So there wasn't any? The whole cultural revolution was about being anti-western. Or are we making it up?

You still haven't answered how the Chinese reconcile the origin of communism. Or is this one of those maleable facts that get run through the party to make it look like they invented it?

Groans are cheap and are not answers.

1stly, the Cultural Revolution was not part of the Cold War.
2ndly, I would answer that, except, i'm not your "chinese friend."

I do believe the media of all countries is quite biased. Sometimes I can't believe the crap I read in the NY times about Europe and likewise can;t belive some of the crap I see in European papers about the US. Every media inflicts their personal bias which then people soak up and believe unless they have actually experienced the country. I see it right here in the EF also.

I didn't mistake you for one. But if you could truthfully answer it, you would have done it already.

Sure, they are written for the market it is being published in. But the variances are in innuendos based on editorial perspective. In other words, there is a basis for truth that is then skewed. They are seldom outright fabrications.

Yes you are making it up. The Cultural Revolution was instigated by Mao loyalists (if not himself) and was the culmination of an internal power struggle within the CCP (the party) itself. It largely focused on class struggle, where non-proletarian symbols were systematically targeted and destroyed.

To be honest, if you have a bone to pick about the Chinese being anti-Western, then you're err... picking the wrong bone, so to speak. The Chinese government places a lot more emphasis on domestic stability and territorial integrity than anything else. Any Western jibes is aimed at the domestic audience rather than at the West in particular, much like US politics.

Anyway, your average John Smith (or John Li) in China would likely be curious about Western society and just as naive as we are about China. Just as we think that China is all about Buddhist pagodas and kung-fu fights in the market everyday, they think America is all about guns, girls and MTV, which is incorrect... right?


The irony just gets better (sorry I'm not intentionally trying to demean)! During the cold war, the US attempted to use China against the USSR in the great game of cat and mouse. Sino-USSR relations have soured in the late 1950s due to their differing application of Leninist and Maoist thought respectively; the Chinese regarded the Soviets as slack and accused them of class naivety, but also because of border disputes as the Chinese felt earlier agreements signed during the weak Qing dynasty were unfair.

Mao sought closer ties with the US, hence resulting in Nixon's visit, ping-pong/panda diplomacy, etc. It was a pivotal moment in the cold war and some saw it as the beginning of the end.


What needs to be reconciled? How do we reconcile the fact that the Union Jack was flown over half the territories of the world through military suppression? A Communist country by name, but currently nothing of the sort.

The two questions you should ask instead is why is Marxist-Leninist-Maoist economic theory still taught as a compulsory module in Chinese universities? It's irrelevant in an economy that has completely embraced the free-market and should only serve as a history lesson at best.

Second question, more like an observation; dynamic economic reforms, a society given plenty of freedom to evolve but what happened to political reforms? Western style multi-party democracy has been rejected, instead intra-party "democracy with Chinese characteristics" seems like the flavour of the day. No doubt the NPC has become more of a talking shop, less rubber stamp of late, but it is still a long way off from open debate. I applaud the vision and ambition to introduce a fairer representative political system, but in the meanwhile, unless someone comes up with something viable, it is no excuse to deny the Chinese public the next best thing, which is universal suffrage.


From a layman's perspective, probably not nearly half (or 100 times) as much as the amount of nukes pointed at Beijing. I don't think they care though, they know they'll never win a nuclear war, it's all about the deterrent factor and prestige.

at last, someone's talking history! i do like me some cold war...

while we're back to an orderly non-loaded discussion, the communist manifesto's (utopian) tenets are universal. consider "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." not each prussian, russian, western-person, non-chinese/cuban (let's not forget the cubans), just each. also, communism (eg china/cuba) is critical of capitalism (eg western europe/US), but that's history already; criticism today from either sides has little to do with communism, capitalism or the cold war. Hence i don't see the need for reconciliation, but i could be wrong. splitting hairs is always on the table.

also, chinese missiles are pointing at japan, if anyone's interested. a lot of chinese would love to tell the japs where to shove their sushi.

¨
Interesting spin from Ron Paul regards US stance towards China .... well done Mr Paul, not supporting recent Chinese abuse of human rights, but as the man says ...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 (Xinhua)

the moral of the tale ... "people that live in glass houses, shouldn't throw bricks around"

Probably one of the times when Phos' Google button was broken again.

True.

While Chinese media are full of nonsense propoganda, western media (when dealing with China) are famous for their set-up stances and naive observations.

In addition, many reports I read have spelling errors (of Chinese proper names), wrong information regarding Chinese history/events, and overly simplified conclusions. If I translate those reports into Chinese and ask people in China to read them, they will probably laugh loud. Well, most western jounalists working in China do not speak a word of Chinese, and they think they know the culture...

another topic:
I am Han Chinese (aka the 90% majority ethnic group), but I hope China government can realize the importance of cultural diversity. It is not just about Tibetans or Uighur mulisms, we Han people need diversity too! Do not force our children to speak 'Hochchinesisch' ONLY. Do not forbid dialectical Chinese on TV! Let the 'dialects' survive!

Misconception Nr 6.

"The internet and foreign newspapers/news channels in China are heavily censored".

The opposite is the truth, the chinese people can access all news sources that they need for their daily lives (it's just the ones they don't need that are restricted/censored) ...

So their daily routine is dictated by the government?
Who determines need?

Isn't that the same in any country ?

only if News International is involved ....

Hmm...... May be not all Taiwanese do not feel same but majority does not have positive perception of China and vice versa. I studied in an international school in Europe where there were quite some chinese around 20 and 2 taiwanese. The taiwanese were never invited to chinese dinner or were never included in any of their program.

But in one day, there was Asian night... when the Chinese from Mainland opposed to letting Taiwanese perform before China. Moreover I did not know that Taiwan should be called as Taiwan of China and not only Taiwan. And in the rehearsal session everything went bad. The chinese came and threatened me that I should say Taiwan of China and shift the Taiwanese (one song) after all the chinese programs (5 songs and dances).

Next day it was worse, when Taiwanese turn came to perform.... they came to stage and said they were not going to perform coz they were dominated and treated in bad way. It caused a uproar, there were a lot of people outside from school and lecturers and so on. One of the chinese actually ran to stage to hold them. It was a bad scene.....

And it happened in Europe!! And my heart still goes cold when I remember that. After I have tried my best not to cross road with Chinese. I am not against them, they are very kind and sympathetic but sometime I do not feel comfortable.

Oh yeah, I am not Taiwanese.

some observations: the attitudes of the chinese nationals vary from province to province (hurhur, does that not sound familiar?) with chinese from more traditionally political pockets (north, eg Beijing) being more assertive, and people from the south having a more laissez faire atttitude. That said, the majority supports the 1-china policy, but NOT necessarily the government per se or armed action. personally, i get along better with the southerners, and find they get along with taiwanese better too.

What?
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/07/....ap/index.html
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_the_People's_Republic_of_Ch ina

Are both of these lies?


@mikecli: I just re-checked into this thread recently. Thanks for the response.