CINA

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Huang Qichang, a "Chinese worker and socialist" (according to Infopartisan, Germany) writes for chinaworker.info. Few days ago he said in an interview with the German "socialist" daily newspaper Junge Welt: "For a considerable time Maoism is becoming more and more popular. The major part of the New Left in China is influenced by the Mao Zedong-Ideas.  They have the prevalence and not alone in the generation of the elders!
For example: last year an underground organisation was founded under the name of 'Maoist Communist Party of China'('MCPC'). It's describing the present leadership of the CPC as 'complete pro-capitalist and revisionist' and the 'MCPC' is seeking its overthrow. The revival of Maoism is the result of the neo-liberal policy of the government."

Now, Asia Times (HK, 5.06) published following interesting coverage:

 
Tough times breed nostalgia for Mao

Although Mao Zedong died 33 years ago, the founding father of communist China seems to still be alive in the hearts of many Chinese.

A new wave of nostalgia for the late chairman is sweeping the nation ahead of the 60th birthday of People's Republic of China (PRC) and amid the global financial crisis. The leader, who led the PRC from its establishment until his death in 1976, is surging though his brand of socialism has long been officially abandoned and there has been criticism of "serious mistakes" such as the Cultural Revolution.

Chingming is a traditional Chinese festival for the dead when families tend to the graves of their ancestors. It normally falls on

April 4-5 each year. During Chingming this year, tens of thousands of visitors flocked into Shaoshan, Mao's native village in Hunan province, to pay homage. According to Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao daily, on April 2 alone at least 30,000 people from various places of the country visited Shaoshan.

The visitors ranged from retired party and government officials to primary and high school pupils. They first bowed and placed wreaths at a 10.1-meter-tall bronze statue of Mao erected in the village - the numerical figure 10.1 stands for October 1, the date on which Mao declared the founding of the PRC in 1949. They then visited the mud-walled, clay-tile-roofed rural house where Mao was born. Many also went to pay tribute to the tombs of Mao's parents and ancestors near the village.

Another sign of growing nostalgia for Mao is the comeback in popularity of his Little Red Book among Chinese university students, according to a report by the France24 news channel. "We are selling five times as many copies of his book as before the [financial] crisis," said Fan Jinggang, the owner of neo-leftist Utopia Bookstore near Peking University. He said 200 copies had been sold a month since the start of the economic downturn late last year.

The global financial crisis has already cost some 25 million migrant workers their jobs in China, and university graduates also face an uncertain future.

"I have spent so much money in going to university to study," 22-year-old student Yang Lu was quoted as saying on the France24 report. "I will graduate next June, but I don't know if I will be able to find work. In this kind of situation, how could we not feel nostalgic for the Mao era, when all students were guaranteed work?"

Chinese are also increasingly worshipping the late chairman like a god. The Beijing-based Horizon Research Consultancy Group last year conducted a survey on religious beliefs in 40 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan.

It found that 11.5% of the families surveyed had a shrine in their homes of Mao, in the form of a statue or bust. This was only slightly less than the number of families (12.1%) that keep memorial tablets of their ancestors. Only 9.9% of families had a Buddhist icon, and 9.3% and 8.8% of families worshiped icons of the God of Fortune and God of Land, respectively. The survey did not cover rural areas, where many families are known to keep statues or pictures of Mao in their homes.

According to Hong Kong's Ming Pao daily, some of the visitors to Shaoshan during the Chingming Festival prayed to Mao to bless them with health, fortune or love, while some high-school students hoped Mao would help them pass their university entrance exams. Some retired cadres prayed to Mao for an end to official corruption.

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Mao was worshipped like a god with his Little Red Book read like the bible. But shortly after his death, his merits were re-evaluated by the party when it was led by Deng Xiaoping, whose reform and open-door policy ran counter to Mao's ideal of socialism.

In the 1980s, Mao was "taken down from the sacred shrine" and articles and novels published that denounced the Cultural Revolution, a nationwide social and political upheaval spearheaded by Mao that he hoped would eliminate his political rivals and revolutionize Chinese society.

Between 1966 and 1968, Mao encouraged his young supporters, the Red Guards, to take over power from state authorities and form "revolutionary committees" to replace government establishments. But soon Mao's supporters split into factions and started fighting one another...

Then in 1993, the centenary of Mao's birth, a wave of nostalgia for the chairman swept the country. It was partially encouraged with official memorial activities. Some people close to Mao, such as his guards, secretaries or doctors and nurses, published articles or books about his daily life, and movies and television series about Mao in war times were screened. One feature was common in all of them, Mao was depicted as a human leader - a great one, but not a god.

Even after Mao was removed from the "sacred shrine", some mysterious phenomena seemingly occurred that added to his god-like status. On its completion, Mao's statue was inaugurated on December 20, 1993, six days before Mao's 100th birthday. Former Chinese president Jiang Zemin visited it to remove the red silk covering the statue, but after several tries he still could not pull down the cover. After some whispered advice from one of his staff, Jiang respectfully stepped back and bowed three times to Mao's statue. Only after this did he succeed in pulling down the silk. Stories like this have led many people to believe that Mao had become a god after his death.

