The Chinese Communist Regime Faces Widespread Indignation and Discontent

The memorial service for former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Zhao Ziyang was held on the morning of Jan. 29 in Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery in Beijing. Xinhua News Agency briefly reported Zhao's biography without mentioning his great contribution to China’s political and economical reforms, but specially indicated that Zhao had made “serious mistakes” in the 1989 political turmoil. The Epoch Times interviewed Chen Yizi, former senior adviser to Zhao Ziyang and former director of the Institute for Economic Structural Reform, a branch of the State Commission for Restructuring the Economy, that day.

Chen Yizi was the director of the Institute for Economic Structural Reform of Chinese State Council and was a senior adviser to Zhao Ziyang. In the wake of the Chinese Communist regime’s brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy demonstration in Beijing in June 1989, Zhao stepped down, and Chen became a wanted man. He was one of the highest-ranking Chinese officials exiled overseas due to the June 4th incident. He is currently the head of the Center for Research on Chinese Contemporary History in New York. Chen was the chairman of the preparatory committee of the New York memorial service for Mr. Zhao Ziyang.

Chen Yizi, said: “The situation is worse than the worst. The treatment of Zhao Ziyang’s death has further showed the CCP’s tenacious insistence on its mistakes.

“After reading Xinhua News Agency's report, I felt very sad because the CCP has lost its last bit of conscience. The Chinese people originally had some hopes and fantasies for the new Hu-Wen leadership in that they were fed up with Jiang-Li administration and that Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao seemed to be quite concerned about the people when they came to power. The people wrongly believed that Hu and Wen might gradually rectify the situation, in which officials were conniving to exploit the populace and the minority groups were oppressed during the Jiang Zemin-Li Peng era. However, Hu’s reputation might have dropped to the freezing point in the international society with his treatment of Zhao Ziyang’s death. Domestically, those who used to work with Zhao as well as the people from all walks of life who had benefited from the reform launched by him are very much disappointed in the Hu-Wen administration. Why? For one thing, when Xinhua referred to the achievements in the early years of the reform and open policies, there was no mention of Zhao, but he was then premier as well as general secretary of the CCP for two terms and was the major leader conducting the reform. As a matter of fact, the people will forever remember the great contribution Zhao had made for the reform and open policy.

“Moreover, in terms of ‘the early years of the reform and open policies,’ actually there have been few substantial reforms since 1989. If it had not been for Zhao laying a solid foundation for the village reform, economic reform and the opening-up policy, China’s prosperity today would not have been possible, and Chinese people’s living standard would not have been improved. When it comes to religious and political fronts, they have gone back to the situation 20 years ago. As a result, some said that the overall situation today is more serious than in the Cultural Revolution. As to the so-called “serious mistakes” Zhao made in 1989, it actually was a great compassionate and humane action to oppose aiming the gun at the populace. The general public will by all means respect people like him anytime and anywhere.

“Zhao proposed solving problems by democratic and legal means, and he refused to admit doing anything wrong to the end. His deeds would make the people remember him forever and leave him a good reputation in history. However, the CCP even has never investigated what it has done or admitted to making any mistakes. I think not only is it a disgrace for the CCP in international society, but it has also greatly disappointed its people as well. Of course, there are some positive, democratic and promising reformers within the CCP, such as Wan Li (aged 90, a former vice premier of China), who referred to Hu Jintao as ‘bastard.’ I think Hu deserves it, as he is truly a person without humanity. All the people with conscience must clearly know the truth about Hu and should not have any hope for him as he is nothing but a totalitarian for communism."

“It is impossible for Hu to implement democracy in China. As Zhao mentioned to one of his friends last summer: ‘The CCP was founded based on Leninism, and it has controlled all the national resources. Thus it is doomed to decaying and corruption. Those in power would inevitably make use of their power to turn the public wealth into their own private property. They have already become a very huge vested interest group. What China is now getting is the worst capitalism. Though the capitalism implemented by western countries in early years was also bad, it could be improved gradually toward civilization. However, this capitalism practiced by China will never make progress.’ If insisting on doing so and using authoritarianism to deal with the people in order to protect the privileged minority, and failing to solve the basic problems China faces, China’s future will be a dismal abyss.

