The American Spectator : Authoritarianism the Chinese Way

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Authoritarianism the Chinese Way

By Doug Bandow on 12.18.09 @ 6:08AM

The country is not free, yet to visit the PRC is to visit a nation that feels free.

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Discussions at academic forums appear to be relatively free, even though the official media might not cover such topics. Without incident I noted in my paper the problems of inadequate legal and political development as well as corruption in dealing with American investment. One Chinese participant discussed the rise of civil society in the democratization of South Korea, which after decades of authoritarian rule has evolved into a vibrant democracy -- obviously not what the Beijing leadership wants to encourage among its people. At previous forums participants talked about encouraging the rule of law. People may self-censor, but do not appear to fear that every word is being monitored and passed along to political or security officials.

Conversation at dinner was about normal life: academic pursuits, family matters, business opportunities, personal foibles. Politics no longer consumes Chinese society. The university Communist Party secretary appeared at the conference opening ceremony, but party imagery is largely absent from both the campus and the city. There are no disquisitions about revolution, no suggestions that the PRC and America represent antagonistic systems.

All of this obviously is to the good.

OF COURSE, NOTHING DIMINISHES the magnitude and brutality of present political restrictions, manifested in many different ways. Or suggests that democracy is certain or soon to bloom. But China also is not totalitarian Communist, at least in the sense that we once understood totalitarian Communist to be. Rather, the so-called "People's Republic of China" is complex and ever evolving. What the PRC will look like in one or two decades is hard to predict.

Perhaps the Communist Party will be able to maintain political control. Perhaps the country will evolve into some sort of authoritarian nationalistic system. In either case China is likely to be an important economic and political rival of America. But then, even a democratic China is unlikely to accept perpetual U.S. domination.

The Chinese I have met are patriots acutely aware of China's history and its recent humiliations. They strongly desire to acquire a good education and learn English for themselves and their nation.

They want to both cooperate and compete with America. The Chinese people recognize that their country remains relatively poor and faces substantial economic and social challenges. The financial crisis and quick Chinese recovery have increased Chinese confidence, but no one calls the U.S. a paper tiger. They see greatness ahead for their nation. But that doesn't mean they expect conflict with the U.S.

Others may think differently, of course. There is an ideological left in China, which opposes much of China's market shift. Suspicion of America is particularly strong in the military. It is difficult to predict Beijing's future geopolitical ambitions. The perception that Washington is trying to contain the PRC could spark antagonism. Much could go wrong with the China-U.S. relationship.

We need to work to make sure it doesn't.

Four decades ago the PRC was convulsed by the Cultural Revolution -- a bloody, xenophobic intra-party power struggle. The U.S. and China had recently fought in Korea and had no diplomatic relations. China was poor, totalitarian, and aggressively subversive, and involved in an ongoing military confrontation with U.S.-supported Taiwan. Few Americans visited the PRC and even fewer Chinese visited America. Conflict was easily imaginable.

Today the relationship continues to grow more interdependent, relaxed, and familiar at both the personal and national levels. After four visits Shenyang feels, if not exactly like home, then homey. I recognize the airport, hotels, restaurants, university, conference center, and especially people.

The American and Chinese peoples are buying more things from each other and seeing more of each other. The old days of easily demonizing each other are over. Both nations have much at stake in a prosperous and peaceful order. Though political differences there will be many, there is no obvious reason the present superpower and emerging superpower cannot get along peacefully in coming years. But they need to work to make that so.

The U.S. will be the most influential nation for years, even decades, to come. It is, however, going to have to share the world stage with a steadily more influential and assertive PRC. China is nowhere close to pushing America aside -- China's limitations and America's strengths both are too great. Indeed, it is possible that the PRC will crash and burn before attaining international superstardom.

But some day, whether it comes in two, three, or four decades, the two countries are likely to meet as global equals. That will force the U.S. to operate very differently, especially in Asia. It behooves Washington to prepare for what is coming, and to begin thinking about how it should respond to that day.