But the worship of Mao like a god, for whatever reasons, is just a by-product of the growing nostalgia for the chairman. Although Chinese people may generally live a better life today, they feel much less secure and safe than under Mao's rule.

"I earned less than 100 yuan a month [US$14 at today's exchange rates] in Mao's time. I could barely save each month but I never worried about anything. My work unit would take care of everything for me: housing, medical care, retirement and my children's education, though there were no luxuries. If I had some problem, I could always turn to my work unit for help. Now I receive 3,000 yuan as a [monthly] pension, but I have to count every penny - everything is so expensive and no one will take care of me now if I fall ill," said a retired middle-ranking official in Beijing.

China today faces social evils which were apparently less common - or publicized - during Mao's rule, such as rampant official corruption, a growing wealth gap, and rising crime such as drug abuse and prostitution. This is another reason people fondly remember the Mao era.

In a old joke, Deng was troubled by growing problems caused by his reforms, so one night he paid a visit to Mao's memorial hall at Tiananmen Square. Looking at Mao lying in his crystal coffin, Deng murmured, "Chairman, pray tell me how to deal with the problems." Suddenly Mao sat up pointing a finger at Deng and said, "You come in, I go out. And all these problems will be solved!" The joke shows that even years ago public discontent with societal problems had already began to grow and people wished for a strongman like Mao to solve them.

In the hope of finding a solution to these problems, some educated people such as the neo-leftists are re-reading Mao's works. They are outspoken critics of capitalist-style economic reforms and demand a return to some sort of socialism. 

But the liberal intellectuals who support capitalist-style reforms strongly resent the public nostalgia for Mao. Well-known author Zhang Xianliang, who is also deputy to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, once tabled a motion urging the government to suppress the nostalgia for Mao, saying such sentiment would jeopardize ongoing reform and "opening up".

Apparently for Chinese communist leaders, Mao is still a legacy. So, public nostalgia for Mao could help justify the legitimacy of the communist rule of the country. For, while Mao's socialism is abandoned in practice, Mao Zedong thought is still upheld by the party, at least in theory. In this sense, the nostalgic sentiments could also somehow help fill the nation's ideological vacuum left by reform and "opening up".

However, for the communist leaders, nostalgia for Mao could also be a double-edged sword. If they fail to ease growing public discontent behind such nostalgic feelings, one day public discontent could erupt and threaten their rule.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KE06Ad02.html

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Yesterday's Guardian(UK, 4.28) published following interesting article about recent developments in the Japanese "Communist" Party(日本共産党):

Disgruntled Japanese turn to resurgent communists

Web-savvy Japanese Communist party's message of welfare and jobs lures young voters away from sleazed-mired political mainstream

Faced with an economy in steep decline, rising unemployment and an uncertain future, a growing number of Japanese are shunning the conservative consensus and turning instead to a new brand of cuddly communism.

While the leaders of Japan's two main political parties battle poor opinion poll ratings and accusations of sleaze, the Japanese Communist party (JCP) has seen its fortunes transformed after years of being dismissed as an irrelevant hangover from the cold war.

In the last 16 months membership has soared to more than 410,000 as the revamped party courts younger voters from the working poor. Of the 14,000 ­people to have joined since the end of 2007, about a quarter are aged under 30, the party says. That contrasts with the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP), whose membership has plummeted from 5 million at its peak to about a million today.

By dispensing with ideological rhetoric and focusing on welfare and jobs, the JCP has struck a chord with students, the unemployed and the estimated 10 million Japanese earning less than 2m yen (about £14,000) a year.

Yasuhisa Wakabayashi is typical of the new Japanese communist. The 23-year-old Yokohama factory worker joined the party in January. "Unlike the mainstream parties, the communists aren't interested in seeking donations from major corporations," he said. "They talk about education and welfare and the problems of ordinary people. And they are honest."

The JCP is making its presence felt on the internet. Among its clips is a rousing tirade by the party's affable leader, Kazuo Ishii, against the exploitation of contract workers, which has been viewed more than 100,000 times on YouTube.

The circulation of its official newspaper Akahata (the Red Flag) has risen for eight straight months to 1.6m, although it is still a long way short of its 1980 peak of 3.5m.

The JCP also owes some of its success to a novel published in 1929. Kanikosen (The Crab Ship), a Marxist-inspired account of rebellion, sold over half a million copies last year after it became required reading on restless university campuses.

Despite its resurgence, few believe the party will play a pivotal role in national politics. It has just nine seats in the 480-seat lower house, and is hampered by an electoral system that penalises minor parties.

JCP officials insist they will play no part in a coalition, not even if it means turfing the LDP out of office for only the second time in 54 years. "We would co-operate on individual policies but we wouldn't be part of a coalition," said Kimitoshi Morihara of the party's international bureau. "There is no difference between the LDP and Minshuto [the main opposition party] on the economy, defence or any of the big issues of the day. But we are different."

The JCP is barely recognisable from the party of 30 years ago. Now, dialectic materialism has been replaced by a commitment to "democratic change within the current framework of capitalism".