“The reason Zhao referred to the CCP as incurable was that the incumbent leadership lacks vision and doesn’t know how to lead China in the right direction. All the nations engaging in modernization are promoting market economy and democratic systems. China will never have a promising future without doing so as well. If a market economy is not going hand in hand with a democratic system, and all resources are monopolized by a political party, it will be degenerated into ‘the worst capitalism,’ as referred to by Zhao.

“Certainly, when the people's interests are infringed and more people come to know the facts, it would be too late for the CCP to make changes. Therefore, Zhao once said that it was too late for Empress Dowager Cixi to launch a reform after the Xinhai Revolution [1] occurred.”

“Judging from the Chinese government’s treatment of Zhao’s death, people have further realized the Chinese government’s incompetence. Hu said that he wanted to ‘enhance the government’s administrative efficiency.’ Nonetheless, the Chinese government, contrary to all the people’s expectation, didn’t express any condolences for Zhao’s demise, regardless of the fact that Zhao was such a great leader who had made tremendous contributions to China under the reform and open policy. What’s worse, Xinhua’s report said that Zhao’s corpse should be splashed with dirty water so as to humiliate him. Upon reading the report, I believe, every Chinese person with a conscience would be very resentful of it. Not only are people resentful of the fact that the government fails to make any positive changes, but they are also resentful of the fact that the Chinese people are ruled by such an incompetent leader. The international society is aware that Zhao, who held the top position within the CCP for 10 years, had lived under house arrest for 15 years without a trial simply because he had different opinions from others. After Zhao’s death due to old age, he still couldn’t get the recognition he was supposed to have and couldn’t be treated fairly and reasonably.

"In addition, we also notice that all the mass media in China are banned from publishing any comments. The international society is aware that there is no freedom of the press in China, and the people do not have the freedom of expressing their condolences to their revered leader.

"Many people were beaten by the police, and foreign journalists were dispersed. What country does this remind one of? What is the difference between the Chinese regime and Hitler’s fascist regime?

"This is the best chance for all of us to clearly know the truth about the CCP, especially Hu Jintao. It enables all the Chinese to be more aware that such a leader can by no means lead China toward a progressive and democratic path. “After reading the news about the funeral service and Xinhua’s report, I feel very sad. As democratization has become a world trend, unfortunately the Chinese regime’s incumbent leadership still sticks to established practice and ideology that was proved unsuccessful several decades ago. I really sigh with emotion.”

“Since China has controlled its national apparatus and a great number of people are still deceived by it, most people under the age of 30 in China even don't know Zhao, and nor do they know what the Tiananmen Square massacre stands for. This is how the CCP misleads the people under wrong public opinion in an attempt to make the people forget the past. Why doesn't the CCP publicly discuss the Cultural Revolution or the Anti-Rightist Campaign? That is because it wants to cover up all the mistakes made by itself so as to deceive the people. But, the more it does so, the more it will become the biggest sinners in Chinese history.

“Mao Zedong made 80 million people die. During the Cultural Revolution, 200 million people were criticized, which has never seen in human history. After Jiang Zemin came to power, he made a series of despicable moves, by which a large number of Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted to death or put in jail. Many intellectuals with independent thought were persecuted to death or faced with family breakdown, a large number of farmers’ living standard is growing worse, and countless workers have been laid off. In this context, the prevailing scenario is that officials are corrupt in epidemic proportions, and the gap between the rich and the poor is gravely widening, which has resulted in a decline in the sense of shame and a degenerating of moral standards throughout the entire society. People are just for personal interest without compassion, which is a dire circumstance never seen in the history of the Chinese nation.”

"On the surface, it seems that the economy is picking up, and many people thus praise the CCP’s achievement.

After Hu took office, he has been even more authoritarian and inhumane than Jiang Zemin, which has really disappointed the people. I think the Communist regime has come to its dead end. If Hu continues to follow the wrong track, he will be further despised by the people, and his future is a dismal abyss.