Page: < 12

topics:
Foreign Policy, China, Personal Freedom

About the Author

Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and the Senior Fellow in International Religious Persecution at the Institute on Religion and Public Policy. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics (Crossway).

Letter to the Editor View all comments (49) | Leave a comment

Mickey Mate| 12.18.09 @ 8:35AM

I have been in China 5 years and never expected to stay, but economics, friends, relative modernity and here I still am. China is changing rapidly. Everyone is buying an apartment, car, an international education for their child, or English lessons, traveling and living. I think you hit the nail on the head in this article Mr Bandow. I get the same feeling from my Chinese friends and the things I hear and see.

Alan Brooks| 12.18.09 @ 11:36AM

This article is suspiciously close to a puff piece, and the sort of sleight of mind that Toffler and Naisbitt in promoting futurism, China, their books. What is this author saying? At least the trains run on time? it is better to be rich and unfree? Maybe so, I do not know, but perhaps.

The author did not mention what happens if you say the wrong thing to the wrong person. You can get hurt. My cousin had his passport taken away at the defense installation he taught English at-- he had to sneak South from Guangzhou (sp?) to Taipei. My good friend was thrown out of the country because he has always been honest to a fault. He lost all his funds (equivalent to $16,000) and possessions on the way out of China.
Listen to Eric.

jay casey| 12.20.09 @ 8:43PM

I lived in China for four years but left this year because I couldn't put up with it any longer. I was making money but that wasn't enough. I wanted free access to information, the rule of law, and an ethical environment. China is none of those things. It appears free to the casual visitor but next time why don't you try standing in front of the local CCCP Party HQ with a protest sign and see how long you get to stand.

Eric Dam0n| 12.18.09 @ 8:36AM

So, what's your point? That even though China jails dissidents, muzzles free speech, and persecutes its religious citizens they are okay because they have McDonald's and Diet Pepsi?

Look, we know that China is strong now and getting stonger every day. But that doesn't change what they are...a Communist dictatorship. And there has yet to be a Communist dictatorship that was good for the world or its own people. And despite all of the modern amenities in China, and all of the market forces at work there, we cannot forget who and what they are. So long as the Communist regime is in control, they are not going to be an ally but a rival...and maybe even an enemy.

There is no such thing as benign authoritarianism.

John M| 12.18.09 @ 9:12AM

How ironic it must seem where a person now feels far less regulated and more economically free in China than in the US. This is what we as a nation have come to and why their star is rising and ours is in decline; we can thank the liberals and liberal policies for this.

jay| 12.20.09 @ 8:52PM

There is no irony with a false premise. Even a short time visitor to China shouldn't feel more free than in the US. If he does, he is not aware of what is going on around him. Spend a few years in China, like I did, and the truth begins to become obvious. China is still a totalitarian state. Try criticizing it and see what happens. I could give you a thousand examples of how this is true but until you see the flow of immigration go in reverse you can bet that China is not a free country.

Stefan Kristen| 12.18.09 @ 11:28AM

I just returned from my fifth trip to Shanghai. I initially expected to see sullen and moribund people, cheerlessly slogging through their daily chores and living empty lives. The reality shocked me. The people seem to be happy and thriving. Shops and businesses are sprouting out of formerly empty lots and old buildings are being renovated at breakneck speed. Of course, Shanghai isn't representative of the rest of China, but it does signal a determination to modernize and succeed through entrepreneurship and a bit of personal freedom. I had the same experience as Mr. Bandow with the internet and the airport. The only incident of overt control was a traffic checkpoint where Policemen were randomly checking documents of drivers. Of course, here we call them sobriety checkpoints. I must admit that my visits have forced me to develop a grudging respect for the Chinese leadership and a sincere fondness for the people of China.

jay| 12.20.09 @ 9:00PM

Hooboy, are you naive! Shanghai is the New York of China and it is even less representative of the country its in. China can work for you if all you engage in is making money but try expressing your political opinion or criticizing the local party officials and things won't be so pleasant anymore. Even if you are 100% materialistic you should be aware that the party controls everything and can take everything away from you whenever it wants. And this happens very often if you get too successful. The Chinese people don't deserve this but someday material progress will not be enough - and the Party will crumble.

