The Chinese passion for public office

ZHANG MING

BEIJING, China, Dec. 31

Many mainland Chinese are afflicted with empleomania -- an obsession with holding public office. This is demonstrated even in the sad story of a poor worker from the countryside named Xiao Zhijun.

The story was revealed by journalists investigating the deaths of Xiao's wife and her unborn baby in a Beijing hospital. Xiao went through a series of struggles with the hospital, which claimed he had refused to sign an agreement for an operation that could have saved his wife's and baby's lives. He claimed the hospital had not taken reasonable measures to save them.

But what was more surprising was that Xiao had concocted a story about being an official. He identified himself as belonging to the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party. Xiao's empleomania is ridiculous, but he isn't the only one.

It is certain that among Chinese farmers, throughout history, those who desired to hold public posts were more numerous than those who didn't. They lived frugally in order to afford education for their children, hoping the children might become officials.

Farmers always showed respect to the country squires and local scholars who might be closer to the authorities. In reality nowadays, many citizens criticize and deprecate officials behind their backs, but would not dare to fail to show respect if they met one of them face to face.

Unless the farmers are driven to craziness, they will not rebel against the authorities. Since modern China was established, rural societies have lost the little bit of autonomy they once had. Instead, the farmers feel the fearful power of the state and the government, which covers heaven and earth. Consequently, their enmity and envy toward officials are both increasing at the same time.

Farmers like Xiao Zejun can be seen everywhere. Ask the university students who come from the countryside and see how many of them do not desire a public post.

Being a politician may be seen as a glorious occupation in developed countries. However, only a small number of people follow this profession. There are many other appealing occupations in those societies, so few young people wish to become politicians. By comparison, being a civil servant is a quiet position. Although it is stable, it does not offer a satisfactory income or good reputation, so is not a top choice for young people in the job market.

Only in China is everyone in society crazy to take up a public position. Whenever there is an exam to recruit civil servants, every seat is taken by hopeful participants. Hundreds of applicants compete for a single easy job at a trade union, the United Front Work Department, and other official organizations.

Max Weber (1864-1920), recognized as one of the founders of modern sociology and public administration, once stated that officials in ancient China were the ones who made the most profits. Today his comment is still not out of date. Therefore so many people, including poor farmers and workers like Xiao Zhijun, dream of becoming officials. They are drawn by the perquisites, which include power and a psychological advantage over others.

The lowest public posts are the cadres at the county and town levels, while the positions that are hardly worthy of the name are found at the village level. In the rural areas such cadres are full of complaints, especially now that the agriculture tax has been abandoned. They complain about not receiving their salaries or allowances for six months, or one year or even several years. They may even be in tears.

But if you calm them down and observe them carefully, you'll find that most of these cadres are much better off than the local farmers. Moreover, regardless of their many duties and delayed payments, few of them quit their jobs. It is because they can hold onto power as long as they have a public post, at whatever level.

In such a society with its culture of officials, it is not surprising that even a poor farmer dreams of being an official.

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(Zhang Ming is a professor and supervisor of doctoral students at the School of International Relations of the People's University of China in Beijing. He has a PhD in politics, and is the former dean of the Politics Department at People's University. This article is translated and edited from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online. The original may be found at www.ncn.org and zhangming.vip.bokee.com ©Copyright Zhang Ming.)

http://www.upiasiaonline.com/Society_Culture/2007/12/31/the_chinese_passion_for_public_office/4868/

Writers, deaths and official indifference

ZI YUE

BEIJING, China, Nov. 29

"Writers are the engineers of the human soul," said former Soviet Communist Party leader Joseph Stalin. Perhaps in recognition of this, China requires professional writers to join the Chinese Writers Association and to produce works in alignment with government policies and priorities.

According to Chinese Communist Party official Li Changchun -- whose academic background is limited, yet who dominates the ideology of the 1.3 billion Chinese people -- writers should take the opportunity after last month's 17th Party Congress to generate good work based on the spirit of that meeting. If one doesn't dance to the tune of the Chinese authorities, he or she cannot be granted the status of a writer.

