Who identifies self with the Five-star Red Flag?

by Wan Zhi

August 26, 2008

In its editorial on 25th of Augusty, one editor of Swedish Daily wrote that the just finished Beijing Olympic Games 2008 would be remembered for its plenty of symbols for showing a ”modern” China. It is true that symbols are the most representatives of cultures, and one culture is simply a collection of symbols, as this is almost a consensus for modern cultural semiotics and cultural studies. Therefore, it would be significant to discuss about one of the most important symbols at this Olympic Games, that is, the Five-star Red Flag, the Chinese national flag, and find out the meanings this symbol conveys.

This Five-star Red Flag was stipulated as China’s national flag in 1949 when the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took the power in the mainland China and established People’s Republic of China, and at the same time abolished the national flag of the Republic of China which was founded by Sun Yatsen in 1911, and that is also the flag that the government in Taiwan still uses today. This Five-star Red Flag has become the official symbol for China ever since then. At this Olympic Games, except that both at the opening and at the closing there was the Five-star Red Flag raising ceremony, each time when Chinese sportman or women got a medal, there would be one Five-star Red Flag raising, so that 100 medals China got this time would mean 100 times of this Five-star Red Flag raisings. We would certainly not forget that hundred thousands of the Five-star Red Flags that audience waved, and same symboles at people and Chinese sportmen and women’s cloth and uniforms, and even painted at their cheeks. Before the Olympic Games started, the Olympic Fire relay all over the world caused some conflicts, in Paris, in London, in Los Angelus, etc. Many oversea Chinese students and young or old people, who were usually very insensitive in politics, suddenly appeared in the streets to demonstrate their anger against West media and defend the Beijing Olympic Games, and we could then see thousands of such Five-star Red Flags appearing in the main streets where the Olympic Fire went. This scene really suprised many local people. Now the whole world also know that the lovely girl who ”sang” at the opening ceremony was actually a fake. But I am sure that not so many foreigners would know what she was ”singing”. However, almost all Chinese knows, because this is one song all Chinese children learnt and learn and will learn from schools. I can remember the text clearly because I did sing it hundred of times when I lived in China. The title is ”Praising My Motherland”, and the first sentence is ” The Five-star Red Flag is fluttering in the wind….”

What is the meaning of this Five-star Red Flag which has become a symbol of China? What is there a big star surrounded by four small stars? Why does it have a red background? I guess that not many foreigners know about these, but all Chinese know because answers to these questions are included in the political education that all Chinese must receive already from their childhood, and often included in the examinations for students to enter middle schools, high schools and universities. Chinese schools still have this Five-star Red Flag raising cerenomony every school day morning. All students know that this big star represents the Chinese Communist Party, and the four small stars around represents different social classes. Each little star should have one angel pointing to the big star as to show their loyalty. And the red colour, as for all communist parties in the world, symbolizes the violent and bloody revolution. Therefore, briefly, we can say that this Five-star Red Flag is a symbol for the One-Party dictatorship in China, a symbol to show how the Communist Party took the power via violence and bloody measures. It is a symbol for evil!

So, when I see thousands of Chinese people still wave this flag, and felt touched to tear when they listened to the girl to sing ”Praising My Motherland”, and they have no idea with what kind of evil flag they are identifying their national identity, and have no consciounsness that they have been ”brain-washed” or politically castrated already from their childhoon, I am really shocked. It reminds me of the fanatical scene during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s in China that millions of the so-called Red Guards waving the Mao’s Little Red Books. It also reminds me of the fanatical scene in Nazi’s Germany in the 1930s that thousands of young Nazis waving their 卐 flags. It is really a typicla scene to show how dictators can mobilize the naive people with their symbols!

Who can imagine today that a 卐 flag will be raised when a German sportsman gets an Olympic medal, or an old Soviet Union’s Red Star Flag will be raised when a Russian athlete wins any international game? Even in Europé which is famous for freedom of expression, to show a 卐 flag is regarded as criminal in many countries and will be legally punished.

I am sure that one day, soon or later, the dictatorship in China will collaps, as all dictatorships in the world did. The Five-star Red Flag as a symbol for One-Party dictatorship and violent and bloody revolution will be abolished by Chinese people then, just like what happened in Nazi or Soviet Union. These states all had held their Olympic Games, and all had a powerful and prosperous period, and had had their people to wave their flags, but they could not avoid their no good end.

Therefore, I really want to tell my fellow countrymen and women, if you do love our Motherland, and identify yourself with real Chinese national identity, and you do not want to have your future children feeling shamed, stop watving this Five-star Red Flag!

The Crackdown to Come

By Willy Lam

22 August 2008


Not only have the Olympics failed to act as a catalyst for political
liberalization in China, but the regime's pre-Olympics security buildup
looks set to enable the government to crack down as hard as ever on dissent
after the Games are over. In line with the time-honored Chinese tradition
of "taking revenge after the autumn harvest," police and military
authorities are planning major reprisals against a host of troublemakers.

