The clock is ticking for USA....

[whocares]

Except no regime in history (except Singapore which is also mostly chinese) has China's form of government. In China the people in power get the power by taking IQ tests and studying science.

Most of the regimes that you are thinking of are regimes where the country leader is the general and he uses the army to stay in power, he pays off the army by robbing the citizens and giving it to the army.

There are many types of authoritarian governments. Meritocracies, Technocracies, Monarchy, Military dictatorship etc.....

This article explains how one becomes a CCP member

The New York Times > Log In

Good for you and my best wishes in the hope that it continues to work for you.
A simple question i don't know the answer to, can you criticize the CCP?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

I am happy that they are happy with their present form of governance. Who are we to say anything. Obviously, their leadership is showing great commitment for improvement in their way of life. We should only encourage them. A stronger and responsible China should also be in our interests.

Thank you.

I see Democracy as a long-term goal. Ideally it will happen sooner rather than later, though probably not in the next decade.

In Hong Kong we have never had "true democracy" but we do vote in elections. When the rest of China is developed to the level of HK/Bejing/Shanghai, I think that will be the time for political reform.

India is lucky that it achieved democracy without revolution and bloodshed, hopefully we can do that too. The last thing we need is a civil war over political reform.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

A simple question i don't know the answer to, can you criticize the CCP?

Yes you can.

For example, I am not favourable towards Chairman Mao, I think he made too many mistakes... leading to the deaths of millions of Chinese people.

I am very favourable though to the newer generations of leadership starting with Deng Xiaoping, up to and including the current leadership.

I feel that Taiwan should make up it's own mind on independence, and I think Tibet should have more autonomy.

So yes, you can disagree with and criticize the Government.

(Actively trying to overthrow the government though, will probably land you in jail).

 

[Chinaownseverything]

Good for you and my best wishes in the hope that it continues to work for you.
A simple question i don't know the answer to, can you criticize the CCP?

You can criticize the government on say some forums in china, you can criticize it when speaking with friends.

But writing a book, making a movie, making a song needs government approval. Also if you hand out flyers on the streets criticizing the government then that would probably get you into trouble.

China Central Television - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The fire had implications for the credibility of CCTV, which was already unpopular because of its dominance in the media.[14] The incident was mocked by netizens who reproduced Photoshopped photos of the fire and criticised CCTV for censoring coverage. Pictures of the fire were widely broadcast on the internet, as a result of citizen journalism.[

 

[CardSharp]

Good for you and my best wishes in the hope that it continues to work for you.
A simple question i don't know the answer to, can you criticize the CCP?

This is popular misconception ie the minute you say something unpleasant about the government, teams of police in black would chopper in and take you away.

There are boundaries to what you can and can't do politically but these boundaries are constantly being tested from vocal groups within china and very few of them are ever arrested.

For a history and some background on the free speech movement in china you can read

Hundred Flowers Campaign - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Democracy Wall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and for the current state of censorship/people who are interested in freedom of speech check out this podcast

Mao's Legacy and Foreign Self-Censorship

I doubt many Indian members will actually read what I posted but I hope a few do and become more aware of the current state of things (which may have important implications in the future.)

 

[CardSharp]

Yes you can.

For example, I am not favourable towards Chairman Mao, I think he made too many mistakes... leading to the deaths of millions of Chinese people.

I am very favourable though to the newer generations of leadership starting with Deng Xiaoping, up to and including the current leadership.

I feel that Taiwan should make up it's own mind on independence, and I think Tibet should have more autonomy.

So yes, you can disagree with and criticize the Government.

(Actively trying to overthrow the government though, will probably land you in jail).

And I still think you are wrong to see things in black and white. Mao was not as starkly bad as you say and Deng was not the saint you think.

Taiwan can no more declare independence without war than the Confederate States of America could during the American Civil War.

The iron boot on Tibet's neck should stay where it is and it is the leniency of the CCP and Hu Yaobang in the 1980's that has allowed this BS surrounding the free Tibet movement to flourish.