Seek| 12.18.09 @ 12:38PM

"Communist China" is that only in name. No government official, indeed no organized political entity, to my knowledge can be called Marxist-Leninist there. Thank heaven for small miracles. I realize the PRC qualifies as an adversary rather than as an enemy (it's been upgraded). But it's a far freer and better country than what it had been during its wretched Maoist Cultural Revolution, in all its quasi-religious fervor. And I'll bet they sell Perrier as well as Coke or Pepsi.

Doctor Right| 12.18.09 @ 1:22PM

Puff piece? I don't think so.

China has changed - drastically - and, for the most part, for the better. Yes, they still have a LONG way to go, but there are encouraging signs.

What the article fails to explain is that this sea-change in China's economic/political structure has only come about because of a strong, prosperous, and engaged United States of America.

The Chinese leadership realized, long before the Soviet leadership did, that the economic system promulgated by Communism was not sufficient to meet the needs, or feed the bellys, of 1 billion people. Sooner or later, the system would collapse, perhaps violently...So they decided that if you can't lick 'em, join 'em...But with a twist.

In the early 1980's, the Chinese Government began to make overtures towards the West, and particularly the US, in regards to opening up their society, and easing some political and economic restrictions. It was "perestroika", so to speak, Chinese-style. They began to send Chinese students westwards for their higher educations in the hopes that they would return to the PRC and use their newly gained knowledge to teach the Leaders about capitalism. Ever the optimists, we seized upon this "opening". but misinterpreted it slightly. We thought they wanted to be like us, when in fact, they wanted to be able to compete with us.

By gaining access to worldwide capital markets and western technology, they'd be able to challenge US hegemony in the Western Pacific. Essentially, the Chinese began an economic Cold War against the West, and even though they still lag behind in the aggregate, they've been wildly successful.

The massacre at Tianemann Square was a serious bump-in-the-road for the Party, and an eye-opener for the West. The worldwide reaction, not to mention the ever-present images and video of the massacre, shocked the Politburo. They realized that the toothpaste was out of the tube...The reforms they'd instituted had gotten out of control, and there was no way to go back. So they adopted a "new way". Communists in charge of a capitalist economy. In other words, keep the population happy with material goods and the illusion of freedom, and they'll behave. Tthe Communist Party in China has no intention of going away quietly. Hell, they might abandon the precepts of Marxism-Leninism, but they're not abandoning control.

But again, NONE of this would have been possible without a United States that was willing to stand-up to unwelcome Chinese intervention in Asia and the Western Pacific.

The problem is that we don't have that anymore. Barack Obama is openly hostile to a United States that projects power to any part of the world. Additionally, he admires the way the Chinese have "managed" (ie, controlled) their people - Keep 'em happy, but keep 'em under your thumb.

So we Americans have two things to be concerned about:

1. Stripped of the need to be concerned about the reaction from a strong, confident U.S., will China maintain it's "openness", or abandon it altogether when it serves their purposes (ie, Taiwan)?

2. Should we see our own political and economic future in the current PRC model? Is this where Obama and the Socialist Party want to take us? If so, what will we do about it?

A strong, prosperous U.S. will continue to push China into more economic and political freedom from which there will truly be no return. Chinese in their 20's and 30's have no real memory or allegiance to Chairman Mao. They've come of age in a time of openness, and they're not likely to tolerate a return to tyranny, and the Politburo understands this.