Punitive action has begun even before the athletes and the estimated
400,000 foreign tourists leave town. Remember the "protest zones" that
Beijing authorities set up in three local parks as testimony of the
regime's "new openness"? According to international human rights watchdogs,
several activists who have applied to hold protests have been harassed and
detained. They include two Beijing petitioners, Wu Dianyuan and Wang
Xiuying, who were last week sentenced to a one-year term of "re-education
through labor." Mr. Wu and Ms. Wang's crime: repeatedly petitioning the
authorities for having been wrongfully evicted from their Beijing homes
seven years ago.

Indeed, a good number of the strategies and institutions put into place to
ensure a fail-safe Olympics are here to stay.
Since disturbances hit Tibet and four neighboring provinces in March, the
leadership under President Hu Jintao has boosted the powers of the People's
Liberation Army, the People's Armed Police, the regular police and the
judicial apparatus in combating destabilizing forces. As a key element of
the revival of Chairman Mao Zedong's "people's warfare," Beijing and a
number of other cities have revived the vigilante and spying functions of
neighborhood committees. Municipal administrations along the coast -- and
in the autonomous regions of Tibet and Xinjiang -- have recently earmarked
additional budget to maintain the "spying" functions of neighborhood
committees and similar vigilante outfits after the Olympics.

Moreover, the Politburo's Central Political and Legal Commission, China's
highest law-enforcement agency, has urged the courts and prosecutors to do
more in fulfilling the party's priority task of thwarting anti-Beijing
conspiracies and upholding sociopolitical stability.

That the courts will comply in this is evident from a just-released article
by the President of the Supreme People's Court, Wang Shengjun. Writing in
this week's edition of the official Seeking Truth journal, Mr. Wang said:
"We must pay more attention to maintaining state security and social
stability. . . We must boost our consciousness of [safeguarding] the power
of the regime . . . and fully develop our functions as a department for
[proletarian] dictatorship."

Recent vows made by senior judicial cadres about doing the bidding of the
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are indicative of the Hu leadership's
long-term game plan of using the judicial apparatus against the party's
foes. In numerous political campaigns waged by the CCP in recent decades,
prosecutors and judges have played a pivotal role in "expediting" the
incrimination of "counterrevolutionaries."

The CCP leadership also is beefing up its campaign against "splittist
elements," particularly in Xinjiang. In three separate attacks in western
Xinjiang between August 4 and 12, ruffians described by Chinese authorities
as "terrorists" killed 20 PAP officers and police.

In a televised conference earlier this week, a high-ranking member of the
Xinjiang CCP Committee, Zhu Hailun, indicated that the authorities would
step up their "military struggle" against the "three evil forces" of
separatism, terrorism and religious extremism. "We must use iron-fisted
methods to hit out at the disruptive activities [of separatists]," said Mr.
Zhu, who is responsible for law and order in the restive region. "We shall
take the initiative in attacking [the evil forces], hit them wherever they
show up, and launch pre-emptive strikes against them."


Mr. Zhu's stern rhetoric has left no doubt that Beijing has ruled out any
compromise with underground Uighur groups, many of which are merely seeking
autonomous rights guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution, not outright
independence. Instead, President Hu had in early summer ordered more
People's Liberation Army and People's Armed Police reinforcements into
Xinjiang and Tibet. These deployments have been confirmed by a Liberation
Army Daily story earlier this month, which said that crack units from the
Air Force of the Nanjing Military Region, which is responsible for the
Taiwan Strait, had taken part in recent war games in Xinjiang.

Apart from hitting out at dissidents, petitioners and secessionist
elements, the CCP leadership is buttressing its capacities to handle "mass
incidents," a code word for riots and disturbances staged by peasants and
workers who bear grudges against the authorities. The party journal
Fortnightly Chat pointed out last week that "a rash of mass incidents have
suddenly erupted, and they have rung the bell of alarm for [the viability
of] grassroots administrations."

Many of these incidents have to do with peasants whose land has been
grabbed by corrupt officials, or workers and migrant laborers who have been
deprived of their pensions and other rightful benefits. Confrontation
between the masses and police is tipped to rise owing to recent
difficulties in the economy. Some 67,000 medium-sized enterprises folded in
the first half of the year. And the livelihood of workers and farmers has
been rendered more difficult by inflation that is hovering between 6% and
7%.

Growing instability on various fronts has predisposed the Hu leadership
toward strengthening the police-state apparatus that has been put together
in the name of ensuring a trouble-free Olympics. Moreover, cadres in the
law-and-order establishment, who include senior officials in the Central
Political and Legal Commission as well as military, police and judicial
departments, have gained immense clout, not to mention much more funding,
since early this year.

These units have used their extra budgets to hire tens of thousands of new
staff, in addition to acquiring hardware that includes state-of-the-art
antiriot gear and hundreds of thousands of surveillance cameras and related
equipment. It is in the vested interests of this fast-expanding
law-and-order establishment to play up the imperative of eradicating
"enemies of the party," whether real or imagined.