 

[whocares]

In principle, as a civilization i find a lot to like about China. In terms of fundamental ethics, what is there to dislike about a culture based on confucian -buddhist ethics.

Lets hope things pan out well for you with good leaders and transition to greater political liberty along with the more certain economic growth you're on track for. Though i've said before that i do expect China to hit some bottlenecks and the leaders to make some bad economic choices along the way by sheer chance.

The internet will obviously help in this transition.

 

[whocares]

you guys have really funny user names. i can't help but smile each time. chinese-dragon and chinaownseverything

 

[CardSharp]

In principle, as a civilization i find a lot to like about China. In terms of fundamental ethics, what is there to dislike about a culture based on confucian -buddhist ethics.

Lets hope things pan out well for you with good leaders and transition to greater political liberty along with the more certain economic growth you're on track for. Though i've said before that i do expect China to hit some bottlenecks and the leaders to make some bad economic choices along the way by sheer chance.

The internet will obviously help in this transition.

Who's to say they haven't made mistakes yet or aren't doing it now?

I am reminded of a quote "America's leaders are lawyers and China's leaders are engineers. American leaders will try to talk about a problem to building consensus and Chinese leaders will apply engineering problems solving"


Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages. For example China is really good at disaster relief because it is almost a textbook engineering problem, with supply tonnage numbers, logistics, personnel needed etc. but they are not as good in things like education, where there is no one exact right answer.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

And I still think you are wrong to see things in black and white. Mao was not as starkly bad as you say and Deng was not the saint you think.

Yes there are "shades of grey" and good/bad things about each one.

The bottom line for me is that Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty... he did more for the Chinese people than Mao ever did.

If you disagree with my thinking then fair enough. I don't think I'll be changing my mind on this issue anytime soon though.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

you guys have really funny user names. i can't help but smile each time. chinese-dragon and chinaownseverything

LOL! Lost in translation maybe.

 

[CardSharp]

Yes there are "shades of grey" and good/bad things about each one.

The bottom line for me is that Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty... he did more for the Chinese people than Mao ever did.

If you disagree with my thinking then fair enough. I don't think I'll be changing my mind on this issue anytime soon though.

You live in China so surely you remember the old song with the lyrics "without chairman Mao, no new China"

well that's pretty much how I feel about it and that's what history will eventually remember him for. In the words of Philip Short (british biographer of Mao)

"Mao yanked China, pulled China in space of two generations from being a medieval empire into being a modern nation-state poised to take off when leaders of more practical bent [ie Deng] took over from him. Which is exactly what has happened. China after Mao has become the rising power of this century and that's owed to him"

 

[chauism]

Good for you and my best wishes in the hope that it continues to work for you.
A simple question i don't know the answer to, can you criticize the CCP?

of course you can, just depends on one's methodology of how one does it. i think cardsharp already explained it to you. however if you are interested, here is the forum of chinadaily which itself is one of the mouthpiece news outlet of china's government. censorship exists in the forum, but still there are many users criticise many things there. you can see to how much freedom of speech people can have. don't open it with firefox though, it doesn't work properly.

bbs.chinadaily.com.cn

 

[whocares]

You live in China so surely you remember the old song with the lyrics "without chairman Mao, no new China"

well that's pretty much how I feel about it and that's what history will eventually remember him for. In the words of Philip Short (british biographer of Mao)

"Mao yanked China, pulled China in space of two generations from being a medieval empire into being a modern nation-state poised to take off when leaders of more practical bent [ie Deng] took over from him. Which is exactly what has happened. China after Mao has become the rising power of this century and that's owed to him"

except i think that you could've easily short cut into american style capitalism from day one as the economic system.

collectivist policies set back both china and india by 40 years.

 

[CardSharp]

except i think that you could've easily short cut into american style capitalism from day one as the economic system.

collectivist policies set back both china and india by 40 years.

I agree, but it was a mistake we had to make ourselves even the CCP leadership don't have a crystal ball telling them one way was better than the other.