"The JCP of today is very different," said Go Ito, a professor of politics at Meiji University in Tokyo. "The modern party is pragmatic, which is why it has managed to tap into the dissatisfaction being felt right across Japanese society."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/27/japanese-communist-party-resurgence

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MUST READ!

The Chinese Information Office of the State Council published on Monday(4.13) the National Human Rights Action Plan (2009-2010).

The full text you can read here:
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-04/13/content_11177126.htm

Related article:

☞ China Releases Human Rights Plan (NYT, 4.14)

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"Das Kapital" as Entertainment for the New Bourgeoisie?

Last December, punktually to the "Christmas sales"(^^) in Japan, the EastPress Co. publishing house released Karl Marx' "Das Kapital" as a manga guide version (資本論/まんがで読破)...

Sounds strange! But it makes some sense - somehow... Well, at least it's a kind of funny!

But now the Chinese producer He Nian has a complete f... nitty idea, as you can read in the following article (in today's Guardian, UK):

China to bring Das Kapital to life on Beijing stage

You've read the book, attended the seminars and pondered the accumulation of surplus value – now see the musical.

Chinese producers are attempting to transform Das Kapital from a hefty treatise on political economy into a popular stage show, complete with catchy tunes and nifty footwork.

Whether Karl Marx would approve of his masterwork being served up as entertainment for China's new bourgeoisie is a matter of speculation. But the director He Nian – best known for his stage adaptation of a martial-arts spoof – has promised to unite elements from Broadway musicals and Las Vegas shows in a hip, interesting and educational play featuring a live band, singing and dancing.

"The particular performance style we choose is not important, but Marx's theories cannot be distorted," he said sternly, in an interview with the Wen Hui Bao newspaper.

Zhang Jun, an economics professor at Shanghai's prestigious Fudan University, is being drafted in to ensure the production is intellectually rigorous.

The director said the play, which is to open next year, will be set in a company and will document the progress of its workers. In the first half they realise their boss is exploiting them and begin to understand the theory of surplus value. But far from uniting, as Marx enjoined them in the Communist Manifesto, some continue to work as before, some mutiny and others employ collective bargaining.

Yang Shaolin, the general manager of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, said that in the past it would have been difficult to imagine Das Kapital adapted into a play with "main characters, major dramatic elements, and profound educational meaning", but that it was now possible thanks to the flourishing of different styles in Chinese theatre.

Even so, the producers face a tough challenge. True, the social criticism of Marx's 19th century contemporaries Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo has been transmuted into two hugely successful all-singing, all-dancing musicals – Oliver! and Les Miserables. But unlike the novels on which those were based, Das Kapital has never been noted for its vivid characterisation or gripping plot.

There is some precedent for the new production. A Japanese writer and translator is said to have adapted Das Kapital for the stage in the 1930s, and the result was subsequently translated into Chinese.

Three years ago a German theatre group had another bash. But despite an added inducement to attend – a copy of Volume 23 of the Collected Works of Marx and Engels for each theatre-goer – the Suddeutsche Zeitung described it as mostly "something of a lecture … at times dry and boring".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/17/china-das-kapital-marx-stage

Related articles:
☞ Das Kapital turned into a manga comic (Telegraph/UK, 08.11.18)
☞ Marx goes manga in a Kapital comic strip (The Times, 08.11.18)
☞ 'Das Kapital' comic has mass appeal (AP/Japan Times, 08.12.24)

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 Hong Kong:

龍山區拆遷悲劇

本星期二，首爾警察廳派出反恐特警隊到市中心龍山區，鎮壓一個市區重建地盤示威活動，弄成五死廿三傷的悲劇，多份南韓報章指這是「不尋常的數字」。這也令筆者想起，去年香港警察用胡椒噴霧對付天水圍手無寸鐵的平民，相對南韓派出反恐特警隊，原來只是小巫見大巫。

四十戶居民不滿跟政府未達共識就進行拆遷，於一棟四層高樓房屋頂進行了廿五小時靜坐。到星期二深夜，首爾警方派出反恐特警隊，以吊臂貨櫃攻入屋內驅散居民，又向屋內發射多枚催淚彈。當警察強行搬走居民時，屋內突然起火。有居民為逃跑到天台邊緣，失足從四樓跌到地上至重傷，亦有廿三人被打傷、或吸入濃煙入院。火種熄滅後現場發現五具屍體，包括四名居民及一名警察，令南韓公眾憤怒...

For more please check out:
☞ 龍山拆遷悲劇：南韓恢復「公安政局」

Taiwan:

☞ 2009韓國龍山區拆遷鎮壓事件 的文章
☞ 首爾龍山慘劇/韓人權團體發起反迫遷行動

Japan:

☞ トピック: 龍山殺人鎮圧

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Wow.. Until now I had no idea that Japanese military leaders can be sooo funny:
Just enjoy General T. Tamogami's latest joke: "The Korean peninsula had been prosperous and safe under the Japan's rule" (i.e. the colonial occupation between 1910-1945).
Well, I'm sure that the majority of the Koreans will "misunderstand" (^^) the "joke" -  definitively!!!

