open Democracy News Analysis - china from the inside - Comments

Anthony Barnett on "Tiananmen: the legacy of 1989"

Anthony Barnett — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:40:37 +0100

Great article - thanks

emil300 on "Xiamen: the triumph of public will? "

emil300 — Sat, 30 May 2009 18:51:14 +0100

Why, because we want to make another Irak of China. Divide her and Rule. That is what we are good at. famous quotes

Leon Dux on "China's soft-power failure"

Leon Dux — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:03:11 +0100

Get lost, Chinese rubbish.

john.y on "China’s modernisation: a unique path?"

john.y — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:28:08 +0100

I have to respond to purucker1's comment.

"I find Li Datong's articles ... one-sided".
What is the good side of an unelected government that killed nearly 100 million Chinese people, is responsible for incalculable crimes in foreign policy (supporting North Korea and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, to name just two obvious examples), gave away Chinese territory (northern Mongolia) to the USSR to maintain itself in power, delayed China's economic modernization for 30 years, brutalized China's cultural heritage, and has become every bit as corrupt and predatory as the Kuomintang regime it deposed?

"To judge China [by Western] standards is like comparing apples with walnuts".
Why, exactly, should Chinese people be given less political rights than Westerners? Are Chinese people less intelligent than Westerners, less capable of judging the merits of government officials? Please enlighten us. And when you're finished explaining why Western people should have more rights than Chinese (i.e. why the anti-Asian racists are correct), explain why Chinese people in Taiwan, Hong Kong and overseas Chinese communities should have more rights than Chinese in mainland China. Does moving to Taiwan make a Chinese person smarter?

"It works to an extent in small numbers i.e. countries with maximum 500 million inhabitant but would be impossible to maintain with 1.4 billion people and a gigantic county side."
And why is that, exactly? Does the concept of majority rule break down mathematically when the population exceeds 500 million? Is it that much harder to process the ballots of 500,000,000 voters than to process the ballots of 499,999,999? And also, have you looked at a map lately? You might have noticed a quite large country next to yours which has managed to operate a functioning, stable democracy for decades with a population now far in excess of your magical "number of democratic doom". It's called India.

"Maybe intellectuals in China should try to think in that direction rather than trying to copy a system that would be destructive to a country that still has the greatest potential for the future on this planet."
I agree with you about China's future potential, but it seems to me that the biggest threat to that potential is the CCP's refusal to contemplate serious political reform, which is causing greater and greater political instability. I live in China, and I have never seen a country where the relationship between the government and the governed is more dysfunctional (the former fears the latter, the latter detest the former). If authoritarianism is working so well, why has every Asian government that used it either collapsed, or been violently overthrown? Why is corruption getting worse every year? Why are violent demonstrations becoming more and more numerous all the time?

Oh yeah: readers of this site should be aware that the Chinese government's internet censorship apparatus pays employees to make web postings reflecting the party line. They get paid 50 cents per post, hence are called the "50 cent brigade". purucker1, you sound like a 50 center to me.

Not logged in on "China's Tibet: question with no answer"

Not logged in — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:53:17 +0100

Maybe the Chinese people don't want that munks are going to split up their country, because with religion you can wait for many troubles, so that the Chinese people just don't want many troubles.

The Cornish Democrat on "China's Tibet: question with no answer"

The Cornish Democrat — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:16:25 +0100

As much as they are loathed to admit it the same situation exists in Western Europe. Our 'nation' state are not as homogenous as our state-nationalist goverments would have us believe.

Eurominority: http://www.eurominority.eu/version/eng/

The Cornish Democrat

jaxie_99 on "China: democracy in action "

jaxie_99 — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 04:20:02 +0100

i think this guy is brave for reporting this and posting this story for the world to see. i haven't seen this kind of in-depth reporting of china's politics in any major news source. i hope journalists continue to have this freedom in china.

the comments here were not worthy of the article posted

nuff said

jax

kuhn charle on "Death in Shanghai, law in China"

kuhn charle — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:50:46 +0100

The reality that may shock me even after several times I read this article. The author expends a lot of time for collecting the incidents in the character's life before the death taking place. I consider that an interview with Yang's mother and another with himself may fullfill the picture.

However, I believe that even if the entire picture is completed and brought to show, the motive of Yang's cannot be explained satisfactorily to everyone in the world.

I myself don't blame the democracy status in China.

BigC on "China’s media change: talking with Angela Merkel "

BigC — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 09:16:33 +0000

Removing the monopoly control of the party over news is one thing but it's not very impressive if you're replacing it with news media owned by or beholding to the new oligarch class.

I'm interested by the comments of those impugning this writer's record. Do you have any examples to back these accusations up?

removehim on "China’s media change: talking with Angela Merkel "

removehim — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:12:37 +0000

Can someone please remove this racist and facist guy Li Datong from OpenDemocracy. He should be ashamed of his crimes against humanity in Inner Mongolia! He is promoting colonial policies and oppression of Mongols, Tibetans and Uighurs.

gao on "China: democracy in action "

gao — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:25:13 +0000

There is something called a Wallet that dictates the amount Human Dignity that its owner possesses.

Hope China is on the way up and don't they carried away by luxuaries.

HJG on "China: democracy in action "

HJG — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 15:00:00 +0000

The above comment is SO disgusting that I chased a google link here to reply.

The most important in life according to YOU is "dignity"; please for the sake of "democracy" do NOT represent the[edited] rest of the world. I for one, do NOT consider "dignity" to be of supreme importance. I first and foremost need my food on the plate, a shelter to live in, enough clothes on my back. After that, material things still remain #1 on the list until I can live a decent lifestyle.[edited] "dignity"? Seriously, you obviously come from a place where food isn't a problem, but for the love of humanity don't assume it's the same everywhere. Maybe you ought to be thrown back into the potato famine and see how much you care for "dignity".

vijayaraghavan.p on "China: democracy in action "

vijayaraghavan.p — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:50:54 +0000

There is something called Human Dignity. If this is recognized to be far more essential than anything else in life then True Democracy will be ushered in. Let us hope that Li Datong's optimism for China soon becomes a reality.

Anne Adams on "China's soft-power failure"

Anne Adams — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 21:21:03 +0000

Johannes Adamsen said:
"I simply find it difficult to comprehend just why China was given the possibilitiy to host the games only a little more than one year after the crackdown on Falun Gong in 1999, blah blah blah ..."

This is just so typical of western arrogance. The Olympic games are a part of humanity. They are not there for anyone to give, but for all to bid. The winner gets to host by the nation's merit. The chinese won and put up a good show for world. Good for them. Get over it, loser.

Tony Curzon Price on "The CCTV fire: a voice without restraint "

Tony Curzon Price — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 22:27:44 +0000

Temtsel, You can find a good piece of it translated here and here.

Actually, although it has some amusing details and has all the authenticity of voice that Li Datong points to, I think it is less interesting than Li Datong's commentary on it. The fact is that Li Datong exercises judgment over the phenomenon; the phenomenon does not judge itself.

tony