Take Zhang Yihe for example. Her works are considered among the best produced since the founding of New China, yet her books are banned as "rightist" and her name is barred from official media, let alone her designation as a writer.

Another example is Gao Xingjian, the French Chinese émigré novelist, dramatist and critic who received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Literature. The Chinese government should be proud of him, but instead, the Chinese Writers Association described his win as a Western plot against China. This illustrated that to qualify as a writer in China one must keep the same political position as the Chinese Communist Party.

Another special writer that deserves mention is political commentator Liao Zusheng. He is not known for his literary works, but for his attempts to identify the murderer of his bright, outstanding and innocent only son, who died suddenly and mysteriously last July at his middle school. Since that tragedy, Liao and his family have tried every means to find out the truth of his son's questionable death.

Local authorities claim that Liao's son was to blame and took his own life. The authorities made no effort to properly handle this case; instead, they quickly burned the child's body, closed the case, and stopped Liao from receiving further information or taking further action. The family couldn't accept this.

This incident has torn Liao's family apart. Liao is no longer a writer singing the Party's main theme but has become a "dissident" because of his efforts to investigate his son's case on his own.

Liao posted the story on the Internet in an effort to interest the public and possibly discover some clues as to what happened to his son. However, all of his postings were removed by Internet supervisors, including the contents of his own blog. He wrote more than 200 letters to dozens of officials and sent them by express delivery or registered mail, questioning the murder, but received no reply.

He wrote open letters to national leaders, begging for assistance, but all in vain. Under the strong sun and heavy rain, Liao's wife wept and knelt in front of so-called public servants, appealing for justice. However, as usual, the "public servants" showed no concern.

His experiences have left a huge question in the mind of the writer Liao Zusheng: Where are those people-friendly officials described in the media? How could they be so cold and heartless in reality?

Is this a weird and complicated society? No. These are exactly the characteristics of the "post- totalitarian" society described by Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic and celebrated writer and politician. This is an absurd world in which you can get in trouble and lose not only your personal rights, but also your name, your face and your identity; all that remains is the so-called "people" or a certain "class." Havel said that those living in a post-totalitarian socialist society appear to have no worries and to enjoy a comfortable, casual and free life. But only those who survive this kind of society can truly know what a horrible and oppressive life it is, living in a world of lies.

No one will come to your rescue if you encounter unexpected disaster or injustice. For example, your home might be torn down and your family forced to relocate at the whim of some powerful figure. There is no hope for a writer such as Liao Zusheng. Even former President Liu Shaoqi and former Communist Party Secretary Zhao Ziyang could not be protected once targeted by the brutal dictatorship. The law is nothing but useless paper and there is no escape, even from death.

Havel described the ruling power in the post-totalitarian society as an inflated and anonymous bureaucracy. Far from taking responsibility, the authorities set aside their conscience and justify their deeds by some ideology that exists everywhere and rationalizes anything, no matter how divergent from the truth. Their power to manipulate, oppress and horrify, to control and confine the moral and individual life, is totally dehumanizing.

A handful of despotic rulers wield this power. It catches and swallows everyone, and absorbs all individuals. No one really possesses this power, for it actually possesses every one. It is a monster.

Now the writer Liao Zusheng has dared to challenge this monster. Some may say it's just because Liao suffers from the pain of losing his child. But let's not forget that this monster possesses the power to deprive you of your rights so that no one will help you when bad luck strikes. You could be in the position of Liao Zusheng , without hope.

