The Chinese are very proud of their history. And so they should be. There is much to be proud of. But if such pride is not balanced with humility, it will be disastrous for China. Nationalism is on the rise.
Nationalism in China today is driven by the hundred years of national humiliation. How did it begin? And what was the main cause?
Prior to the first opium war China had been a closed society (much like Japan), it was nowhere near as technologically advanced as the western nations. Plus, they had a problem with opium. These factors eventually led to their defeat in the first opium war, and China’s rapid decline. (See the YouTube video The History of Opium in China | The China History Podcast | Ep. 153)
After the first opium war, the country began to come apart. China suffered defeat after defeat. Parts of the country came under the control of foreign powers (in particular, British and Japanese control).
But despite these difficulties, China was beginning to industrialise and develop as a nation. The ship building industry is but one example.
In 1911, the emperor was overthrown, and the Republic of China (ROC) was founded. In 1916, the first de facto dictator, Yuán Shìkǎi, died. From that time forward, different warlords vied for control until Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Kuomintang, officially unified the country in 1928. The communists sought to overthrow the Kuomintang from within, but Chiang would have none of it. This led to civil war. War continued between the parties until both sides united against Japan in the mid 1930s. Fighting resumed after Japan’s defeat in 1945. (That same year, Taiwan came under the rule of the ROC.) In 1949 Chiang Kai-shek was defeated by the communists and consequently fled to Taiwan where the ROC continued to rule. Mao was now officially the leader of mainland China, marking the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Before the communists came to power, Mao taught the illiterate masses—who lived in the poor rural areas—how to read. Then he gave them communist literature. Being ignorant of economics, they were easily convinced that communism would lead to a higher standard of living.
By the time of Mao’s death in 1976, the leadership of the communist party had had enough. Mao’s economic policies were destroying China.
Deng Xiaoping could see that the government’s policies were not working, and he had the wisdom to allow farmers to sell their extra grain once they had met the government quotas (see the video below).1 He observed the benefits and embraced the free market. The communist party was still in power, but communism had been essentially rejected by the party. This led to China’s economic boom.
Unfortunately, in recent years, China has been heading in the wrong direction. Many Chinese are deeply dissatisfied with their government (see the videos below). It is only a matter of time till China becomes a democracy. The question is, Will this happen peacefully? Or will it happen through a bloody civil war?
Will the Chinese learn not just from their own history, but from the history of the west? The west has many problems, but it does have some strengths.
The strengths of the west are forgiveness and confession. If westerners were unable to forgive, Europe and their western allies would not have good relations with Germany and Japan, they would still be hostile towards them. And without confession, there can be no reform. Those who are unwilling to admit to their mistakes, cannot improve.
If the Chinese leaders are wise, they will admit to their mistakes, encourage the Chinese people to forgive the Japanese, and introduce democracy slowly.2 If they do not, China's future looks grim.
If China tries to take Taiwan, it will not just be bad for Taiwan and Japan, it will be bad for the entire world.
In an attempt to expose their government, Chinese netizens are breaching the great fire wall and sharing information like the following with westerners. (They are doing this at great risk to themselves and their family’s personal safety. The CCP has created the firewall to restrict the kind of information Chinese citizens can access and to stop this kind of information being shared with the world.)
Many of the following videos are not the kind you will find on TikTok. In the Chinese culture it is all about “saving face.” For a Chinese citizen who is a supporter of the CCP, the worst possible thing anyone can do is make the country look bad, or the communist party look bad.
China has clearly turned a corner and is now in social and economic decline.
The CCP are doing all they can to suppress what’s really going on.
In the late 20th and early 21st century, things were improving in China.
Now the Chinese people are caught between a rock and a hard place.
They are beginning to despair.
Some westerners think the Chinese government is a better form of government than our western forms of government. They would do well to consider the answers to these questions.
What will happen to you if you live in China, and you publicly criticise the Chinese government?
What will happen to you if you live in Australia, and you publicly criticise the Australian government?
What will happen to you if you live in America, and you publicly criticise the America government?
How good your country looks, depends on which country you are comparing it to.
Like the west, China is in a moral free fall. And like western nations, many of the social problems are a result of government policy.
The Chinese do not like westerners drawing attention to things like this. (TikTok was all about making China look good and the west looking bad. That is one of the reasons why the Chinese government fought so hard to keep it under their control. Saving face is very important to the Chinese.)
How China appears is more important than political reform for many, perhaps most Chinese. So much so, that if you criticise the Chinese government many Chinese will take it personally. They will act as though your criticism of their government is a criticism of them. The Communist Party of China have successfully managed to convince many Chinese that any criticism of the Party is a criticism of the people and is therefore viewed by many Chinese as being racist.
This is strange. If people criticise my government, I do not feel like it is a criticism of me personally. I may even join in the criticism because I know the only way to correct a problem with any government policy is to first draw attention to it.
All sorts of problems are difficult to address when you do not allow freedom of speech.
Enormous amounts of money are wasted in China because people are afraid to criticise government projects. (See 127m Shiplift & 500t Ship Navigating on Viaducts | 471 Million USD Stupid White Elephant Project). Censorship comes at a cost.
“But what about all those videos by foreign influences saying things in China are great?”
How can a people or a government improve if they are not willing to listen to criticism and admit to their mistakes? Confession is not a weakness, it’s a strength. (See China Really Doesn't Want Anybody to See This - CENSORED to the max!)
Is it painful to admit to mistakes? It can be. But “with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2).
The Chinese Communist Party is not really concerned about what is harmful to the people. They are far more concerned with what is harmful to the Party. That's why many books have been banned and people are often persecuted for saying what they believe (e.g. Only the Chinese “approved” version of the Bible is allowed and at present, the Bible is being rewritten in an attempt to destroy Christianity in China because the CCP regards Christianity as a threat. See China Rewrites the Bible | Christian World News - August 25, 2023 and Is China Rewriting the Bible?).
It's time for the Chinese people to ask themselves the following question: What would China be like if it had the same form of government as Taiwan?
If enough people in China (and Chinese oversees) admit to the terrible things the Chinese government have done—and are doing—there is hope for China. If not, China will continue its present decline.
1. Deng was wise, but he could also be cruel. The way he handled the protests in Tiananmen Square was disgraceful, and his treatment of the practitioners of Falun Gong was abhorrent. See the YouTube video 'What is Falun Gong and Why is it Persecuted? | China Uncensored'.
2. One such way of doing this would be to give all politicians 6 year terms, but elect half the parliament every 3 years. The first election would be held at least 1 year from the date such a policy was announced. During this time, free speech must be allowed when it comes to economic issues. After the first election, the great firewall should be removed, and free speech be allowed on all issues.
Perhaps the most democratic electoral system is a modified Borda system of voting (where if a candidate gets more than 50% of the primary vote, they win. If no one receives that many votes, the Borda System kicks in).
Peter Hartcher on why China is tanking its economy on purpose
America Bad, China Good Because China Said So!
Recommended Reading:
Confucius Never Said by Helen Raleigh (A four-generation family journey from repression and poverty to freedom and prosperity)