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Interview with PLAAF LGen Liu Yazhou

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  • #31
    Originally posted by xinhui View Post
    They have to hit the IJA once a while to keep up the pressures; however, killing the IJA was not the major goal. Money and recruitment were. However, they do have to show military success to gain new recruits.
    So the recruits were not simply conscripted? Always wondered how you raise large armies (of even informal guerrillas) when the concept of nationhood has taken a sever beating and system has collapsed.

    Others: Sorry for the digression.

    Comment


    • #32
      Originally posted by Kartajan View Post
      So the recruits were not simply conscripted?
      They were brainwashed and paid.

      Comment


      • #33
        concept of nationhood has taken a sever beating and system has collapsed.

        somewhat, but CCP and KMT also needed educated nationalist youth to fill their command ranks.

        Kartajan, I recommand you read up a bit on the mayfourth movement and its aftermath on the Chinese nationalism. Mao/ZEL/DXP were products of that movement, more or less.
        “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all” -- Joan Robinson

        Comment


        • #34
          ran into this article today.....








          When China's Red Army asked the U.S. for a favor

          Only two items have been uploaded to the "library" at the Frog In a Well collaborative Chinese history blog so far, but the most recent, a five-page letter dated January 1945 from the Chinese Communist Red Army general Zhu De asking for a "favor" of 20 million dollars from U.S. General Alfred Wedemeyer, makes one lust for more. Every historian digging through archives -- in this case the "Confidential Records of the Department of State" -- should be armed with a portable scanner and should, as a matter of principle, upload to the Internet whatever of interest he or she finds.

          Why? Because it pleases me.

          My dear General Wedemeyer:

          I have a favor that I wish to ask you. In order to destroy the puppet forces and obtain victory over the enemy, we now wish to suggest that your army lend us twenty million dollars in United States currency. This army will assume full responsibility for the repayment of this sum following the victorious conclusion of the war against Japan."

          The puppet forces to which Zhu De refers were Chinese soldiers more-or-less aligned with the Japanese invaders. Konrad Lawson, the doctoral student in history who discovered the letter describes them as "treasonous troops" who "sometimes worked closely with the Japanese, sometimes launched campaigns to suppress Communist and other insurgency forces, sometimes engaged in wild banditry, but more often than not, tried to stay alive and carefully monitor which way the wind was blowing in the war."

          According to Zhu De's letter, in January 1945 there were about 900,000 puppet troops, comprising "a very powerful force assisting the Japanese." But with a little financial help from the Americans, Zhu De was convinced these fickle foes could be bribed to cause all kinds of trouble for their ostensible Japanese overlords. The money could pay for "using puppets for destruction of such things as hangars, airfields, aircraft, military depots, arsenals, and military factories, mines, railway stations, bridges, wharves, ships, trucks, tunnels, blockhouses and various other military installations," as well "to assassinate Japanese officers of the Army, Navy and Air forces."

          Lawson could find no evidence that Wedemeyer, the commanding general of United States forces in the China theater, ever responded to Zhu De's entreaty. History informs us that the U.S. ended up backing the losing side in the Chinese Civil War that immediately followed the "victorious conclusion of the war against Japan." But fans of alternate history could well wonder, what might have happened if the U.S. had agreed to help out? Could a loan have fostered closer relations with the Chinese Communists? Could the whole course of modern Chinese history have shifted? What if the U.S. had jettisoned Chiang Kai-shek? Would an alliance between the U.S. and the Chinese Communists have mitigated or avoided the disasters that followed, such as the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution?

          That way lies madness, of course. Instead all we are left with is the historical irony of comparing the cordial words of General Zhu De -- "I have a favor that I wish to ask of you" -- with the far more challenging rhetoric, delivered in July 2005, by another General Zhu, Zhu Chenghu, variously identified as either the nephew or grandson of Zhu De. This General Zhu sent shockwaves across the world when he told the Wall Street Journal that "if the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China's territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons," and that "we [...] will prepare ourselves for the destruction of all of the cities east of Xian. Of course the Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds ... of cities will be destroyed by the Chinese."

          -- Andrew Leonard
          cookie756.html
          “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all” -- Joan Robinson

          Comment


          • #35
            unrelated photo of KC-10 taken from ** airport yesterday
            Attached Files
            “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all” -- Joan Robinson

            Comment


            • #36
              resurrecting a dead thread.