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(Zi Yue is the pen name of a Beijing-based freelance writer, critic on current affairs and medical doctor. This article is edited and translated from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the original can be found at www.ncn.org. ©Copyright Zi Yue.)

http://www.upiasiaonline.com/Human_Rights/2007/11/29/commentary_writers_deaths_and_official_indifference/9055/

China's superpower dream (Part II)

MU CHUANHENG

QINGDAO, China, Nov. 12

The Chinese Communist Party dreams of superpower status for China, but has not reflected deeply on what responsibilities this would entail. Theoretically speaking, the leaders of a country are responsible to pursue and maintain national security, economic prosperity and all-round development. But a superpower's responsibility goes beyond the nation; it extends to the region or even to the world, and entails global moral obligations. After the Cold War, the United States became the only superpower and took on the obligation of being the world's policeman.

However, Chinese scholar Jiang Yong believes that the theory of a superpower's responsibilities is a double-edged sword. He thinks it would harm China's reform and development if the nation were to take on responsibilities beyond its capability. He claims that within the country, the call for China to take on superpower responsibilities is growing because some sectors, driven by self- interest, are no longer satisfied with domestic "vanity projects" and have begun to pursue global vanity projects.

This is to say that a developing country, still far from being mature, tries to present itself as a strong country. In addition, the strategy of going beyond the nation is not well coordinated. Some monopoly enterprises sing a high tune but attain low performance. They glorify their achievements and seek publicity at the expense of the national benefit. In reality, their achievements are far below expectations.

According to Jiang Yong, the call for China to take on the responsibilities of a superpower is not an objective demand from international society. Instead, he considers it the major concern of the Western countries led by the United States, which hopes to regain a certain moral stature. His article states that the U.S. call for China to take up superpower responsibilities is an inhibiting magic phrase, intended to use and control China.

"Without military or political intervention, the United States is attempting to contain China's rise through finance. It is getting more obvious that the United States is making trouble for China," says Jiang. He thinks that developed countries have failed to successfully manage the global economy; therefore they keep pointing the finger at China and asking China to take responsibility for the global economic imbalance. The United States and Britain have tried every means to push for the financial opening up of emerging markets, to make it easy for multinational capitalists to create financial turbulence and obtain wealth from the host country.

Additionally, Jiang's article is filled with criticism of China's present policies. The speed of China's financial opening is shocking to many international economists and institutes. China is opening the areas that it promised to open after entering the World Trade Organization, and even areas not included in the agreement are voluntarily opening up. As a result, more and more foreign capital is entering China, including the real estate and securities markets. The financial situation is getting unstable and financial risk is increasing dramatically.

Jiang believes that the noise about a superpower's responsibilities is humiliating to China which, he says, has always been a responsible country. The substance of his article lies in that the country should continuously strengthen its "hard power" (economic strength) in order to develop its "soft power" and finally to replace the "Washington Consensus" with a "Beijing Consensus."

The "Beijing Consensus" originates from discussions of China's development over the past 20 years, and the country's experience of gradual innovation and experimentation. As soon as this idea emerged, it generated widespread and imaginative reports in China's official media. The idea magnified China's experience of development, explaining how China, a developing country, organized itself and evaluating the applicability of China's experience to other countries in the world. Later the official media began to publicize the Beijing Consensus and demean the Washington Consensus. Some people have even described the Beijing Consensus as the soft power of China's rise.

The Washington Consensus refers to an agreement between the United States and Latin American countries. It focuses on 10 policy tools that could be useful to Latin American countries in adjusting their economies and reform. The consensus included a series of theories based on a market economy. The United States and other international economic organizations make and implement the theories through various means.

The Beijing Consensus and Washington Consensus not only are different routes for economic development, but also contain seeds of conflict between different ideologies. Zheng Yongnian, a well-known commentator, once suggested that the Beijing Consensus should not be exaggerated. He also said, "There is nothing wrong and it is necessary to summarize the experience of China's development. But if China lifts its experience up to the Beijing Consensus, or even promotes it outwardly like the Washington Consensus, it will be a huge mistake."

According to Zheng Yongnian, China had similar lessons in the past. During the Mao Zedong era, China tried very hard to promote communism to the third world, which resulted in resistance and animosity from some countries, especially in Southeast Asia. Jiang has used his article to resist the idea that a superpower has unique responsibilities, and then waved the flag of the Beijing Consensus, which seems to repeat the history of failure and promote the idea of "neo-resistance."