All of which together bodes ill for the prospects of a post-Olympics thaw
for China's aggrieved residents and political dissidents.
---
Mr. Lam is a Hong Kong-based China scholar and author of "Chinese Politics
in the Hu Jintao Era" (M.E. Sharpe, 2006).
The Wall Street Journal Asia

The Promise of Lady Liberty

Fengshi Yang

Opening remarks
The 19th anniversary of “Tiananmen, June 4th” Memorial Concert

6/1/2008

What is any moment without its promise, without its dreams, without its hope for the future? That moment is empty.

Please know, that such an empty moment does not exist, because every moment contains promise. Just like an acorn seed promises the oak tree; a baby promises an adult; and the student promises a mind that can think thoughts for the greater good of his people. But, not every promise becomes reality.

Nineteen years ago, Lady Liberty lived in Tiannamen Square. The moment was filled with promise and dreams and hopes for democracy in China. It was an astonishing moment in world history. The promise was great. But, it was never allowed to take root. So, China lost an opportunity; we lost courageous young souls who dared to dream of something miraculous for their country; and the world lost a chance to have the most populated country in the world turn into a democratic republic. We must remember this moment. We must honor our dead... we must honor our survivors. And we must keep vigil with the dream, with the promise of that moment.

All change requires loss. But, staying the same takes it toll, also. Why was China like Odysseus shipwrecked in a stormy sea... clinging ferociously to the shattered keel of his original ship...? What could have been our present moment now had China then the courage to try democratic freedoms? We will never know the answer to that question. But, we must hold on to our memories of the promise of that moment 19 years ago. We must remember those who gave their lives for the possibility of change, especially since that change has not yet happened.

Democracy is hard work. Freedom means the possibility of mistakes, the chance to agree to disagree and the opportunity to try again. Let us remember the promise from 19 years ago when Lady Liberty stood in Tiannamen. May she live again for the sake of our people, our troubled nation, and for the sake of world peace.

The world can tremble in many ways.
Whether it is the ideological challenge to the status quo
Or the literal quaking of the ground upon which one stands.

19 years ago
the world trembled
and then, held its breath
as the promise of the moment failed.

19 days ago
the land rumbled,
buildings tumbled
and the world trembled at the destruction and loss of life.

All must begin anew
for we are never the same after such an event.

We pray for those victims.

We pray for those in Sichuan province
who have no choice
but to exist in this strange new reality.

And we stand here today
keeping vigil with them
in our hearts and prayers.

We pause
for a moment of silence
as we light our candles
out of respect for the magnificent mystery of life.

Let us remember all those who suffer.

the TianAnMen Mothers Professor Ding ZiLin's Letter on June 4

The South Korea Chapter of the Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition
Commemorates June 4; Representative of the TianAnMen Mothers Professor
Ding ZiLin's Letter on June 4


The South Korea Chapter of the Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition
Commemorates June 4

On the evening of June 3, 2008, despite heavy rain, members of the
South Korea Chapter of the Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition held
a "Commemorating June 4 Candlelight Vigil" in the Chinese church in
Seoul. During the commemoration, members held a 3-minute silence in
mourning of the 6.4 victims and the victims of the WenChuan
earthquake, in front of a display of candles made in the sign of "6.4."

Chapter member ZHENG Cai gave a speech titled "We Shall Remember 6.4
Forever"; Chapter committee member WU Jiang read a"6.4 Eulogy"; Deputy
Director DENG YunBi read the May 30, 2008 letter from representative
of the TianAnMen Mothers Professor Ding ZiLin (printed below);
Director WU ZhenRong delivered his speech titled "Why do we
commemorate June 4 every year?" The memorial service lasted for 50
minutes.

This is the 6th consecutive year of the 6.4 memorial service for the
South Korea Chapter since 2003, as well as their continuation of
democracy advocating work within the Chinese population in South Korea.
__ __ __

Letter from Professor Ding ZiLing

My dear compatriots and friends,

On this 19th anniversary I would like to thank you, on behalf of the
TianAnMen Mothers group, for your consecutive efforts in holding
annual memorial services at the same place for the past 19 years to
commemorate the deaths of the June 4 massacre in 1989. In the passing
of time, such gathering is gaining significance not only as respect
for the dead but also as hope for the future. It is not only a
demonstration of moral courage but also an expression for a consistent
conviction. I would like to thank you all for this, again on behalf of
every member of the TianAnMen Mothers.

We just went through an earthquake of extraordinary scale in our own
country where grief for the dead was universal. Such a calamity has
left on our land tens of thousands of dead again. What we find
difficult to address is that so many children were among the dead. All
those fresh lives were buried under the fallen structures. Mothers
wept for the loss of their children. All these tragedies bring out
sympathy from every kind-hearted person.

As mothers who lost their children 19 years ago, we know the pain at
the time of the calamity and from the death that came with the
calamity. Our hearts are now very fragile and are not so strong any
longer when the bad news of losing lives comes in bunches. Yesterday,
China had TianAnMen mothers. Today a new group of Sichuan Mothers came
into being. Is this the destiny of the Chinese race?