If our country remains strong and prosperous, we have nothing to fear from a growing China. As the man in the article said "We want to compete with the US". And really, what's wrong with wanting your country to be strong and prosperous. I certainly do. Additionally, the competition can only serve to strengthen us, meaning more technology, more opportunities, more jobs, more growth, and a better economy.

It's imperative that our nation return to our liberal (classical liberal), capitalist roots, and develop a sound, workable strategy to push China further into freedom and capitalism. But first, we have to defeat our own home-grown Communists like Obama, Reid, and Pelosi.

Roy| 12.18.09 @ 4:02PM

I think one understated element is the exclusion of huge masses of the population from this prosperity. What Americans see is the middle class but that's what, 1/10th of the population?

A truly capitalist system would mean that the poor would sooner or later derive some benefits, but I really don't think that's what China is. I'm guessing if they want to build an airport and farms are there, they just run them over with tanks. It's very efficient for the people who get the airport..but..yeah.

My belief in real freedom says that sooner or later India will clobber China. In India when they do that kind of thing there are huge demos and they have to back down. It's nowhere near perfect, but hey.

The US? If we keep electing people like Obama it will be a moot point.

Kai Chen| 12.19.09 @ 9:23AM

I have never thought article like this one will be on American Spectator -- shallow and observant only to the superficial.
Most people only see the change in hardware in China, but they somehow refuse to see the constant -- a slave state bent to corrupt America and the West in order to survive. Maybe Obama and the like really want to emulate China for its fast economic growth. Nowadays Americans tend to forget what this country is all about by the founding fathers. Money and expediency have become the focal point in people's lives. What a pity.
The author of this article only adds to this sickness in American political culture, from the conservative side. People like this author are so oblivious of the nature of the communist government with its past and present atrocities -- 80 million lives have been eliminated under the 60 years of communist rules.
As Lenin once stated: America now is selling the Chinese ropes to hang herself.
See General Chi Haotian's statement to eliminate one half of America's population through bio-warfare in order for China to dominate the globe:
http://www.rense.com/general85/China'sPlanToConquer.htm

Kai Chen | 12.19.09 @ 9:34AM

Op-Ed Contributor

Words on Trial in Beijing

LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink By JONATHAN MIRSKY

Published: December 18, 2009

In the late spring of 1989, a few weeks before the killings of June 4, a slight, almost nerdish figure appeared in Tiananmen Square and began exhorting the students to concentrate on democracy rather than the deposition of China’s top leaders and an end to corruption.

I recall that young man scurrying from group to group of demonstrators sitting on the flagstones. As he awkwardly gesticulated, they hung on every word with the intense attention that Chinese students give teachers of great authority.

He was Liu Xiaobo, then 33, a university teacher of literature who had hurried back from Columbia University, where he was a visiting scholar, to join the Tiananmen demonstrations.

Mr. Liu now faces 15 years in prison. Or rather 15 more years: He was imprisoned for two years after June 4, another three during the 1990s, and he has been in detention since his arrest last June.

The present charge is “agitation activities, such as spreading of rumors and defaming of the government, aimed at subversion of the state and overthrowing the socialism system.” According to the PEN American Center, the trial could begin as early as Monday.

What is Mr. Liu’s crime? He was a principal figure behind Charter 08, a document published last December and initially signed by 303 brave Chinese inside China and abroad.

It declared: “We should make freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and academic freedom universal, thereby guaranteeing that citizens can be informed and can exercise their right of political supervision.

“These freedoms should be upheld by a Press Law that abolishes political restrictions on the press.

“The provision in the current Criminal Law that refers to ‘the crime of incitement to subvert state power’ must be abolished. We should end the practice of viewing words as crimes.”

To anyone living in a free society the words seem merely Jeffersonian: “For China the path that leads out of our current predicament is to divest ourselves of the authoritarian notion of reliance on an ‘enlightened overlord’ or an ‘honest official’ and to turn instead toward a system of liberties, democracy and the rule of law, and toward fostering the consciousness of modern citizens who see rights as fundamental and participation as a duty.”