It has not been rare for China to speak out against the United States and other Western countries in recent years. What's interesting this time is that right before the 17th Party Congress last month, the Chinese government expressed such a strong opposing view toward the idea of cooperation between superpowers, carried on the main page of its major media. This is very unusual and raises concerns as to what will be the Communist Party's approach to foreign policy after the 17th Congress.

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(Mu Chuanheng is a freelance writer and a former lawyer. He has published a number of books on trade negotiations and democratic politics. He is included in the book "World Celebrities [China Vol. 2] published in Hong Kong for his new theory of culture. This article is edited and translated from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the original can be found at www.ncn.org. ©Copyright Mu Chuanheng.)

http://www.upiasiaonline.com/Politics/2007/11/12/commentary_chinas_superpower_dream_part_ii/9078/

China's superpower dream (Part I)

MU CHUANHENG

QINGDAO, China, Nov. 9

Chinese scholar Jiang Yong has claimed that the hidden purpose behind international calls for China to take up the responsibilities of a superpower is to increase China's development risks and slow China's rise. Jiang holds that this effort to impose superpower responsibilities on China is an attempt by the United States to use and control China. The article goes on to explain the dual U.S. policy of engaging and containing China.

These points were made in a recent article titled "Challenge of a Superpower's Responsibilities" by Jiang, who is director of the Center for Economic Security Studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations in Beijing. The institute has a strong government background, and the article was published in the latest issue of the official magazine "Outlook Weekly."

Jiang Yong recommends that "hiding one's capacities and biding one's time" should remain China's basic and long-term foreign policy. He stresses that China should take on only those responsibilities that suit it; in other words, Beijing should selectively take up global duties without assuming the all-round responsibilities of a superpower. This suggests Jiang is critical of China's foreign policy in the past two years, and the government's proclaimed accomplishments.

On the other hand, the author also reveals an ambition to replace the "Washington Consensus" on fiscal responsibility with a "Beijing Consensus." This shows his mixed feelings -- wanting China to have the status of a superpower without accepting the corresponding responsibilities.

Soon after the article was published it was posted on major government Web sites including Xinhua.net. It appeared the media had been instructed to promote this article.

Zheng Bijian, former executive vice principal of the Central Party School and director general of the critical think tank China Reform Forum, published an article related to President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States last year. The article, titled "The Direction of the Chinese Communist Party in the 21st Century," was an attack on China's political leftists.

Zheng claimed that economic globalization was what made possible China's peaceful rise. He said China therefore had no intention of challenging the existing international order or taking a violent approach to break it. He concluded by saying that the core principle of China's domestic and foreign policy was to seek peace with foreign countries and harmony within the country, and to achieve reconciliation with Taiwan.

Discussions on the rise of a superpower have become popular not only in international society but also in China in recent years. Last year the state-run China Central Television launched a 12-episode large-scale documentary called "The Rise of the Great Powers," which drew tremendous response from viewers. Recently, CCTV launched another documentary by the same production team, called "Road of Revival." This documentary is more left-leaning than the first, and filled with "red nostalgia."

In fact, Chinese people have long dreamed of attaining superpower status, though the dream keeps transforming. Since early last century China longed to rid itself of Western influence; later it desired to surpass Japan. After the Chinese Communist Party took power it boasted that it would catch up with Britain and the United States within 15 years. Later, during the Cold War, China wanted to play a role in the power struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Then, when the Cold War ended, the United States stood as the lone superpower. Professor Niu Jun from Beijing University published an article in "Global Times" stating that China's dream to become a superpower referred to its desire to attain the same international stature and influence as the United States. Therefore, since the late 1980s, China's foreign policy strategy and goal has been to stand firmly on the international political stage and build its image as a responsible superpower.

