Post by Prometheus on Jul 14, 2021 18:45:15 GMT
If you've been reading my series, you'll notice that I've spoken very little about communism and its practice within the country. That's because it doesn't exist except as the name of the ruling party. But in just 11 days time (in my time zone), the word is going to be at the forefront of all things here in the Middle Kingdom.
The Chinese Communist Party was officially founded on July 1st, 1921. For those of you that can do basic math, that means the 100th anniversary will be next week. Already, cities are gearing up for celebrations. Pink, orange, and purple flowers in parks are being replaced with red ones. Strings of red lights are being hung in trees along every major avenue. There are hammers and sickles everywhere. Students are dutifully practicing the performances and speeches they will give at school next Thursday. There will be fireworks and party leaders, including Xi Jinping will be giving "rousing" speeches exhorting the party and how they will eventually move on from "Market Socialism with Chinese Characteristics" to full-fledged communism... in time.
I'm sure lots of people will cheer and send messages on social media, but it won't be due to belief in the ideology, but merely because they are swept up in the spectacle. That's what such spectacles are for: to reinforce nationalism and remind the people how much they owe to government... to the Party.
And the next day will just be another day for the rank and file... including many of the Party membership. There are around 92 million members of the CCP. That's less than 7% of the total population of China and many of them have only joined because of job requirements: either for hiring or advancement, or simply to get government jobs and partake in some good, old-fashioned graft.
The Chinese people don't show support for the Party for any reason other than they expect the government to take care of them. That's not a "communist thing." It's a cultural thing that pervades every aspect of Chinese life and philosophy: those in power take care of those they wish to dominate lest "Heaven remove its mandate." There's a reason that even the CCP uses a representation of Tiananmen, The Gate of Heavenly Peace in their symbolism: the full phrase from which the name derives is, "receiving the mandate from heaven, and pacifying the dynasty." The CCP is just another emperor whose reign has been ordained and as long as the people are pacified, they will continue to rule.
The CCP does everything in its power to make sure that there is no "turmoil" such as that exhibited 32 years ago. They don't want to lose their Heavenly Mandate. And as long as the people are being lifted out of poverty, have good food to eat, nice clothes to wear, and nice houses to live in, the Mandate will continue. This is the knife's edge that the CCP operates on and why the people are given spectacles and other reminders of the CCP's power and "generosity."
I suspect that over the next decade or three, the CCP will slowly lower expectations rather than just come down hard - though the hammer may drop harder in some situations than in others - until the people still have "enough" to keep them pacified but not as much as they once had. We can also expect that "the west" will be vilified more and more as nationalism always requires an enemy.
Nationalism
That's the real enemy. The Chinese are extremely nationalistic regardless of who holds power. Western nations and their citizens may condemn communism in China but they are barking up the wrong tree. Any form of leadership in China will have to be strong and antagonistic towards any entity that is not Chinese. The Kuomintang didn't lose the civil war because they weren't communists. They lost the faith of the people who saw them as being "less Chinese" due to their strong ties to the west and the fact that their graft didn't "trickle down" to allow others to share in it.
The disagreement between the PRC and Taiwan isn't so much about land, oil, and minerals or even about communism versus democracy, but about the Taiwanese not accepting the Will of Heaven.
Even people of Chinese heritage who are citizens of other countries and whose families might not have set foot in China for more than 150 years, are often viewed suspiciously because they are not living under the Will of Heaven. They are not quite Chinese enough. They are "bananas": yellow on the outside but white on the inside. They have forgotten their culture.
But, were those "bananas" to return to China, learn the language, and become members of the CCP, all would be forgiven... but they would still be watched.
jammer81386 responded: "And yet it is always capitalism which gets blamed for environmental degradation."
He seems to be under the impression that capitalism and China are two distinct and separate topics with no overlap.
Here is the rest of the posted article if you're interested.
Sewage from more than 200 Chinese vessels in the contested South China Sea waters is threatening marine life.
The damage is so extensive, it can be seen from space, according to Simularity, a US satellite imagery analysis firm.
The Philippines, a claimant to the islands in the waters, said it's in the process of verifying the report.
Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Raw sewage discharged from more than 200 Chinese fishing vessels around the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea is causing extensive damage to coral reefs, Simularity, a US satellite imagery analysis firm, said Monday.