Anyway, today's Guardian (UK) has the story (also IHT, NYT etc.):
 

Tokyo to sack defence chief for denying Japan's wartime acts

The chief of staff of Japan's air force is to be sacked after he claimed the country had been drawn into the second world war by the US and denied it had been an aggressor during its occupations of the Asian mainland.

In an online essay entitled 'Was Japan an Aggressor Nation?' General Toshio Tamogami yesterday claimed that Japan had been provoked by the then US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, and that many of Japan's wartime victims took "a positive view" of its actions.

The claims drew a swift rebuke from politicians. The defence minister, Yasukazu Hamada, said he would dismiss the general immediately. "I think it is improper of the air force chief of staff to publicly state a view that clearly differs from the that of the government," he told reporters. "It is inappropriate for him to remain in this position."

The prime minister, Taro Aso, a nationalist who has upset Japan's neighbours with ill-judged comments about the war, described Tamogami's views as "inappropriate, even if they were made in a personal capacity".

In the essay, which is likely to spark outrage in China and South Korea, Tamogami wrote: "Even now there are many people who think that our country's aggression caused unbearable suffering to the countries of Asia during the Great East Asia War." Japanese nationalists use the term the Great East Asia War to support their view that Japan entered the conflict to free Asian countries from western colonialism.

"But we need to realise that many Asian countries take a positive view of the [war]. It is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor," he wrote.

He said the Korean peninsula had been "prosperous and safe" under Japan's 1910-1945 occupation and that Roosevelt had "trapped" Japan into attacking Pearl Harbour in December 1941. He went on to accuse Roosevelt of being a puppet of the Comintern, the international communist movement founded in Moscow in 1919.

Tamogami, who did not seek the defence ministry's permission to submit the essay, called for Japan to reclaim its "glorious history". He said: "A nation that denies its own history is destined to pursue a path of decline."

He shares the view of many neo-nationalists that the Allied war crimes tribunals - which sent several Japanese leaders to the gallows - were a farce...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/01/japan-pearl-harbour-war-hiroshima

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I think it's wellknown that the ancient China (aka the "Chinese Empire") - at least since the Dynasties of Sui and Tang (6th - 10th century) - was a country, very open for "foreigners" (and their influences).  Tens of thousands of merchants, migrant workers, political and religious refugees.. from (mostly) all across Asia - from the far West, like the Arab World, to  Korea and Japan in the East - settled in China.

 
But  so far I'd no idea that there was (and still exisists!!) a Jewish community in China, especially in Kaifeng (the capital during the Song Dynasty) until I read last week following surprising article in the Israeli newpaper Yedioth Ahronoth:

1,000 Jews cannot be wrong

Descendants of centuries-old Jewish community in China's Kaifeng rediscover Jewish heritage after near complete assimilation in local community

In Chinese terms, the city of Kaifeng, about 500 miles southwest of Beijing, is reminiscent of the Israeli city of Hadera: The number of its residents is 700,000 – as opposed to Beijing's 15 million or Shanghai's 20 million – and it doesn't even have its own airport.

 
However, a thousand years ago, Kaifeng was the capital of the Chinese empire, the largest, richest and most advanced in the world at the time, with 600,000 residents that made it the most populated city on earth.

 
Ancient Kaifeng had a Jewish community – a small but thriving one, whose story is unique in the history of the Jewish people. For the 800 years of its existence, Kaifeng's Jews never suffered from persecution or discrimination. The Chinese authorities, as well as the general population, welcomed their Jewish neighbors, viewed them as citizens in every respect and allowed them to observe their religion with complete freedom.

The community synagogue in Kaifeng existed for almost 700 years

 
In spite, or perhaps because of these freedoms, the community dwindled until about one hundred and fifty years ago, when the assimilation and integration proved complete. It is only in the past 20 years that the descendents of Kaifeng Jewry, who now number about 1,000 people, have rediscovered their Jewish tradition. Some of them have considered undergoing proper conversion and making aliyah, and a few of them have done so already.

 
Thirty-year-old Shi Lei does not try to hide his excitement when he takes his guest, an Israeli journalist, to the central room in his parents' home. His family, which is of Jewish descent, has lived in this home for more than 100 years. After the death of his grandmother and grandfather, Shi, together with his father, turned this room into a mini-museum and a small Jewish center, where he gives classes on Jewish tradition to children and adults of Jewish descent.

 
Shi Lei, who graduated with a degree in English from the University of Kaifeng, spent close to three years in Israel studying at Jerusalem's Machon Meir and at Bar-Ilan University...

 
An emperor's welcome

It is not clear when exactly the first Jews came to China or when the Jewish community in Kaifeng was formed. In the prophecy of the redemption in the book of Isaiah it states: "See, they will come from afar – some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Sinim ("Chinese")" (Isaiah, 49:12); but biblical scholars agree that the verse does not speak of China per se. Some claim that the Jews of Kaifeng are descendents of the Ten Lost Tribes. Others theorize that they came to China in the second century following the downfall of the Jews in the Bar Kokhva revolt (132-135CE).