However, China's ability to become a real superpower is restricted by the following three factors:

First, China's territory is not yet unified. The Taiwan issue has long been a major concern for the Chinese Communist Party. If this issue is handled unwisely it could lead to foreign intervention. Besides, there are many other hidden troubles in China's border areas.

Secondly, as the domestic economy develops serious social problems have appeared, owing to the lack of protections provided by a democratic system. These include corruption, conflicts between the government and citizens and a huge gap between rich and poor. Pressure from the huge numbers of poor people could lead to social breakdown at any time.

Thirdly, international society and surrounding countries have always been cautious and suspicious of Red China. Although China today enjoys rapid growth in its economy, foreign trade, foreign investment and official foreign reserves, its per capita income ranks 110th in the world. It is equal to only 4 percent of U.S. per capita income, 5 percent of Japan's and 10 percent of South Korea's. According to international standards, which put the poverty line at less than US$1 income per day, there are 135 million Chinese people living under the poverty line. This accounts for 10.4 percent of the country's population and 18 percent of the world's 750 million impoverished people.

These three factors reveal the limits of China's ability to attain superpower status. Nevertheless, in recent years China's economy has developed phenomenally and its international influence has increased. Hence its desire to become a superpower has also expanded. It is therefore natural for international society to expect China to take on greater superpower responsibilities.

(To be continued)

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(Mu Chuanheng is a freelance writer and a former lawyer. He has published a number of books on trade negotiations and democratic politics. He is included in the book "World Celebrities [China Vol. 2]" published in Hong Kong for his new theory of culture. This article is edited and translated from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the original can be found at www.ncn.org. ©Copyright Mu Chuanheng.)

http://www.upiasiaonline.com/Politics/2007/11/09/commentary_chinas_superpower_dream_part_i/9498/

China's serious social schisms (Part 2)

FU GUOYONG

HANGZHOU, Oct. 29

People at the bottom of Chinese society do not naturally possess moral superiority. They are also declining along with the corrupt elite. The purity and kind-heartedness of Chinese culture, cultivated for hundreds of years, is passing away.

Sun Yat-sen, considered the father of the Republic of China, once sighed that the Chinese people were like scattered sand, not united. Now it is more likely that the rich people in China -- such as the real estate dealers -- can unite together. Government officials are in some ways in accord with each other too. Out of common interest they can stay together and speak the same words.

By contrast, people at the bottom in China have become completely become pulverized. What is worse is that a new phenomenon of "people eating people" has appeared. If this continues to spread it will be disastrous.

In the first half of this year, media were full of the sensational news that illegal brick kilns in Shanxi province were using children as slave labor. Actually there have been similar cases in other places too. Recently an illegal kiln was discovered within the jurisdiction of Beijing. The contractor was accused of denying his workers personal freedom, withholding their salaries, beating them and forcing them to work long hours. He had paid 300 yuan (US$40) for each worker. They had been tricked into coming there from different places.

Why is similar mistreatment of people found at illegal kilns in different places? We can see that they all have contractors who directly carry out evil deeds and play the role of "eating others." Someone has calculated carefully that if a contractor is honest and not cheating the workers, he will have very little profit left after paying the contractor's fee. Contractors themselves actually also belong to the bottom of society. At first, they strive to survive. Later, during the process of acquiring benefits, they go beyond the bottom line of humanity. They then become ruthless and exploit the workers to the maximum level, which is typical of "people eating people."

Unlike people in the upper class, those at the bottom of society do not have the legal right to harm others. To make their lives better, they can only harm those who are also at the bottom, or at most in the middle class.

By contrast, people in the upper class own their armor. Their security is guaranteed before the basic social order goes out of control. The "people eating people" phenomenon of the bottom class is against civilized society, and is an inauspicious sign. If it becomes more serious, the result will be even worse than that of the self-indulgent "Xi Menqing" style and the fawning "pet" trend in upper-class society.

People living on Chinese soil who have not yet lost their normal judgment can easily conclude that China has fallen to its lowest moral point in history. All the bottom lines have been broken through; people can do anything without fear. They are not afraid of punishment from God, and do not worry that God is actually watching them.