The natural calamity is horrible since it is so difficult to predict.
But the human made horrors are even more horrible since they should
not have happened. Hundreds and thousands of young men and women, and
innocent civilians died from the bullets of the "Republic's army" and
the wheels of the tanks. That was criminal. Those children of today's
tragedy could have survived. They died from the natural calamity and
human made calamity --- the tofu-type building projects.

Most of the numerous abnormal deaths are due to a sick system and a
wrong concept.


The Chinese political system protects nothing except power and money.
What are lacking in the mind of Chinese race are the respect and
concern for life, and the respect and fear of death. For thousands of
years, especially in the past more than half-century, life and human
value are not respected and are either seen as trivial as a piece of
grass or as in the hand of fate in the minds of people of all status.
People cannot forget Deng Xiaoping's tough expression of exchanging
twenty years of stability for two hundred thousand lives. After 19
years, people will still remember the cold blooded order of "positive
media coverage" while so many have died in the earthquake.

Systems and concepts are difficult to change. But the change is
inevitable. What June 4 has brought about proves that change is a
must. This earthquake proves again that the change is a must.

Today we get together to appeal to our compatriots for enhancing the
respect for life and concern and reminding people of the fear for
death. We appeal so that our system can change its nature according to
the universal value of mankind. Only with this universal value can we
have the security for every life and we will be free of the fear for
the immediate death, of ourselves or our loved ones.

Thanks you very much.

Ding Zilin
May 30, 2008

------------------------------

This is a message from WeiJingSheng.org

Politics of healing in cross-strait ties

By WU JIAXIANG, WEIHAI, China

Published: May 13, 2008

Ma Ying-jeou’s honeymoon with the Chinese government may be over already, some critics say, even before he takes up his post as Taiwan’s leader on May 20. His popularity with the conservative deep-blue camp has also waned, owing to his appointment of Lai Shin-yuan to the Mainland Affairs Council. The controversial new chairwoman was a senior security advisor and a core player within the Taiwan Solidarity Union, a pro-independence political party under the leadership of former Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui.

This analysis may not be correct, however.

In fact, Ma is not a groom in wedding attire. He is more of a doctor in a white coat. He is holding not a ring for a bride, but a stethoscope for a patient. What he wants is not a honeymoon but a period of convalescence from wounds caused by the struggles within the island, between the blue and green camps, and across the Taiwan Strait, between Taiwan and mainland China.

During the eight-year rule under the Democratic Progressive Party of the green camp, the manmade conflict between ethnic groups -- islanders versus mainlanders -- has been strengthened both on the island and across the strait. The Chinese people on both sides were badly hurt in this conflict.

Therefore, it is expected that the bluer Ma’s new Cabinet members are, the better the prospects for cross-strait relations. On the other hand, the more than 5 million voters in Taiwan who didn’t go for Ma do not need salt in their wounds, but a needle to sew them up. After a careful search in his doctor’s bag, Ma came up with the right needle -- Lai Shin-yuan, who is still seen as a pan-green supporter despite agreeing to support Ma’s policy on the 1992 Consensus -- an agreement signed that year by representatives from the mainland and Taiwan in which they agreed that there is only one China, with two interpretations of what “one China” means.

Lai originally emerged from the blue Kuomintang camp and served as a member of the International Affairs Committee of the Taipei city government from 1999-2000, when Ma was the city’s mayor. Before that she obtained her doctorate in Britain, worked as a journalist from 1978-1980 at the China Times under the Kuomintang’s control, and was employed by several international institutions, where she cultivated her knowledge of international affairs.

At that time it wasn’t Ma Ying-Jeou but Lee Teng-Hui who was the strongest magnet for the Kuomintang.

Lee wasn’t satisfied with acting as a step-son to former President Chiang Ching-kuo. He wanted to become the spiritual leader, or godfather, of Taiwan’s independence and democracy. Thus he started to turn politically green, split the Kuomintang from inside, and eventually supported the DPP of the green camp to take political power in 2000.

Lai was pulled by his magnetic attraction into the government under the DPP’s leadership since 2000, and took up a post as senior advisor to the “National Security Council,” mainly dealing with economic affairs. Later she left the Kuomintang, joined Lee’s new party and won a legislative seat in 2004.

But Lee turned out to be more of a pendulum than a magnet, vacillating back and forth, in terms of his political position. Lee was pro-blue, shifted to pro-green in 1999 and later turned blue again. In 1999 Lee became the godfather of Taiwan independence; in early 2007 he stated that he was never in favor of Taiwan independence, and that he was even thinking of visiting the mainland.

When the magnet moved back to the Kuomintang, the needles it had attracted also made the move. Dr. Ma is talking this needle that Lee passed on and turned it blue.

The first thing Ma must do with this needle is to sew up the relations within the Kuomintang that Lee split; that will show Ma’s big heart in embracing previous enemies. Secondly, Ma wants to be able to embrace the officials and civil servants of the previous government so that the hearts of the green camp can be pacified to some extent, but without getting on China’s nerves. After all, Lee clearly separated himself from the Taiwan independence forces; will Lai not do the same thing?