“I feel my heart is bleeding. Why on earth is the Chinese nation so wretched? For our long-suffering compatriots and our Chinese nation's future, let’s unite to change China holistically, to bring China back into the mainstream of democracy as soon as possible. Zhao Ziyang once said, ‘The reform launched by Gorbachev is worthy of study. Gorbachev first implemented a presidential system, and then launched a reform in his capacity as president of the Soviet Union, as opposed to the head of the Communist Party. So the form was different from what was done by the Communist Party. In other words, though the political structure reform launched by the Soviet Union might have had a lot of difficulties at the outset, it might be a great success in the future. So, Russia may have a promising future. Apparently, nobody would like to go back to the past in spite of the difficulties today. In fact, there is no way for you to go back to the past.’

"China is still wandering about on the evil path, and is farther and farther away from the righteous paths. It even wants to learn something from Cuba and North Korea. As North Korea is a country incapable of feeding its people adequately, and its people are struggling in deep distress, if China really wants to learn something from Cuba and North Korea, how can China have a bright future?

“Conscience is in people's hearts; and there will be just judgment in the history. God will never forgive the CCP; Buddha will never pardon the CCP, and the people will by no means forgive the CCP."

It would be a fine day, when internal discontent finally starts pulling down the old line commies of China. It has been my opinion that the taste of capitalism they are getting, along with a clear view of the FREE WESTERN WORLD, would be enough for the people of China to stand up and go after the commies. It would be bloody, but they could do it.

They have committed the same error as brezhnevites with Khrushchev's funeral, and for the same reason. What they really needed was to pull out the red carpet and organize exemplary communist funeral, to bury Zhao as one of themselves - and thus to co-opt him and dissolve his memory in general mass of communist apparatchiks, instead of allowing the creation or existence of individualized opposition figure (or memory of such).</p>

If you read Chinese, there's a good site www.secretchina.com, with insider, dissident-oriented news from China. A week or two ago, not long after the death of Zhao Ziyang, it published an alleged "final interview" with Zhao, wherein he stated there was "no cure" for China (mei zhi le). I presume he meant there's no cure for the so-called PRC, because one only has to look across the Straits to behold a vibrant and functioning Chinese democracy.

Re #1

The Communist Party is feeding off market. Its appetite is voracious and growing, but it is not a productive entity. It has multitudes of complicated feeding channel, which introduces dangerous structural vulnerability in their economic system, especially finance. When their boom ends and the bust comes, it will act as a shock multiplier of sorts.

Yep I read that article on Renminbao.Com. I wanted to post that article but since no English translation is available, I opted to post this one instead.

It's a good read.

Yes, the next mass uprising in China would rally around the memory of Zhao.

Just like the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations were prompted by the death of reformer Hu Yaobang.

I've often thought that the real turning point in the history of the so-called PRC was not the death of Mao in September 1976---the old tyrant had been a cipher for years---but the death earlier that year of Zhou Enlai, simply because the open demonstrations of his mourners revealed the extent of popular disaffection with the regime.

No one in the regime realized this better than Deng Xiaoping, and no one acted with more cunning to ensure a new lease on life for the CCP through his "Four Modernizations" campaign. But the lease is running out, and the Chinese people aren't going to renew it this time.

I agree with you. And in fact, China might just be better off today had the Gang of Four gained power after Mao Zedong died and they had run the country into the ground. In such case revolts would have toppled the PRC by 1979.

I've read that princelings and others are buying homes in the US, including such tourist spots as Omaha. This is to set up a place to go to, when the balloon goes up in China. They're betting with their money, that the fascist Communist Party won't be able to maintain power. They believe in nothing, offer nothing other than their eternal right to power over the Chinese people. Can't last, it's doomed.

They're betting with their money, that the fascist Communist Party won't be able to maintain power.

Let's hope they've got the winning bet, and let's hope that that the PRC falls in time--before they attack Taiwan or further aid our enemies such as Al Qaeda.

and the Chinese people aren't going to renew it this time

It will, at least, be very interesting. Tens of millinos of Chinese now think of themselves as part of a global community where certain freedoms are the norm. That's a lot of toothpaste our of the tube, and, unlike Mao's day, you can't just shoot them all without someone noticing.

It will, at least, be very interesting.

I hope that it's not bloody, which might drive both China and East Asia into a period of division and instability.

There's a line from the classic "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" which every literate Chinese knows, which states: "The general tendency of the Realm is that, long united, it will surely be divided, and long divided, it will surely be united." If local satraps and warlords arise out of the collapse of the CCP regime, it will not be a good thing for China, Asia, or the world.

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