Genesis
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Almost all the new articles recently regarding China has talked about increased repression and failed political liberalization in China. While I have no real incentive to defend the Communist Party, I do want to address some issues that I think are either misunderstood or overblown, for essentially the same purpose the publicity department of China exist.
Regarding repression, there have been arrests, I personally don't think it should have happened, and the government has not done a good job in explaining those arrests, that in itself is not a good sign. However, these are political moves, that means the person has entered the political arena and anything that happens there after is fair game. Obviously they are different than a corrupt official, but if you want to dance with a bear, you can't be afraid to get mauled. In reality this population accounts for less than 0.00001% of the population, either way.
Another point I want to make is that the arrests of the rights lawyers and activists actually points to the need of more rights, which is a good sign that China is expanding to a point where such measures can be taken and more rights are created organically as the problem arises. More work needs to be done to address these needs, and how these requests are handled, but it is going in a good direction.
In terms of going further on repression, social mobility has been the highest its ever been, same sex marriage is not recognized, but nor is it criminalized, in fact homosexuality has been removed as a mental condition since way back, and shock therapy has been criminalized. One child policy has all but discontinued, and social freedom has gotten far more liberal. In terms of liberalization, in some areas we actually have more. Genetic engineering, cloning, abortions, right to drink in public, and the right to argue with an officer of the law without being shot in the face.
There are others that like to site the corruption crack down, people of China has seen what a real purge looks like and this isn't it. Anyone that says this is a political purge has other agendas.
In a country like India or Philippines, where there is also wide spread corruption, due to their system, their corrupt are not handled as harshly as they are in China, nor as widespread, is that good or bad? Hard to say you decide. (Not a slant on either country.)
Finally there is political liberalization, Chinese government since the time of Han Gaozu has allowed the common man to rise and take even the highest seat of government. The need to allow the every man to take office isn't as relevant in China as elsewhere. There is no set group of people that can take office, nor is there a gender or race restriction.
The real question has been how involved should the common man be involved in the political process, and how much economic liberalization should take place.
The question is more of a question of systems, RATHER than a question of rights. The right to vote isn't a basic human right it is a political system, the fact of the matter is if the right system is in place, does it really matter if Joe nobody or Stephen Harper becomes the Prime Minister of Canada? On the same token, Xi has risen on his proven ability in every level of government, rather than winning a popularity contest that started long ago. Based on the fact that there are registered voters to each party, which means almost regardless of policy, they will vote the same way this defeats the whole purpose of voting.
To sum up anti corruption campaign is popular and needed, political backlash affects only affects those in the loop, while social liberalization has been going way up and in terms of political systems, the jury is still out on that one. Though Liberal democracy has taken a huge step forward.
Regarding repression, there have been arrests, I personally don't think it should have happened, and the government has not done a good job in explaining those arrests, that in itself is not a good sign. However, these are political moves, that means the person has entered the political arena and anything that happens there after is fair game. Obviously they are different than a corrupt official, but if you want to dance with a bear, you can't be afraid to get mauled. In reality this population accounts for less than 0.00001% of the population, either way.
Another point I want to make is that the arrests of the rights lawyers and activists actually points to the need of more rights, which is a good sign that China is expanding to a point where such measures can be taken and more rights are created organically as the problem arises. More work needs to be done to address these needs, and how these requests are handled, but it is going in a good direction.
In terms of going further on repression, social mobility has been the highest its ever been, same sex marriage is not recognized, but nor is it criminalized, in fact homosexuality has been removed as a mental condition since way back, and shock therapy has been criminalized. One child policy has all but discontinued, and social freedom has gotten far more liberal. In terms of liberalization, in some areas we actually have more. Genetic engineering, cloning, abortions, right to drink in public, and the right to argue with an officer of the law without being shot in the face.
There are others that like to site the corruption crack down, people of China has seen what a real purge looks like and this isn't it. Anyone that says this is a political purge has other agendas.
In a country like India or Philippines, where there is also wide spread corruption, due to their system, their corrupt are not handled as harshly as they are in China, nor as widespread, is that good or bad? Hard to say you decide. (Not a slant on either country.)
Finally there is political liberalization, Chinese government since the time of Han Gaozu has allowed the common man to rise and take even the highest seat of government. The need to allow the every man to take office isn't as relevant in China as elsewhere. There is no set group of people that can take office, nor is there a gender or race restriction.
The real question has been how involved should the common man be involved in the political process, and how much economic liberalization should take place.
The question is more of a question of systems, RATHER than a question of rights. The right to vote isn't a basic human right it is a political system, the fact of the matter is if the right system is in place, does it really matter if Joe nobody or Stephen Harper becomes the Prime Minister of Canada? On the same token, Xi has risen on his proven ability in every level of government, rather than winning a popularity contest that started long ago. Based on the fact that there are registered voters to each party, which means almost regardless of policy, they will vote the same way this defeats the whole purpose of voting.
To sum up anti corruption campaign is popular and needed, political backlash affects only affects those in the loop, while social liberalization has been going way up and in terms of political systems, the jury is still out on that one. Though Liberal democracy has taken a huge step forward.