 
DNA testing done over the past few years on the descendents of the Kaifeng Jews, proved them distant relatives of Armenian, Iranian and Iraqi Jews. Most of the researchers, as well as the Kaifeng descendents themselves, tend to suggest that the original Jews in China were merchants from Persia that came by way of the Silk Route (in today's southern Turkey) to the city of Xian in central China.

 
Historical references and archaeological findings have proven that the Persian Jews first arrive in China in the eighth century; and since the long, difficult journey made family life difficult, the solution was to establish a permanent base in China. The location of choice was Kaifeng – China's capital from 927BC to 1127AD.

 
A stone tablet dating back to the 1489 Kaifeng synagogue – which is now in the city museum – in inscribed with the following: "According to the commandment of their god, the Jews came from Tian-Sho (Chinese for both "India" and "every state to the west of China") with woven materials from the west in their hands, meant as a gift for the emperor."

Kaifeng synagogue, drawn by the French Jesuit priest, J. Demenge (1722)

 
The last emperor, according to the tablet was pleased with the beautiful and said "welcome to our country; dwell here and keep the customs of your ancestors".

 
The emperor's warm welcome provided them with automatic Chinese citizenship, not a trifle feat at a time the Jewish communities in Europe and the Muslim countries were suffering persecution. It is believed that one of the reasons for this show of tolerance was that the Chinese of the time did not have a "religion" in the sense of any of the three monotheistic faiths: The common practices of faith based on the teachings of Chinese philosopher Confucius, were an array of ethical and behavioral codes more than the belief of religious ordinances commanded by a higher power.

 
While each of the three monotheistic religions claims to state the absolute truth god, Confucianism is willing peacefully coexist with any religious belief. Kaifeng's Jews found it easy to adhere to Confucianism since it doesn't require the recognition of a new Messiah or prophet and there was no need to give up on the rules of keeping kosher or observing the holidays. 

The ancient stone tablet also states that one of the emperors from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) bestowed "the gift of incense" upon the Jewish community. It was given to the Jewish doctor Yung-Ching who appears to have been his personal physician. This indicates that Kaifeng's Jews used Chinese names rather than Hebrew names, and incorporated a Chinese ceremony into their religious rituals – the lighting of incense.

 
Eligible bachelors

Kaifeng's Jews were away from any Jewish center, as they had no contact to other Jewish communities around the world. At its peak, the community numbered no more than 6,000 people. There was no yeshiva and the young Jewish men that were interested in academic studies naturally attended the local institutions, which cultivated knowledge of Chinese literature and tradition. Given the circumstances, the chances of the small, isolated Jewish community to maintain its unique features in the hub of China were remote.

 
According to researchers, another key to the demise of the Kaifeng community lies in the fact that China was the first to allow all its residents to join the top rank of government officials – the Mandarins – by taking qualification exams.

 
Most of the Jews in Kaifeng were proficient in Chinese and some also in Hebrew, which gave them an advantage over most of the residents in the empire; and so the number of Jewish descendents that applied for the Beijing positions was substantially higher than their actual representation in the population.

 
After five years of study in the emperor's courtyard, they were sent to various regions in the vast empire. If they hadn't married during their years as students, they were certainly interested in doing so when they began their government service, and as Mandarins, whose careers were mapped out they were considered eligible bachelors. Excluding Kaifeng, however, there were no eligible Jewish brides to be found in China, prompting the assimilation further.

 
According to the information available, the Jewish community life in Kaifeng came to a virtual halt about 150 years ago. The community synagogue existed for almost 700 years, until 1854, when Kaifeng was flooded by the Huáng Hé – the Yellow River. It was never rebuilt.

Kaifeng 1910: A Jewish Family

Although Kaifeng's Jews had already completely assimilated, their descendants continued to observe several customs, like keeping kosher and keeping Shabbat. Many continue to live the old city in the old section, and the Jewish names of two of the neighborhood's streets still appear in Hebrew and English. The community is now slated for an evacuation-renovation project, like many of its Chinese counterparts...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3590419,00.html

Related:

☞ Kaifeng Jews (wiki)

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For decades - since 1949 - Taiwan, beside South Korea, was the main fortress against socialism/communism (respectively any progressive idea based on anti-capitalism/anti-imperialism) in East Asia. This meant that any democratic/progressive opposition was completely forbidden. Until the 1980's Taiwan was ruled by martial law and tens of thousands of dissidents were arrested, tortured and/or killed. Of course there was also complete no freedom of press..

But two weeks ago (6.26) the Taiwanese daily newspaper China Post "dared" to headline an editorial with:

 Congratulations to Taiwan's Communist Party!

Usually after something like that (at least) the chief editor would be arrested and jailed for many years and the newspaper closed forever!

But (contrary to S. Korea!!) in Taiwan the "Cold War" ended - at least since 6.20!

At that day, according to the Central News Agency, Taiwan's constitutional court/Council of Grand Justices(CGJ) ruled that it's against the human rights to oppress the freedom of speech and organization. And, according to the CGJ, Tawan's constitution is "based on the human rights". So, because of that, the CGJ ruled, that it's illegal to ban/oppress the political opposition and its organizations and media, even it's based on the ideas of Socialism, Communism, Marxism/Leninism etc...