It looks like Ma will be busy with this healing work in the coming years -- dealing with the wounds between ethnic groups and across the strait and saving Taiwan’s falling economy. Luckily, the cure for all these ills does exist, and has been approved by the mainland. Ma’s No. 2 man, Vincent Siew, agreed with President Hu Jintao in mid-April to face reality, create the future, put arguments aside and look for win-win positions, while Hu agreed with senior Kuomintang member Lien Chan in late April to build mutual trust, put arguments aside, seek common ground while reserving differences and jointly create a win-win situation.

This is the politics of healing. If cross-strait relations can recover from their wounds, those within the island will be healed easily.

--

(Wu Jiaxiang is a senior researcher at the China Research Center for Public Policy of the China Society of Economic Reform. He is a renowned economic and political scholar and a former visiting scholar at Harvard University's Fairbanks Center for East Asian Research. His research areas include economics, domestic and international politics, business strategy, and Chinese traditional strategy and thought. This article is translated and edited from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the original can be found at http://blog.sina.com.cn/wujiaxiang and www.ncn.org . ©Copyright Wu Jiaxiang.)

http://www.upiasiaonline.com/Politics/2008/05/12/politics_of_healing_in_cross-strait_ties/9233/

No such thing as 'anti-China forces'

By WU ZUOLAI, BEIJING, China

Published: April 04, 2008

Within China, many drumbeaters are stirring up anger against so-called "anti-China forces," referring to groups that are against the Chinese people, hold historical hostility toward the race, or have a conflict of interest with China or its people. If these voices are correct and such forces do exist, they will oppose the Chinese whenever they have a chance -- whether it's the Chinese people or the Chinese nation. They will always be anti-China, just as mice are always anti-cat.

Does this perception match the reality, however?

Actually, those judged "anti-China" because of their critical or even hostile attitudes -- including foreign political figures, media and some other groups -- are not against the Chinese people but against Beijing, a synonym for China's government.

Therefore, one should more precisely define these forces as critical of Beijing, or anti-Beijing. There are people who, in their innermost nature, have an aversion to Beijing's policies and systems. They may be overtly hostile, but it is not toward the Chinese leaders or the Chinese people. It is related to problems and troubles caused by the political system, which have harmed the Chinese people and are also factors contributing to instability in the world.

In the eyes of some angry Chinese youth, the conflict between China and the world can only be attributed to conflicts of interest. Does this imply that feelings of love and hate between people are merely a matter of shared or conflicting interests?

In fact, we are living in an era where values are a central issue; the core values of a nation determine its core competitiveness, its level of development and the degree of respect it holds in the world. Interests are just temporary and utilitarian while values are eternal and universal.

In addition, international criticism of Beijing results at least partly from Beijing's deficiencies in certain areas of performance. Likewise, the United States also faces international criticism for the same reason.

I would advise that Beijing improve its ability to listen to different opinions -- to correct any errors, to be more lighthearted if there are none, and to cultivate a spirit of forgiveness as well as an ability to correct its own mistakes in the face of criticism.

Because civil society is not strong in China, and the mainstream media are all controlled by the authorities, the government is not exposed to a variety of opinions. As a result, the authorities are not used to dealing with disagreements arising within local communities.

Now they are facing a range of opinion from the international community. Some view China's troubles with indifference and some suggest ineffective solutions. This is all inevitable. What the Chinese should do is simply listen to different voices, and set right what needs to be changed. After all, other people are only speaking about you, but no one regulates your words and deeds, nor does anyone resort to force.

In brief, there is no such thing as anti-Chinese forces in international society; there is only some criticism of the systems or problems of Beijing.

--

(Wu Zuolai is a scholar at the Chinese Art Research Institute in Beijing and an active commentator on current affairs. This article is translated and edited from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online. The original may be found at www.ncn.org and wublogger.blog.sohu.com. ©Copyright Wu Zuolai.)

http://www.upiasiaonline.com/Politics/2008/04/04/no_such_thing_as_anti-china_forces/1096/

An Appeal to the Chinese People from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Today, I extend heartfelt greetings to my Chinese brothers and sisters round the world, particularly to those in the People's Republic of China. In the light of the recent developments in Tibet, I would like to share with you my thoughts concerning relations between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples, and to make a personal appeal to you all.

I am deeply saddened by the loss of life in the recent tragic events in Tibet. I am aware that some Chinese have also died. I feel for the victims and their families and pray for them. The recent unrest has clearly demonstrated the gravity of the situation in Tibet and the urgent need to seek a peaceful and mutually beneficial solution through dialogue. Even at this juncture I have expressed my willingness to the Chinese authorities to work together to bring about peace and stability.