"The sewage from the anchored ships in the Spratlys is damaging the reefs, and we can see this from space," Simularity founder and CEO Liz Derr said during a digital forum hosted by the Manila think tank Stratbase ADR Institute.
"The hundreds of ships that are anchored there are dumping raw sewage, every day onto the reefs they are occupying," said Derr during the presentation, adding "when the ships don't move, the poop piles up."
The satellite images taken over five years - between May 14, 2016 and June 17, 2021- show a stark contrast in alga growth. Researchers found that 236 Chinese vessels were recorded motionless In the waters during that time period.
Peter Koning, vice president of sales at Simularity, told Insider in an email that it is not normal for vessels to stay motionless for such long periods, and that they have been monitoring the ships for months.
Excess sewage encourages the growth of phytoplankton in the water, which can cause oxygen shortages. Without adequate oxygen supply in the water, coral reefs habitats can die.
"These bacteria consume oxygen that would normally be available to the fish, creating a 'dead zone,'" Simularity said in its report. Coral reefs take up to 10,000 years to form, and barrier reefs and atolls take between 100,000 and 30 million years to fully form.
"This is a catastrophe of epic proportions and we are close to the point of no return," Derr said.
Simularity warned that it's not just coral reefs that are at risk here, but fish stocks in the South China Sea - an important food source for the region.
The Philippines, one of the claimants to the South China Sea, said it is in the process of verifying Simularity's report.
"While we are confirming and verifying these wastes being dumped … We consider such irresponsible acts, if true, to be gravely detrimental to the marine ecology in the area," Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement, per Reuters.
"China treating us as its toilet is a clear violation of both international and local environmental laws," Philippines Senator Grace Poe said in a statement, reported the Inquirer.
At least five countries lay claim to islands in the South China Sea, including the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. In 2016, the International Court of Justice, or The Hague, rejected China's claims in the South China Sea.
The damage is so extensive, it can be seen from space, according to Simularity, a US satellite imagery analysis firm.
The Philippines, a claimant to the islands in the waters, said it's in the process of verifying the report.
Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Raw sewage discharged from more than 200 Chinese fishing vessels around the contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea is causing extensive damage to coral reefs, Simularity, a US satellite imagery analysis firm, said Monday.
"The sewage from the anchored ships in the Spratlys is damaging the reefs, and we can see this from space," Simularity founder and CEO Liz Derr said during a digital forum hosted by the Manila think tank Stratbase ADR Institute.
"The hundreds of ships that are anchored there are dumping raw sewage, every day onto the reefs they are occupying," said Derr during the presentation, adding "when the ships don't move, the poop piles up."
The satellite images taken over five years - between May 14, 2016 and June 17, 2021- show a stark contrast in alga growth. Researchers found that 236 Chinese vessels were recorded motionless In the waters during that time period.
Peter Koning, vice president of sales at Simularity, told Insider in an email that it is not normal for vessels to stay motionless for such long periods, and that they have been monitoring the ships for months.
Excess sewage encourages the growth of phytoplankton in the water, which can cause oxygen shortages. Without adequate oxygen supply in the water, coral reefs habitats can die.
"These bacteria consume oxygen that would normally be available to the fish, creating a 'dead zone,'" Simularity said in its report. Coral reefs take up to 10,000 years to form, and barrier reefs and atolls take between 100,000 and 30 million years to fully form.
"This is a catastrophe of epic proportions and we are close to the point of no return," Derr said.
Simularity warned that it's not just coral reefs that are at risk here, but fish stocks in the South China Sea - an important food source for the region.
The Philippines, one of the claimants to the South China Sea, said it is in the process of verifying Simularity's report.
"While we are confirming and verifying these wastes being dumped … We consider such irresponsible acts, if true, to be gravely detrimental to the marine ecology in the area," Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement, per Reuters.
"China treating us as its toilet is a clear violation of both international and local environmental laws," Philippines Senator Grace Poe said in a statement, reported the Inquirer.
At least five countries lay claim to islands in the South China Sea, including the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. In 2016, the International Court of Justice, or The Hague, rejected China's claims in the South China Sea.
Jammer's obviously a moron.
And it's too late right now to get into the politics of the Chinese move.
I'll try to remember to come back in about 8 hours or so to address it.
I'll try to remember to come back in about 8 hours or so to address it.
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