Related:
☞ Congratulations to Taiwan's Communist Party (China Post, 6.26)

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The China Labour Bulletin (CLB/中國勞工通訊) reported last week (6.17) that..

..China is just one step away from the right to strike

Workers in the P.R. China do not have the constitutional right to strike. Yet, every day in the Pearl River Delta alone there is at least one major strike involving over a thousand employees and dozens of smaller strikes and stoppages.
 

This continuous wave of industrial action has forced the national and local governments in China to reassess the legal framework of labour relations and introduce new legislation that seeks to address workers’ needs and bring the law into line with social and economic reality.
 

On 5 June 2008, Chen Yu of the Shantou Federation of Trade Unions, wrote in the New Express (Xinkuaibao) that new draft regulations issued by the Shenzhen municipal government effectively brought the largely taboo subject of strike action within the scope of legal regulation. As a result, Chen argued, the legal right to strike was now “only one step away.”
 

The article is significant for its candid assessment of the current balance of power in labour relations, the ineffectiveness of the All China Federation of Trade Unions in organising workers (“an embarrassing joke”) and union’s inability to support strike action. The article demonstrates that, in some union branches at least, officials are taking their responsibilities towards workers seriously and are actively seeking ways to both empower employees and protect their legal rights.
  
Shenzhen is One Step Away from the Right to Strike

 
The Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress Standing Committee recently published the Draft Regulations on the Growth and Development of Harmonious Labour Relations in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. The Draft Regulationsare are of groundbreaking significance, both because it is reportedly China's first legislative document on “harmonious labour relations,”and because the Standing Committee actively solicited public opinion before publishing it.
 

The most impressive aspect of the Draft Regulations is that it lays down more reasonable standards on the respective status and responsibilities of employees, employers and the government. It clearly asserts that to build harmonious labour relations, employers and workers have to engage in consultation on the basis of equality, abide by the law and exercise self-discipline, the government has to coordinate and supervise the process, ordinary citizens have to participate in it, and fairness and justice has to be maintained.
 

In view of the fact that in today's China employers are beyond any doubt the strongest party in the labour relationship, the establishment of more harmonious labour relations must begin by adjusting the balance of power between employers and employees. An individual worker within a big company is as powerless as a tiny ant before a big tree. The only way for workers to get things moving and solve their problems is to team up and join forces.

 
China's trade unions have the world's best organizational framework and largest membership roster, but their real status is an embarrassing joke. Political meddling throughout the system has prevented genuine and effective union organizing. Therefore, when the government takes its responsibilities seriously, trade unions need to do so too.
 

After the Chinese Constitution was amended in 1982, the word "strike" (bagong) became taboo in Chinese legislation. It was replaced by references to "shutdowns" (tinggong) and "slowdowns" (daigong). Most lamentably, the (amended) Trade Union Law of 2001 stipulates: "When a work-stoppage or slow-down occurs in an enterprise or institution, the trade union shall ... assist the enterprise or institution in its work so as to enable the normal production process to be resumed as quickly as possible" (Article 27). Rules of the game that deny workers the right to collective action effectively reduce them to collective begging.
 

The fact that trade unions are not only unable to stand clearly with workers but must also perform thankless tasks on behalf of employers manifestly shows that they remain in a subordinate position.

 
Although the Draft Regulations does not go so far as to call a strike a strike, and continues to refer to work stoppages, slowdowns and lockouts, it no longer insists that when such incidents occur, trade unions have to help enterprises resume production as quickly as possible. This fact in itself gives trade unions some room for manoeuvre. What makes the Draft Regulations even more groundbreaking is that it stipulates that when a major strike occurs, the government may issue an order prohibiting management and workers from taking any action for a period of 30 days that is liable to exacerbate the dispute. By clearly stipulating the rights and obligations of employers and workers, the Draft Regulations have, in fact, brought industrial strike action within the scope of legal regulation.

 
We are only a step away from the right to strike. This paper-thin barrier can be breached. These regulations fully embody Shenzhen's pioneering spirit.
 

We can safely assume that if the Draft Regulations are approved, it will quickly prompt employers, workers and the government to assume their respective responsibilities to jointly build harmonious labour relations.

http://www.clb.org.hk/en/node/100263

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Today actually I wanted to write something about the role of the bourgeois (but not only: just "enjoy" the S.Korean "socialist" magazine Counterfire..) media in supporting the "Tibetan liberation/independence movement".. But Asia Times' (a bourgeois-liberal!!! magazine, based in HK) newest edition published a - in my opinion - significant article about the involvement of the US Imperialism (*): 

Tibet, the 'great game' and the CIA
 

Given the historical context of the unrest in Tibet, there is reason to believe Beijing was caught on the hop with the recent demonstrations for the simple reason that their planning took place outside of Tibet and that the direction of the protesters is similarly in the hands of anti-Chinese organizers safely out of reach in Nepal and northern India.

Similarly, the funding and overall control of the unrest has also been linked to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and by inference to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) because of his close cooperation with US intelligence for over 50 years.