There is no future for such a place, filled with the indulgent rich, the fawning, marginalized middle class and the lowly "people who eat people." Although we cannot say that all evils are caused by politics, politics certainly play a decisive role. Early in the 18th century, French Enlightenment thinker Jean Jacques Rousseau noted that everything is the result of politics. A nation's outlook is totally decided by its political nature, he said.

Under such circumstances, people in power should do something to change all this. They should not put maintaining their authority as their top priority. Before political change takes place, at least those conscientious people belonging to the rich class in China should stand up and take some responsibility to reverse this moral degradation, change the self-indulgent lifestyle and try to rebuild the people's moral standards and values. They should take action to build new models for society.

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(Fu Guoyong is an independent writer and civil scholar. His articles on modern China have been widely published within and outside the country. His special interest is the history of public opinion over the past 100 years and issues related to China's intellectuals. This article is edited and translated from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the original may be found at http://fuguoyong.vip.bokee.com. ©Copyright Fu Guoyong.)

http://www.upiasiaonline.com/society_culture/2007/10/29/commentary_chinas_serious_social_schisms_part_2/

China's serious social schisms (Part 1)

FU GUOYONG

HANGZHOU, Oct. 26

The discrepancy between rich and poor and serious social injustice are among the major issues facing China today. In fact, we could say the country is divided into three Chinas at present.

The first is the rich China, which consists of officials at different levels, who enjoy privileges and who suddenly became wealthy as a result of the opening-up policy. They hold most of the economic and social resources, can afford to buy the best things in the world, and enjoy a life of high luxury.

The second is the middle-class China, which is made up of ordinary civil servants, most intellectuals, white-collar workers in companies and owners of some small and medium-sized enterprises. They possess houses or apartments, have decent jobs, and do not need to worry about what to eat or wear. They can easily live a good life as long as they work.

The third sector of China, the bottom China, includes a huge proportion of the population. These people cannot live a good life no matter how hard they work. Those at the bottom of the social order strongly resent the rich, while the dissolute members of high society ignore and disdain the bottom sector. Meanwhile, the middle-class sector is not really developing, is very dependent on the other two, and cannot play a balancing role in society.

These three Chinas are separate from one another, and the gaps between them will increase as time goes by and social injustice increases. China's Gini coefficient has long passed the warning line; thus problems can occur at any time. Many of the rich people hold foreign passports. It is very common for them to send their children and transfer their money overseas. They have perfect plans; even if disaster strikes someday they need not worry, for they have a safe place to go while leaving a ruined and empty China behind.

A survey published by global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company shows that the number of rich people in China is increasing rapidly. The number of people with an annual income of over US$50,000 is increasing by 15 percent each year. The total number of people in that group is over 1.5 million now. And these statistics definitely do not include the invisible income of officials.

The image of the rich group is not good in the eyes of the general public. In August, China Youth Daily conducted a survey with Sina.com. They asked people to choose the words that best describe China's rich people. A total of 7,916 people responded; the top three words they chose were luxurious, greedy and corrupt.

Some say that China's rich people are following the lifestyle of Xi Menqing (a character in a classical novel who represents luxury and sexual indulgence). In times of rampant corruption, after accumulating huge amounts of illegal wealth, it seems natural for the rich to pursue sexual and sensual satisfaction. Rich people live for and act according to their instincts. Their ideal lifestyle is to live and die following their desires.

The professional morals of officials have come under serious discussion in the media. It can be said that the last G-string has been pulled off, and there is no need to be shy or to hide any more. For those who are rich and powerful and belong to the rich China sector, it is actually strange not to have mistresses. Their tacit value criterion has probably became "the more mistresses, the more glory." But having more people like the character Xi Menqing means that the rich and powerful actually feel empty inside. They lack hope or a sense of security; that's why they grasp at every indulgence.

