Image Courtesy: The Communist
Article 42/ 2024
The history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is rife with bloodshed and deceit, with many tragic stories remaining unknown to the public. It is estimated that between 45 to 70 million innocent Chinese citizens were killed due to CCP policies, with their deaths classified as genocide and crimes against humanity. In November 2004, the CCP continued its brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, a spiritual practice rooted in Buddhist traditions. These individuals were tortured in Chinese forced labor camps, often subjected to electric shocks. While precise numbers are unavailable, human rights organizations estimate that thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been killed since 1999.
Political Revolutions: A Pattern of Bloodshed
The CCP's political leadership advocates for cultural reforms and revolutions approximately every seven to eight years. Mao Zedong, in particular, became infamous for his periodic revolutions, which often resulted in mass killings. According to Maoist ideology, such violence "refreshes" people's memories, with the CCP justifying deaths as beneficial, claiming, “Deaths have benefits; they fertilize the grounds.”
One of the most notable instances of CCP brutality occurred during the Wild Lilies Incident of 1947. Wang Shiwei, a scholar who promoted equality, democracy, and humanity, was executed—hacked to death with axes—by the CCP during the Yan’an Rectification Movement. This brutality was emblematic of the party's intolerance for dissent.
The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution
After coming to power in 1949, Mao launched brutal land reform campaigns that resulted in the deaths of millions of landowners, who were perceived as enemies of the state. The Great Leap Forward (1958-1961) followed a disastrous attempt to rapidly industrialize China. This campaign led to one of the deadliest famines in human history, with estimates ranging from 15 to 45 million deaths due to famine and related consequences.
From 1966 to 1976, the Cultural Revolution further deepened the scars on Chinese society. During this decade-long campaign of violence, Mao’s Red Guards terrorized intellectuals, teachers, and anyone deemed counter-revolutionary. The chaos and persecution during this period left lasting damage on the country’s social and political fabric, with an estimated 500,000 to 2 million deaths resulting from persecution, executions, and violence.
Has China Confronted Its Brutal Past?
Despite this grim history, China has yet to fully acknowledge or confront the crimes committed by the CCP. The party has presented itself as a champion of socialism and progress for the Chinese people. However, beneath the propaganda lies the brutal history of violence, oppression, and human rights abuses.
Through a combination of propaganda, censorship, and intimidation, the CCP has tried to erase these dark chapters from the collective memory, offering a sanitized version of history to cover up the bloodshed and brutality.
The CCP's Paradoxical Ideology
The CCP's ideological complexity is notable. On the surface, the party promotes values such as prosperity, democracy, civilization, and harmony. They claim to uphold freedom, equality, justice, and the rule of law as societal cornerstones. For citizens, they advocate values like patriotism, dedication, honesty, and friendship. Ironically, the CCP places "democracy" right after "prosperity," suggesting it is only a priority after economic gain.
Get Rich First, democratize later(1980s-1990s): This phrase attributed to Chinese leaders, encapsulates the CCPs approach of economic prosperity first, followed by gradual political liberalization. This aimed to revitalize the economy through market-oriented reforms and foreign investment. However, it has been criticized for its delayed democratic reforms, exacerbating income inequality, and ignoring human rights and individual freedoms.
“Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream” (2013): emphasized economic growth, national rejuvenation, and global influence, with democracy and political reform receiving less attention. Economic imperialism is seen as a means of expansion to China’s economic influence at the expense of others. The expansionist ideology aspiring to be a superpower has a foolproof highly influential plan of dominance. China Radio International (CRI) is working on a sustained basis to actively propagate the Chinese narrative among Tamil-speaking natives. The honesty and friendship are brutally murdered as this broadcast criticized the Indian Army for its activities on the LAC and even argued that the Indian Army wanted to take control of the stand-off area. CRI also creates propaganda that China is headed toward accelerated growth and has attacked India’s sovereignty by not recognizing Ladakh as a UT of India.
In reality, most Chinese citizens have never exercised true voting rights. Estimates suggest voter turnout is as low as 30-50%, due to widespread political apathy and disillusionment with the one-party system, where the CCP holds absolute power. The CCP maintains strict control over the electoral process, limiting voter choice and suppressing dissent. The party guides voters towards approved candidates and policies, limiting genuine choices. The party has dual goals of maintaining control while legitimizing its rule through democratic processes.
Dark Paradoxical Side of Foreign Adoption: Recently China has ended its foreign adoption program. Little is known about Chinese adoption practices. China is known to have increased as more girls were abandoned and became available for adoption. The male preference in China dates back to the Han Dynasty (206BCE-220 CE). This cultural bias was reinforced by Confucianism. When Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said China is no longer allowing foreign adoptions of the country’s children, with the only exception for blood relatives to adopt a child or a stepchild. Particular concerns are also about child abduction and child trafficking. This lucrative business in China with adoption fees ranging from $20,000 to $50,000 per child has created a perverse incentive for traffickers to supply children to meet the demands.
Present Context: The Dragon Policy and Internal Disintegration
Despite China’s impressive economic growth, the country faces internal challenges rooted in its untold and unspoken history. The demographic crisis, exacerbated by the one-child policy, has resulted in a shrinking workforce, expected to decline by 100 million by 2035, while the elderly population is expected to increase by 200 million. The unemployment rate is another source of unrest, reaching 21.3% in 2023, with growing frustration among the youth.
Movements such as "The Lying Flat" (tang ping), gaining popularity among Chinese youth, reflect resistance to societal pressures. This movement, which encourages passive resistance through minimal participation in the workforce, underscores the deep dissatisfaction and frustration simmering within Chinese society. This sentiment could be seen as a precursor to potential internal rebellion.
Economic Vulnerabilities
China’s economic success has largely been driven by its export-led growth model, but this has also created vulnerabilities. Domestic consumption remains limited, as reflected in the Hang Seng New Consumption Index, which indicates negative sentiment (-6.55). This dependency on exports, particularly to the U.S. and the EU, makes China vulnerable to global trade tensions and protectionism. Rising production costs, shifts in international supply chains, and a trade deficit further complicate the situation. In June 2024, China’s foreign exchange reserves dropped by $9.7 billion to $3.222 trillion, signaling deep concern about the country’s economic policies.
A Nation in Tension: Political and Social Realities
The internal and external pressures China faces today—the demographic crisis, economic vulnerabilities, and political discontent—highlight the fragility of the CCP’s “Dragon Policy.” Beneath the surface of nationalist fervor and impressive growth, China faces a complex web of social, economic, and political tensions that threaten to tear the nation apart. These internal drivers drive external forces.
CCP maintains a tight grip on power suppressing dissent and opposition. Hence, the growing demands for political reform and individual freedoms are testing the CCP's authority. China legislative apparatus is taking decision-making functions away from government bodies and placing them into Party bureaucracy. A good example is seen in leading small groups and commissions. This shift bolsters the CCP’s oversight of policy formulation and implementation to ensure stricter adherence to the Party line and marks a departure from prior CCP leaders’ more broadly consultative policy-making process.
The CCP's control over society through its propaganda machine can only delay the inevitable reckoning. Much like the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989, where student-led demonstrations for democratic reform were met with violent repression, resulting in an estimated hundreds to 10,000 deaths, today’s disillusionment and resistance are building among the youth.
Conclusion
The far-reaching consequences of China’s propaganda machine and its internal disintegration paint a bleak picture of its future. Beneath the gleaming skyscrapers and bustling cities, China struggles with a fractured society that needs urgent attention. It’s time for the CCP to confront its past and present realities and address the socio-political fault lines tearing the nation apart.