Indeed, with the CIA's deep involvement with the Free Tibet Movement and its funding of the suspiciously well-informed Radio Free Asia, it would seem somewhat unlikely that any revolt could have been planned or occurred without the prior knowledge, and even perhaps the agreement, of the National Clandestine Service (formerly known as the Directorate of Operations) at CIA headquarters in Langley.

Respected columnist and former senior Indian Intelligence officer, B Raman, commented on March 21 that "on the basis of available evidence, it was possible to assess with a reasonable measure of conviction" that the initial uprising in Lhasa on March 14 "had been pre-planned and well orchestrated".

Could there be a factual basis to the suggestion that the main beneficiaries to the death and destruction sweeping Tibet are in Washington? History would suggest that this is a distinct possibility.

The CIA conducted a large scale covert action campaign against the communist Chinese in Tibet starting in 1956. This led to a disastrous bloody uprising in 1959, leaving tens of thousands of Tibetans dead, while the Dalai Lama and about 100,000 followers were forced to flee across the treacherous Himalayan passes to India and Nepal.

The CIA established a secret military training camp for the Dalai Lama's resistance fighters at Camp Hale near Leadville, Colorado, in the US. The Tibetan guerrillas were trained and equipped by the CIA for guerrilla warfare and sabotage operations against the communist Chinese.

The US-trained guerrillas regularly carried out raids into Tibet, on occasions led by CIA-contract mercenaries and supported by CIA planes. The initial training program ended in December 1961, though the camp in Colorado appears to have remained open until at least 1966.

The CIA Tibetan Task Force created by Roger E McCarthy, alongside the Tibetan guerrilla army, continued the operation codenamed "St Circus" to harass the Chinese occupation forces for another 15 years until 1974, when officially sanctioned involvement ceased.

McCarthy, who also served as head of the Tibet Task Force at the height of its activities from 1959 until 1961, later went on to run similar operations in Vietnam and Laos.

By the mid-1960s, the CIA had switched its strategy from parachuting guerrilla fighters and intelligence agents into Tibet to establishing the Chusi Gangdruk, a guerrilla army of some 2,000 ethnic Khamba fighters at bases such as Mustang in Nepal.

This base was only closed down in 1974 by the Nepalese government after being put under tremendous pressure by Beijing.
After the Indo-China War of 1962, the CIA developed a close relationship with the Indian intelligence services in both training and supplying agents in Tibet.

Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison in their book The CIA's Secret War in Tibet disclose that the CIA and the Indian intelligence services cooperated in the training and equipping of Tibetan agents and special forces troops and in forming joint aerial and intelligence units such as the Aviation Research Center and Special Center.

This collaboration continued well into the 1970s and some of the programs that it sponsored, especially the special forces unit of Tibetan refugees which would become an important part of the Indian Special Frontier Force, continue into the present.

Only the deterioration in relations with India which coincided with improvements in those with Beijing brought most of the joint CIA-Indian operations to an end.

Though Washington had been scaling back support for the Tibetan guerrillas since 1968, it is thought that the end of official US backing for the resistance only came during meetings between president Richard Nixon and the Chinese communist leadership in Beijing in February 1972.

Victor Marchetti, a former CIA officer has described the outrage many field agents felt when Washington finally pulled the plug, adding that a number even "[turned] for solace to the Tibetan prayers which they had learned during their years with the Dalai Lama".

The former CIA Tibetan Task Force chief from 1958 to 1965, John Kenneth Knaus, has been quoted as saying, "This was not some CIA black-bag operation." He added, "The initiative was coming from ... the entire US government."

In his book Orphans of the Cold War, Knaus writes of the obligation Americans feel toward the cause of Tibetan independence from China. Significantly, he adds that its realization "would validate the more worthy motives of we who tried to help them achieve this goal over 40 years ago. It would also alleviate the guilt some of us feel over our participation in these efforts, which cost others their lives, but which were the prime adventure of our own."

Despite the lack of official support it is still widely rumored that the CIA were involved, if only by proxy, in another failed revolt in October 1987, the unrest that followed and the consequent Chinese repression continuing till May 1993.

The timing for another serious attempt to destabilize Chinese rule in Tibet would appear to be right for the CIA and Langley will undoubtedly keep all its options open.

China is faced with significant problems, with the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province; the activities of the Falun Gong among many other dissident groups and of course growing concern over the security of the Summer Olympic Games in August.

China is viewed by Washington as a major threat, both economic and military, not just in Asia, but in Africa and Latin America as well.

The CIA also views China as being "unhelpful" in the "war on terror", with little or no cooperation being offered and nothing positive being done to stop the flow of arms and men from Muslim areas of western China to support Islamic extremist movements in Afghanistan and Central Asian states.

To many in Washington, this may seem the ideal opportunity to knock the Beijing government off balance as Tibet is still seen as China's potential weak spot.

The CIA will undoubtedly ensure that its fingerprints are not discovered all over this growing revolt. Cut-outs and proxies will be used among the Tibetan exiles in Nepal and India's northern border areas.

Indeed, the CIA can expect a significant level of support from a number of security organizations in both India and Nepal and will have no trouble in providing the resistance movement with advice, money and above all, publicity.