For Beijing the charter was like an explosive charge capable of blowing up the leadership compound within the walls of the Forbidden City. Ever since Mao began persecuting writers in the early 1950s, words have been regarded as especially dangerous in China.

Beijing does not engage in arguments. It simply bullies to discourage others. Zhang Zhixin, a young Chinese woman, was executed in 1975 for “opposing the Great Helmsman Chairman Mao, opposing Mao Zedong thought, opposing the revolutionary proletarian line and piling offense upon offense.” To ensure that Ms. Zhang could not cry out at her execution, her vocal cords were cut.

Mr. Liu’s indictment came on International Human Rights Day. But there’s nothing unique here. Recently, for example, a Chinese official explained why the government bans Wikipedia: “The strength of a small number of evil-doers will make Wikipedia into a platform spreading bad information and threatening state security and social stability.”

On a nationwide scale, there is the constant official inspection of the Chinese Internet for taboo words like Tiananmen, Taiwan, Dalai Lama — and democracy. Use of such words can bring a knock on the door and arrest.

Sadly, China now gets a free American pass on the abridgment of its fundamental human rights. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has suggested that human rights must now take a back seat behind other more important considerations, and President Obama canceled a visit to the White House by the Dalai Lama after Beijing warned that it would imperil the president’s trip to China.

Liu Xiaobo remains clear-eyed. Before his latest arrest he observed, “In the game of ban and response to ban, the people’s space for expression increases millimeter by millimeter. The more the people advance, the more the authorities retreat.

“The time is not far when the frontier of censorship will be breached and the people will openly demand freedom of expression."

Jonathan Mirsky is a journalist specializing in Chinese affairs.

Marie| 12.20.09 @ 9:38AM

I've been in china for 6 years. The PRC is no longer the nanny state the United States is becoming. While the PRC government is starting to retreat from people's lives, the US is becoming more invasive. That's why I've decided to stay in China.

jay| 12.20.09 @ 9:11PM

Marie, you must be in a different China than what I was in for four years until this year. Have you tried doing an Internet search for objective information on Tibet, the Uighurs, Taiwan or a thousand other subjects the Party doesn't want you to know about? Business research was my job in China and I had tremendous difficulty in getting unfettered access to information. I got so tired of the censorship and the official lies I met with. I had to get out of China and am soooo glad to be back in the US where I can get access to any information and make up my own mind - based on truth!

Tenn Slim| 12.20.09 @ 9:59AM

Opine
Having been a China Watcher for some years, I recall the" Future for China", written some 50 odd years ago, by the State Dept folks that allowed the Korean, Taiwan and Viet Nam fiascos. Then the prediction was China would implode, fall into decay, eventually become fragmented, disunited and another Failed State. ALL we had to do was Hold the Line. BS......
bt
Money, economics, personal needs, information flow AKA the Net, have tossed those 60's predictions into the waste basket. Reality is much as the author depicts. I watched Japan rise out of Ocuppied Japan status, become huge economically, and predictably fall. South Korea the same way. Economics follow cycles. Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria, almost all of the Eastern European countries are on the same track. PERSONAL ECONOMIC NEEDS drives money flow, which creates, grows and thrives.
bt
Now, the OBNA USA is on the other side of the curve. We have it all. The LEFTISTs object, cause they do not have it all, IE: Control. So, given the eternal flow of things we can expect to be where the Chinese were in 1940, disunited, fragmented, economicaly poor, and another failed state, IF we continue on the OBNA path. That period of time for the LEFT was angst driven, and they have a long Memory of GET EVEN.
end
Semper Fi

JimE| 12.20.09 @ 11:52PM

So much apologizing to do for communist china... so little time. Glad to see the world is still full of useful idiots. You leftist morons are funny.

JO| 12.21.09 @ 1:53AM

Like all nations one must not judge a people by its government. The Chinese by and large are friendly, hard working people like Americans. They want the same things as Americans, especially for their children.