Chinese brothers and sisters, I assure you I have no desire to seek Tibet's separation. Nor do I have any wish to drive a wedge between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples. On the contrary my commitment has always been to find a genuine solution to the problem of Tibet that ensures the long-term interests of both Chinese and Tibetans. My primary concern, as I have repeated time and again, is to ensure the survival of the Tibetan people's distinctive culture, language and identity. As a simple monk who strives to live his daily life according to Buddhist precepts, I assure you of the sincerity of my motivation.

I have appealed to the leadership of the PRC to clearly understand my position and work to resolve these problems by "seeking truth from facts." I urge the Chinese leadership to exercise wisdom and to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan people. I also appeal to them to make sincere efforts to contribute to the stability and harmony of the PRC and avoid creating rifts between the nationalities. The state media's portrayal of the recent events in Tibet, using deceit and distorted images, could sow the seeds of racial tension with unpredictable long-term consequences. This is of grave concern to me. Similarly, despite my repeated support for the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese authorities, with the intention of creating rift between the Chinese people and myself, assert that I am trying to sabotage the games. I am encouraged, however, that several Chinese intellectuals and scholars have also expressed their strong concern about the Chinese leadership's actions and the potential for adverse long-term consequences, particularly on relations among different nationalities.

Since ancient times, Tibetan and Chinese peoples have lived as neighbors. In the two thousand year-old recorded history of our peoples, we have at times developed friendly relations, even entering into matrimonial alliances, while at other times we fought each other. However, since Buddhism flourished in China first before it arrived in Tibet from India, we Tibetans have historically accorded the Chinese people the respect and affection due to elder Dharma brothers and sisters. This is something well known to members of the Chinese community living outside China, some of whom have attended my Buddhist lectures, as well as pilgrims from mainland China, whom I have had the privilege to meet. I take heart from these meetings and feel they may contribute to a better understanding between our two peoples.

The twentieth century witnessed enormous changes in many parts of the world and Tibet, too, was caught up in this turbulence. Soon after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the People's Liberation Army entered Tibet finally resulting in the 17-Point Agreement concluded between China and Tibet in May 1951. When I was in Beijing in 1954-55, attending the National People's Congress, I had the opportunity to meet and develop a personal friendship with many senior leaders, including Chairman Mao himself. In fact, Chairman Mao gave me advice on numerous issues, as well as personal assurances with regard to the future of Tibet. Encouraged by these assurances, and inspired by the dedication of many of China's revolutionary leaders of the time, I returned to Tibet full of confidence and optimism. Some Tibetan members of the Communist Party also had such a hope. After my return to Lhasa, I made every possible effort to seek genuine autonomy for Tibet within the family of the People's Republic of China (PRC). I believed that this would best serve the long-term interests of both the Tibetan and Chinese peoples.

Unfortunately, tensions, which began to escalate in Tibet from around 1956, eventually led to the peaceful uprising of March 10, 1959, in Lhasa and my eventual escape into exile. Although many positive developments have taken place in Tibet under the PRC's rule, these developments, as the previous Panchen Lama pointed out in January 1989, were overshadowed by immense suffering and extensive destruction. Tibetans were compelled to live in a state of constant fear, while the Chinese government remained suspicious of them. However, instead of cultivating enmity towards the Chinese leaders responsible for the ruthless suppression of the Tibetan people, I prayed for them to become friends, which I expressed in the following lines in a prayer I composed in 1960, a year after I arrived in India: "May they attain the wisdom eye discerning right and wrong, And may they abide in the glory of friendship and love." Many Tibetans, school children among them, recite these lines in their daily prayers.

In 1974, following serious discussions with my Kashag (cabinet), as well as the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the then Assembly of the Tibetan People's Deputies, we decided to find a Middle Way that would seek not to separate Tibet from China, but would facilitate the peaceful development of Tibet. Although we had no contact at the time with the PRC - which was in the midst of the Cultural Revolution - we had already recognized that sooner or later, we would have to resolve the question of Tibet through negotiations. We also acknowledged that, at least with regard to modernization and economic development, it would greatly benefit Tibet if it remained within the PRC. Although Tibet has a rich and ancient cultural heritage, it is materially undeveloped.

Situated on the roof of the world, Tibet is the source of many of Asia's major rivers, therefore, protection of the environment on the Tibetan plateau is of supreme importance. Since our utmost concern is to safeguard Tibetan Buddhist culture - rooted as it is in the values of universal compassion - as well as the Tibetan language and the unique Tibetan identity, we have worked whole-heartedly towards achieving meaningful self-rule for all Tibetans. The PRC's constitution provides the right for nationalities such as the Tibetans to do this.

In 1979, the then Chinese paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping assured my personal emissary that "except for the independence of Tibet, all other questions can be negotiated." Since we had already formulated our approach to seeking a solution to the Tibetan issue within the constitution of the PRC, we found ourselves well placed to respond to this new opportunity. My representatives met many times with officials of the PRC. Since renewing our contacts in 2002, we have had six rounds of talks. However, on the fundamental issue, there has been no concrete result at all. Nevertheless, as I have declared many times, I remain firmly committed to the Middle Way approach and reiterate here my willingness to continue to pursue the process of dialogue.