However, not until the unrest shows any genuine signs of becoming an open revolt by the great mass of ethnic Tibetans against the Han Chinese and Hui Muslims will any weapons be allowed to appear.

Large quantities of former Eastern bloc small arms and explosives have been reportedly smuggled into Tibet over the past 30 years, but these are likely to remain safely hidden until the right opportunity presents itself.

The weapons have been acquired on the world markets or from stocks captured by US or Israeli forces. They have been sanitized and are deniable, untraceable back to the CIA.

Weapons of this nature also have the advantage of being interchangeable with those used by the Chinese armed forces and of course use the same ammunition, easing the problem of resupply during any future conflict.

Though official support for the Tibetan resistance ended 30 years ago, the CIA has kept open its lines of communications and still funds much of the Tibetan Freedom movement.

So is the CIA once again playing the "great game" in Tibet?

It certainly has the capability, with a significant intelligence and paramilitary presence in the region. Major bases exist in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and several Central Asian states.

It cannot be doubted that it has an interest in undermining China, as well as the more obvious target of Iran.

So the probable answer is yes, and indeed it would be rather surprising if the CIA was not taking more than just a passing interest in Tibet. That is after all what it is paid to do.

Since September 11, 2001, there has been a sea-change in US Intelligence attitudes, requirements and capabilities. Old operational plans have been dusted off and updated. Previous assets re-activated. Tibet and the perceived weakness of China's position there will probably have been fully reassessed.

For Washington and the CIA, this may seem a heaven-sent opportunity to create a significant lever against Beijing, with little risk to American interests; simply a win-win situation.

The Chinese government would be on the receiving end of worldwide condemnation for its continuing repression and violation of human rights and it will be young Tibetans dying on the streets of Lhasa rather than yet more uniformed American kids.

The consequences of any open revolt against Beijing, however, are that once again the fear of arrest, torture and even execution will pervade every corner of both Tibet and those neighboring provinces where large Tibetan populations exist, such as Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan.

And the Tibetan Freedom movement still has little likelihood of achieving any significant improvement in central Chinese policy in the long run and no chance whatever of removing its control of Lhasa and their homeland.

Once again it would appear that the Tibetan people will find themselves trapped between an oppressive Beijing and a manipulative Washington.

Beijing sends in the heavies

The fear that the United States, Britain and other Western states may try to portray Tibet as another Kosovo may be part of the reason why the Chinese authorities reacted as if faced with a genuine mass revolt rather than their official portrayal of a short-lived outbreak of unrest by malcontents supporting the Dalai Lama.

Indeed, so seriously did Beijing view the situation that a special security coordination unit, the 110 Command Center, has been established in Lhasa with the primary objective of suppressing the disturbances and restoring full central government control.

The center appears to be under the direct control of Zhang Qingli, first secretary of the Tibet Party and a President Hu Jintao loyalist. Zhang is also the former Xinjiang deputy party secretary with considerable experience in counter-terrorism operations in that region.

Others holding important positions in Lhasa are Zhang Xinfeng, vice minister of the Central Public Security Ministry and Zhen Yi, deputy commander of the People's Armed Police Headquarters in Beijing.

The seriousness with which Beijing is treating the present unrest is further illustrated by the deployment of a large number of important army units from the Chengdu Military Region, including brigades from the 149th Mechanized Infantry Division, which acts as the region's rapid reaction force.

According to a United Press International report, elite ground force units of the People's Liberation Army were involved in Lhasa, and the new T-90 armored personnel carrier and T-92 wheeled armored vehicles were deployed. According to the report, China has denied the participation of the army in the crackdown, saying it was carried out by units of the armed police. "Such equipment as mentioned above has never been deployed by China's armed police, however."

Air support is provided by the 2nd Army Aviation Regiment, based at Fenghuangshan, Chengdu, in Sichuan province. It operates a mix of helicopters and STOL transports from a frontline base near Lhasa. Combat air support could be quickly made available from fighter ground attack squadrons based within the Chengdu region.
The Xizang Military District forms the Tibet garrison, which has two mountain infantry units; the 52nd Brigade based at Linzhi and the 53rd Brigade at Yaoxian Shannxi. These are supported by the 8th Motorized Infantry Division and an artillery brigade at Shawan, Xinjiang.

Tibet is also no longer quite as remote or difficult to resupply for the Chinese army. The construction of the first railway between 2001 and 2007 has significantly eased the problems of the movement of large numbers of troops and equipment from Qinghai onto the rugged Tibetan plateau.

Other precautions against a resumption of the long-term Tibetan revolts of previous years has led to a considerable degree of self-sufficiency in logistics and vehicle repair by the Tibetan garrison and an increasing number of small airfields have been built to allow rapid-reaction units to gain access to even the most remote areas.

The Chinese Security Ministry and intelligence services had been thought to have a suffocating presence in the province and indeed the ability to detect any serious protest movement and suppress resistance.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JC26Ad02.html

* But not only the US Imperialism! Germany, for example, is still in the frontline of supporting the "Tibetan liberation/independence movement". Politicians from the "liberal left" to extreme conservatives are, since many years, supporting especially the cause of the Dalai Lama to "liberate his homeland"...