不是老人變壞了,而是壞人變老了]. Everyone is the product of the education they receive. So [for the ‘Old Red Guard’ on that side of the ocean, Donald Trump] there’s no way he can break out of those self-made shackles; he simply doesn’t give a damn on top of which he’s completely lacking in self-awareness. Dealing with new problems within the framework of an out-of-touch mindset while nonetheless exuding supreme confidence, je inevitably make the mistakes of the willful. Their ideas and policies are, as Alexis de Tocqueville said [of the Ancien Régime], nothing more than a load of musty debris. [Note: Like autocrats elsewhere, Chinese Communist Party leaders are fascinated by the history of regime collapse. Shortly after joining the Standing Committee of the Party’s ruling Politburo in late 2012, and as head of the Central Disciplinary Commission charged with oversight of Xi Jinping’s ‘signature’ anti-corruption campaign, Wang Qishan 王歧山 recommended that his underlings study de Tocqueville’s The Old Regime and the French Revolution.]P3u免费翻墙网
At this moment, taking stock of the general tenor of discussion in the Chinese-speaking world, and the mindset that it reflects, it is evident that a kind of political awareness based on civilian rationalism has come into maturity; nor is it lacking in proud righteousness. What would appear to be deficient, however, is a cultural self-awareness based on national rationality, in particular people seem to have difficulty identifying National Rationality as it relates to the political relations between nations, and National Rationality in terms of how citizens engage with their own political lives [that is, emotionalism leads people to act against their own, and their country’s self-interest]. The confusion between the two, with neither besting the other, in some cases leads people to admire that Old Red Guard reprobate on the other side of the Pacific. These tyros end up being little better than those rednecks from the Rust Belt. To apply a famous line from a famous person, they are ‘Too Young, Too Simple’ [this is a jocular reference to former Party leader, Jiang Zemin, who once berated a young Hong Kong journalist for their naïveté. Here the Chinese transliteration of ‘too young, too simple’ — tǔ-yàng-tǔ-suī-pɑo 土樣土尿泡 — is a play on Jiang’s Yangzhou-accented English pronunciation. In the original, Jiang added ‘sometimes naïve’]. At the same time, the appeal of [our own] political system is insufficient, resulting in an insufficient or weak sense of identity. The result is a strange contradiction between Citizens and Civic Awareness. But then again, although the ‘Great Qing’ 大清 [dynasty ruled by the Manchus] was enmeshed with ‘China’ 中華, they weren’t really one and the same thing at all.P3u免费翻墙网
You [Communists] ‘Rule the Rivers and Mountains’ [坐江山, a traditional expression that indicates control over the geo-political and civilisational realm of China]; you ‘Gorge Yourselves on the Rivers and Mountains’ [literally, ‘Eat/ consume the Rivers and Mountains’ 吃江山] but, when Your Rivers and Mountains are in trouble [江山有事了], suddenly we’re all expected to pull together and [help you] ‘Protect the Rivers and Mountains’ [保江山] as well as ‘Join as One to Overcome Present Difficulties’ [that have resulted from the trade war]. What utter nonsense! There is discussion in the non-official media that although certain figures are seemingly busying themselves [in negotiations] they are really acting as they though they aren’t Chinese; instead they devote their real energies to coming up with ways to convenience the other side. Oddly enough, this is not all that surprising. After all, this is the kind of scenario you should expect in a nation that lacks a coherent and unifying focus.P3u免费翻墙网
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Moreover, putting aside debates about identity and what ‘Being Chinese’ really means, given the present situation, there are those Prophets who each say their piece and in their proud justifications end up finding no common ground for compromise. Let repeat my previous observation: a nation’s maturity relies on the nurturing authority of its intellectual elite, and for their wisdom to have full sway they require a freedom of spirit. All the red noiseand attempts to silence it cannot detract from the realities of shared human ideas. It is necessary to rejecting the misguided folly and pridefulness of any and all Absolute Authorities. In China it is necessary to call for an end to the ever-increasing censorship and to give freedom of expression back to the intelligentsia [讀書人, literally, ‘those who read books’]. For only then, and only with the painstaking work of generations, can the motherlode of Chinese Civilisation be regenerated and nurtured, its role protected and its relevance strengthened. Only then will it be possible to face unfolding possibilities with clear-sightedness, or to be able to respond calmly to immediate challenges so that we can apply ourselves to practical service in the world.P3u免费翻墙网