This year the Chinese people are proudly and eagerly awaiting the opening of the Olympic Games. I have, from the start, supported Beijing's being awarded the opportunity to host the Games. My position remains unchanged. China has the world's largest population, a long history and an extremely rich civilization. Today, due to her impressive economic progress, she is emerging as a great power. This is certainly to be welcomed. But China also needs to earn the respect and esteem of the global community through the establishment of an open and harmonious society based on the principles of transparency, freedom, and the rule of law. For example, to this day victims of the Tiananmen Square tragedy that adversely affected the lives of so many Chinese citizens have received neither just redress nor any official response. Similarly, when thousands of ordinary Chinese in rural areas suffer injustice at the hands of exploitative and corrupt local officials, their legitimate complaints are either ignored or met with aggression. I express these concerns both as a fellow human being and as someone who is prepared to consider himself a member of the large family that is the People's Republic of China. In this respect, I appreciate and support President Hu Jintao's policy of creating a "harmonious society", but this can only arise on the basis of mutual trust and an atmosphere of freedom, including freedom of speech and the rule of law. I strongly believe that if these values are embraced, many important problems relating to minority nationalities can be resolved, such as the issue of Tibet, as well as Eastern Turkistan, and Inner Mongolia, where the native people now constitute only 20% of a total population of 24 million.

I had hoped President Hu Jintao's recent statement that the stability and safety of Tibet concerns the stability and safety of the country might herald the dawning of a new era for the resolution of the problem of Tibet. It is unfortunate that despite my sincere efforts not to separate Tibet from China, the leaders of the PRC continue to accuse me of being a "separatist". Similarly, when Tibetans in Lhasa and many other areas spontaneously protested to express their deep-rooted resentment, the Chinese authorities immediately accused me of having orchestrated their demonstrations. I have called for a thorough investigation by a respected body to look into this allegation.

Chinese brothers and sisters - wherever you may be - with deep concern I appeal to you to help dispel the misunderstandings between our two communities. Moreover, I appeal to you to help us find a peaceful, lasting solution to the problem of Tibet through dialogue in the spirit of understanding and accommodation.

With my prayers,

Dalai Lama

March 28, 2008

Note: translated from the Tibetan original

(www.tibet.net is the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration.)

Bao Tong: Talk To The Dalai Lama

2008.03.26

Bao Tong gives a rare television interview. Photo: AFP

A former top official in China’s ruling Communist Party has called on the Chinese government to open talks with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, as a matter of urgency. Bao Tong, former aide to ousted late premier Zhao Ziyang, says both Tibetans and Han Chinese have suffered at the hands of a Maoist political philosophy. He wrote this essay, broadcast by RFA’s Mandarin service, from his Beijing home, where he has lived under house arrest since his release from jail in the wake of the 1989 student movement:

Take harmony seriously; talk to the Dalai Lama

by Bao Tong

The Lhasa incident has caused massive grief for all the Tibetan people and all of China. Anyone who has ever been through a great historical tragedy will understand its significance. The Chinese government spokesman said the whole thing was orchestrated by the Dalai Lama — a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize — from behind the scenes. However, as a reader from Europe put it: “Nobody here believes what the Chinese government says.”

That one phrase is more eloquent that 10,000 words. It renders the spokesman’s words meaningless. Because it shows how ordinary readers are quite capable of making their own considered and independent decision not to believe what the Chinese government says, but instead use their own experience as a basis for deciding what to think.

Only recently, the government issued a statement saying that the exercise of political power should take place in daylight.

Bao Tong

This has happened because the Chinese government already has a track record of denying responsibility for major historical events. In the first Tiananmen incident [of April 5, 1976], Deng Xiaoping was judged to be the villain responsible for the disaster. In the second Tiananmen incident [of June 4, 1989], Zhao Ziyang was the fall guy. Now, the Dalai Lama is to take the rap for the Lhasa incident. It is very hard for people not to make the linkage in their minds with this practice of upholding wrongdoing.

The Chinese government is very closed, which is another reason for people to mistrust it. Of course there are reasons why they react in this way, shutting off the flow of information, monopolizing news, always behaving as if they are fighting a formidable enemy. Why have they prevented foreign journalists from carrying out interviews freely? Why was it necessary to force all the journalists to stop gathering information and opinion and to leave immediately?

Dialogue should be Plan A

Only recently, the government issued a statement saying that the exercise of political power should take place in daylight. No sooner than it was uttered, the authorities once more withdrew from this line, somehow compelled to bring newsgathering back into the shadows again, and to stuff the whole affair into a big black box.

Harmony means that you have to beat swords into ploughshares. It cannot flourish in a closed society, and it cannot be built by force. It should be an urgent priority to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama. This should be Plan A. With his commitment to pacifism, the Dalai Lama is the only Tibetan leader with the ability to bring about a conciliatory agreement between the Tibetan and the Han Chinese peoples.

