but at the same time unleashed a police state, where the workers had no rights. Imagine in a communist country paying lip service to Karl Marx, the workers have no rights. They cannot go on strike which is a legitimate part of Workers ethos. Any worker going on strike is simply arrested as ‘anti-national’ and carted away to a concentration camp. Poor Karl Marx must be turning in his grave at the plight of the workers in China.

To talk that China is making great progress in the economic field is thus something that cannot be accepted. These are the people who are not aware of the ground realities. The suppression of the Intelligentsia, the destruction of Tibet Culture, the attacks and executions of the Muslims in Sinkiang are stark reminders that China is a barbaric society.

Chinese have been churning out goods for the international market, but at what cost? I am happy to have less progress but at least have freedom to travel and go anywhere and eat and say anything. How many know that though Hong Kong is a part of China now, a Chinese needs a permit to go there. I can’t think of a permit to go to Chicago or Mumbai.

The progress by China is on the back of its workers who are almost like slaves. This can’t go on and as Newton said in his 3rd Law “To every action there is a reaction” may come true in China. The Soviet Union collapsed and nobody foresaw it. Can China be far behind? The recent economic crash where $ one trillion is written off is a pointer

Read more at http://writedge.com/china-paper-dragon-may-burn-away/#yeZKJlyWuf95FDUJ.99

What is the Legacy of Mao tse Tung * 69

At a time when China is on the threshold of becoming a world power it is worthwhile pondering over the fact as to what is the legacy of Mao tse Tung. As a start Time magazine in its issue on 13 April 1998 acknowledged  Mao as one of the 100 most influential men of the twentieth century.

 This is true but there is another side to this story and that is the conduct of Mao after he seized power.


 Mao believed in his own version of Marxism  and he started two  campaigns of let a hundred flowers bloom and the  Cultural Revolution. By these two campaigns he hoped to keep the Chinese society in a state of ferment for ever and have an ongoing revolution that would propel China to a place in the Sun. Why ?  Because his mind was conditioned to accept chaos and ferment by decades of civil war and violence.

History records that both the campaigns of Mao the Cultural Revolution and the hundred flowers bloom  failed. The policy of a hundred flowers was launched by Mao to gauge his opponents. Once these were identified  of whom many were arrested and sent to labor camps for rehabilitation, the movement was called off.  He then followed up by launching the Great Leap forward.

The Great Leap forward was Mao’s attempt to put his ideas into practice as he assumed that a perpetual revolution was a necessity in the development of China. Thus he started collectivization of farms, abolished land ownership and the result was a famine when millions died.
Mao perhaps had no qualms about the deaths conditioned as he mentally was of a society in ferment and a perpetual revolution.  He followed up with The Cultural Revolution . This was his plan to keep society in ferment. The net result was that bands of red guard brigades went about identifying enemies of the revolution, many of whom were executed or sent to prison. the results now tell us that 30 million Chinese died during this decade of Mao's rule.

Mao will thus be dammed in History for the later part of his career. His earlier achievements of ushering in a mass uprising pale into insignificance with the monstrosity of the crimes that he inflicted on the Chinese people. luckily the policies of Mao were set aside and China has moved ahead, but in my view Mao's rule was a dark night for China. This will also dawn on the Chinese sooner than later.