Every society has its moral criteria. When one set of criteria loses effect, another set will replace it. The Xi Menqing lifestyle results in moral degeneration and a reversal of values. Instinct, desire and personal benefit become the only rules dominating people's lives. People pursue things without shame and live in luxury. This lifestyle releases the worst elements within human beings and allows them to spread beyond control.

Another current phenomenon is the "pet" trend. Many stars and intellectuals are willing to become the pets of the rich and powerful. Once they become "super pets," receiving grace from those in political power, they will be adored by the media and admired and followed by the ignorant public. This is their green light to fame and glory.

This trend is the result of high political pressure. The long period of political oppression has distorted many people's mentality. People try by every means to adapt themselves to their environment. As time goes by, the pet mentality seems to get into their genes. These people are like animals without bones. All they can do is be obedient and sing the praises of their owners.

(To be continued)

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(Fu Guoyong is an independent writer and civil scholar. His articles on modern China have been widely published within and outside the country. His special interest is the history of public opinion over the past 100 years and issues related to China's intellectuals. This article is edited and translated from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the original may be found at http://fuguoyong.vip.bokee.com. ©Copyright Fu Guoyong.)

http://www.upiasiaonline.com/society_culture/2007/10/26/commentary_chinas_serious_social_schisms_part_1/

Chinese-Uighur culture clash in Sweden

CHEN SHIZHONG

ESKILSTUNA, Oct. 1

China's Xinjiang Song and Dance Company gave two wonderful performances in Eskilstuna city in Sweden on Sept. 8th and 9th. At first glance, this kind of cultural performance would appear completely apolitical. However, at the same time a full-page editorial appeared in the city's biggest newspaper criticizing the Eskilstuna Cultural Bureau for allowing the event. The article accused city bureaucrats of fawning on the autocratic Chinese authorities. Obviously, the editorial viewed the performance as political.

The newspaper pointed out that the art troupe came from Xinjiang Province in northwest China, home to the Uighur minority group, which is oppressed by the Chinese authorities. Uighur organizations outside China had warned that Beijing would use such performances as a propaganda tool, to create a happy image of the Xinjiang people under the rule of the Chinese government.

Cultural exchanges are a normal means of international interaction. However, the Chinese authorities use them as an opportunity to disseminate propaganda. As always, staff from the Chinese Embassy handed out all kinds of brochures, books and CDs to the audiences, to give the impression that the people of Xinjiang are living a happy life without disputes or conflicts.

At the same time, when a group of Uighurs living in Sweden tried to hand out their own materials, they were stopped by the embassy staff. Even the local police came to block their activities. These Uighurs were not even allowed to talk to the members of the performing team.

What did the city government do regarding this protest? Did it try to correct the behavior of the staff from the Chinese Embassy? Did it apologize to the Uighur activists? Or maybe it expressed apologies to the embassy staff, who were offended by the freedom of speech in Sweden?

China is an important country to Sweden. It is beneficial for the two countries to exchange opinions and carry out dialogue with each other. Commercial and cultural cooperation is conducive to future political cooperation. However, Swedish officials need to be more aware of what is going on behind the scenes when they participate in these exchange programs.

China, which will host the Olympic Games next year, is making great effort to disseminate a positive picture of its "open" society. Exporting culture to other countries is part of China's propaganda strategy. Therefore, when China brings entertainment to Sweden, the Swedish government should not simply bend to the requests of the Chinese authorities. The Swedish organizers have the moral responsibility to respect diverse opinions rather than standing with the Chinese government.

Unfortunately, the city government of Eskilstuna chose to let the Chinese authorities express their views freely, while blocking the supporters of democracy at the door. This is a bad precedent for future cultural exchange between China and Sweden.
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(Professor Chen Shizhong is a retired professor from Harbin University in northeast China. He has received honors for his teaching, research and social activities. He is now a freelance writer focusing on China affairs. This article is edited and translated from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the original can be found at www.ncn.org. ©Copyright Chen Shizhong.)