Are the Chinese free?

No way, for those of you who have lived or visited China you will know to play by the rules. And the rules are you don't critise the Party, you don't stand outside Party HQ with a democracy banner and so on.

The Chinese will not engage in discussions that are negative to the Party for they know the consequences can be deadly. In the 1950's Mao had his 100 Flowers Campaign and asked academics etc to speak out and be critical if they so wished.

Well, you know what happened - many did speak out and they suffered. The Chinese have been betrayed before by their masters and most prefered to live in peace without some of the freedoms we in the west enjoy. All in all the Chinese today appear to be doing OK, and appear to be pretty pleased with their increasing prosperity.

Other than not being allowed to criticise the Party, China is quite a free and interesting place. I love it and always have a great time when there - one simply has to play by the rules.

China grows strong while America grows weaker.

The biggest paradox about China is that it is a communist regime with a capitalist economy. Deng Xiao Ping, a pragmatic visionary knew China had to engage the West economically and China has never looked back. No more humiliating Opium Wars for China - the Chinese never forget.

While China makes stuff (far too much crap in my opinion but we buy it) and sells it to the world America makes wars, and long wars at that.

The Chinese are quite happy to underwrite these wars for they can continue to sell, foster business deals all over the globe, and make profits (loans to America) while America plays foreign policy.

Sun Tsu in the Art of War states that it is always best to defeat an enemy without having to fire a shot. If this cannot be the case then a swift victory must be achieved, otherwise long wars will bankrupt the nation.

The Chinese are patient.

It's a funny old world where a communist regime can play capitalism better than Americans.

Time will tell how China ends up but we can expect no change in governmnet for many many years. The power elite are far too embeded into all aspects of system - just like in America. Power is never surrended (Sth Africa was an exception) it has to be taken.

America these days is becoming less of a democracy and more of an oligarchy. We have much to learn by paying attention to the Chinese and they have much to learn from us.

Let's hope we learn from each other in peace, for the alternative is unthinkable.

Sheng dan kuai le (Merry Xmas)

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crane| 1.8.10 @ 9:22AM

Repeat after me: the People's Republic of China is an authoritarian country. Political leaders are not elected. Human rights activists go to jail.

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coolpete| 1.16.10 @ 1:43PM

So much apologizing to do for communist china... so little time. Glad to see the world is still full of useful idiots. You leftist morons are funny.

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coolpete| 1.24.10 @ 2:12AM

So much apologizing to do for communist china... so little time. Glad to see the world is still full of useful idiots. You leftist morons are funny.

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sanjana| 2.6.10 @ 12:30PM

The only incident of overt control was a traffic checkpoint where Policemen were randomly checking documents of drivers. Of course, here we call them sobriety checkpoints. I must admit that my visits have forced me to develop a grudging respect for the Chinese leadership and a sincere fondness for the people of China.

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Money and expediency have become the focal point in people's lives. What a pity.
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Lisa Jones| 7.1.10 @ 5:23AM

So, what's the conclusion? Are the people of China free or not? I guess it depends on who you ask...

ensogo| 4.25.11 @ 1:18PM

I have been in China 2 years and never expected to stay, but economics, friends, relative modernity and here I still am. China is changing rapidly. Everyone is buying an apartment, car,Mobility Scooter, an international education for their child, or English lessons, traveling and living.

Wii| 6.26.11 @ 11:01PM

Your game will not stay just in the rectangular television anymore. With Wii, you can participate in it easily. With Wii, your life will gain more and more excitement.

Cheap Flight to Bangkok| 6.26.11 @ 11:02PM

Appreciate Thai culture with our cheap flight to Bangkok. Fly with our cheap flight to Bangkok and have fun. Let’s go!

Game| 6.26.11 @ 11:25PM

For game fan clubs, a new choice is yours. Finding some game and its accessories can be very easy. No need to waste money on petrol that harms our world.