At present, the Authorities repeatedly claim that despite the Trade War they will not change the basic national policy of Reform and the Open Door; they will not slacken their efforts to pursue economic development via continued open-door exchange; and they reaffirm their determination to work collectively to protect the multilateral system. Echoing this stand, a series of related policies have been announced, so there seems to be a measure of certainty. This should be regarded as further evidence of the ‘Open Door [to the outside] Forcing [Further] Reform [on the inside]’. It’s a particularly Chinese kind of developmental path dependence. Yet despite [all the talk], we have yet to see any actual internal reforms. ‘Though the heavens may resound with thunder, only a few drops of rain are falling’; despite all the expressions of sincerity [from the Authorities], the lack of practical results leaves people cold and with no choice but to look on from the sidelines unconvinced.P3u免费翻墙网
And so that’s why I have offered here my Eight Immediate Hopes — a series of concrete policy suggestions that I believe to be of timely relevance. Let’s just see what happens. Forget all the pretty talk about You being willing and able to take action. We’d be delighted if you managed to implement just one of the Eight Hopes. If you carry out three or four, we’ll sing your praises and bless you in our hearts. Now, if you manage all eight then the whole of China will rejoice rapturously. Earlier this year, the Supremo said a series of impressive policy measures would be launched to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Reform and Open Door. Well, we’ve already passed the six-month mark and, although we are still wanting to believe, we’re waiting.P3u免费翻墙网
And, furthermore, while I’m at it, let me take this opportunity to say: there are only fifty to sixty households in Liangjiahe Village in Shaanxi, and the place only has a population of over a hundred people [where Xi Jinping spent seven supposedly formative years; nowadays as part of the state-manufactured Xi Cult, Liangjiahe is accorded the status of a ‘sacred site’]. But, despite such modest statistics the place boasts a representative office in Shanghai along with an exhibition space for showcasing local agriculture produce. It’s obvious that the unassuming and frugal farmers [of Liangjiahe] didn’t come up with any of this themselves. Rather, one imagines that the whole performance is being stage-managed bya duet of bureaucrats and businessmen, each in hot pursuit of their own ends.P3u免费翻墙网
Then there was a report informing us that the Supreme People’s Procuratorate was creating the 12309 Disciplinary Investigative Service Centre. The Party Secretary of Liangjiahe — a place that has absolutely nothing to do with any of it — was invited to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony [for the centre in late June 2018]. On the day, a scrum of eunuchs was on hand, all to them eager to pursue their own agendas, kissing arse as they flaunted their shamelessness. And, as for the Academy of Social Sciences in Shaanxi announcing that it was pursuing a research project titled ‘The Profound Wisdom of Liangjiahe’ [announced on 21 June 2018 and disbanded on the orders of Beijing in early July], along with all of the research topics devoted to the Personality Cult and Leader Worship, I have this to say: they are antediluvian, they fly in the face of progress and are an affront to credulity; they are grotesque, cringeworthy and much, much more. As for all of this to do: it’s simply too much, too excessive, over the top, as those involved vie to outdo each other. All of these things serve to drag us back to the Dark Ages of fearfulness and deprivation. [觳觫苟存; 觳觫 húsù is used in Mencius to describe the trembling of an ox being led to slaughter; 苟存 gǒucún means ‘living in dire circumstances barely able to survive’.]P3u免费翻墙网