In the 1950s, the Communist Party secretary of the northwest China bureau, Xi Zhongxun, focused all of his experience gained from rallying various ethnic groups in Qinghai into a stinging criticism — delivered by Xinjiang branch bureau secretary Wang Zhen — of Han chauvinism. This had a big impact on a lot of people’s thinking.

The Tibetans and the Han are relatives by marriage who have been injured by a common enemy: this lethal Maoist philosophy of political struggle.

Bao Tong

The villain of the piece this time was Mao Zedong and his philosophy of political struggle. That was an evil thing, which brought disaster upon the heads of the Tibetan people, as well as destroying normal life for the Han Chinese themselves. From this point of view, the Tibetans and the Han are relatives by marriage who have been injured by a common enemy: this lethal Maoist philosophy of political struggle.

I do not want to see a Chechnya-style tragedy re-enacted in Tibet in pursuit of a Stalinist obsession with unity. The central Party leadership in Beijing has made “harmony” their mission. I believe that the philosopher’s stone will be revealed to those who are sincere.

All the central government has to do is sit down with the Dalai Lama and talk to him; to show a little wisdom, and with vision and determination, the Lhasa incident can be resolved in an appropriate manner. A little hard work now could win us a peaceful future, heralding a new era of cooperation between the Tibetan and Han Chinese peoples.

Written by Bao Tong for RFA's Mandarin service. Service director: Jennifer Chou. Translation by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.

Participating in China’s Political Process

By Fang Jue

March 18, 2008

Three days ago, my old friend and ex-colleague, Xi Jinping, was elected as vice president at the National People’s Congress in China. He will be the President of China within five years.

The incumbent president, Hu Jintao, is an orthodox communist. He has had no any interest in democratic reform. And he has ignored China’s bad human rights record. President Hu is getting old. He had intended to choose his protégé, Li Keqiang, as his political successor. If Hu’s stream of succession had been realized, it would have further delayed political reform in China; therefore, I had to advocate against Hu’s intention although Mr. Li Keqiang was my old friend and close schoolmate at the university.

I wrote an article entitled What Issue Is the Biggest Issue at the Seventeenth Party Congress last March and published it in the Hong Kong-based magazine The Trend in April 2007. In it, I suggested that the standing committee of the political bureau of the Communist Party of China, China’s highest leadership, should include not only Li Keqiang but also Xi Jinping. I expressed my belief that Mr. Xi has had a good record on economic reform and an open-door policy for twenty-five years. I was the first to speak on behalf of Xi’s elevation to his new political position one year ago.

Six months later, the Seventeenth Party Congress endorsed Mr. Xi Jinping as China’s next paramount leader. This was a political victory for us.

However, is political victory enough to assure China’s political future movement toward democracy?

President Hu Jintao, at sixty-six years old, belongs to the fourth generation of Chinese Communist leadership. Vice President Xi Jinping, at fifty-five years old, belongs to the fifth generation of Chinese Communist leadership.

The Voice of America, sponsored by the U.S. government, had a live TV interview with me on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 2003 during which I gave the VOA advance notice of what was to come. “I think the fifth generation of leaders is not a homogenous body,” I said. “They have different political views. The biggest challenge for the fifth generation of leaders will be whether or not they will accept the democratic transformation when the historic tide comes”. The fourth generation of leaders had just taken office one year ago on that Thanksgiving. Few people even knew that a fifth generation of leaders even existed or who the fifth generation of leaders were. I concluded my interview with this prediction: “Democratic transformation is the biggest task for contemporary China. The fourth generation of leaders does not seem to be up to it. China’s major hope is not within the fourth generation of leaders, but after it. I believe the fourth generation of leaders is merely a transitional stage ”. The transcript of the interview, entitled China’s Big Change Might Happen after the Fourth Generation of Leaders was posted on the United States-based website http://www.boxun.com. Thus, I was the first prophet announcing the fifth generation of leaders five years ago.

The emergence of the fifth generation when we achieved political victory last October did not mean that I was ready to retire from the political stage. “Any democratic transformation in communist nations is not only dependent on a few reformers among the Party’s highest leadership. Power sharing with the communist reformers in China’s democratic process is my favorite vision of the future ”. I wrote in an article entitled Power Sharing with My Old Friends which I posted on the United States-based website http://www.2newcenturynet.blogspot.com when the Seventeenth Party Congress ended on October 22, 2007. Thus, I was the first individual with a claim to advocacy of power sharing between the future communist reformers and constructive dissidents five months ago.

I was satisfied with those three “firsts”.

Last December, a representative from the Chinese authority visited me in New York City to sound out whether I would come back to China. I stressed that there needs to be some power sharing in China. I would only come back to my homeland if I could see some political reform there.

When President Hu Jintao took office five years ago, most Americans raised the question “Who is Hu”? It seems to be time to raise a new question: Who is Xi? And another new question may be: Who is Fang Jue or Jue Fang?

I also have my own special question: Does the United States have an effective and long-term policy toward China rising even though nobody understands China’s political process?

(The author, Fang Jue, is a Chinese political activist living in the United States. fangjue2005@hotmail.com)