              Building an Offensive and Decisive PLAAF

              i'll have the chance to travel with him shortly, so if you guys have any questions feel free to give them to me and i'll ask him.
              There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

              Comment


              • #37
                say hi to him for me, Mr Jiang edited one of my articles (the one about Art Chin) two years ago. That guy can write!.
                “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all” -- Joan Robinson

                Comment


                • #38
                  man, between Mr Jiang and Zhang Xiaoming you've pretty much got the two biggest Chinese-American PLAAF thinkers within the USAF. i was disappointed when i couldn't take up Zhang's offer to lecture his AWC class-- big honor.

                  however, this trip i could take, and it should be a very interesting trip indeed. did you ever ask him his background?? he's had a hell of an interesting (Chinese definition) life.
                  Last edited by astralis; 30 Jul 10,, 18:51.
                  There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "My ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."- Isaac Asimov

                  Comment


                  • #39
                    we did not have much time to talk -- were busy trying to meet US Airpower's deadline.
                    “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all” -- Joan Robinson

                    Comment


                    • #40
                      Courage from a bottle

                      Originally posted by Officer of Engineers View Post
                      They were brainwashed and paid.
                      Or were they each given a 1-litre bottle of maotou firewater upon being conscripted

                      Comment


                      • #41
                        Old workhorses ^-^

                        Originally posted by xinhui View Post
                        unrelated photo of KC-10 taken from ** airport yesterday
                        Aren't they supposed to be retired already? Airframe life extension for a KC-10 would be really expensive...

                        Comment


                        • #42
                          Back to Topic,


                          Interview with PLAAF LGen Liu Yazhou

                          INTERVIEW WITH
                          Lieutenant General Liu Yazhou
                          OF THE AIR FORCE OF THE PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY


                          The war in Iraq unmistakably signaled America’s preeminence. Rumsfeld’s victories within the bureaucracy and on the battlefield. Air power as the basis of American hegemony. The meaning of strategy. What China can learn from America. Recognizing the future of warfare. The Iraqi War, which caught the attention of the whole world, was over. Dai Xu, a reporter in the editorial department with Military Science in the Air Force conducted an interview with Lieutenant General Liu Yazhou, Air Force Political Commissioner at the Chengdu Military District of China.


                          Lieutenant General Liu Yazhou is now promoted into the NDU (VERY high in the food chain) and he still hates China.



                          Asia Times Online :: China News, China Business News, Taiwan and Hong Kong News and Business.

                          SUN WUKONG
                          General and scholar test reform waters
                          By Wu Zhong, China Editor

                          HONG KONG - About two years before President Hu Jintao and other top Chinese leaders retire from office, there are growing public calls for them to start political reforms.

                          This time, the calls for democratization and the rule of law are not being made by political dissidents but by prominent figures from the pro-establishment camp. This indicates that more liberal-minded members within the establishment, increasingly impatient with slow progress in reforms, are worried that a failure to make political changes that keep pace with economic transformation will result in violent conflicts within society and the ruin of all that



                          has been achieved in the past few decades.

                          Lieutenant General Liu Yazhou, political commissar of the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) University of National Defense, the training school for PLA generals, boldly predicts that China will have to replace its current authoritarian political system with a democratic one in the coming decade because there is no "way of escape" for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). That was according to a media report on August 5.

                          Two days later, Hu Xingdou, an economics professor with the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) best known for his studies of disadvantaged groups in China, publicized on his website an open petition to President Hu Jintao, entitled "China's Road To Ruin And The Way Out". In the letter, he claims that the death of social fairness and justice is putting China on a perilous path. The only remedy is to launch political reforms to truly give people back their constitutional rights and freedoms.

                          Liu's prediction is contained in an article in the latest issue of the Phoenix Weekly, a publication of the pro-Beijing Phoenix TV based in Hong Kong. Perhaps because of the boldness of Liu's remarks on such a sensitive topic, the article was published with an Editor's Note that it was based on an exclusive interview with Liu and published without him seeing the final version.

                          The article starts with Liu's harsh criticisms of "money worship" prevailing in China. Liu says that now the whole Chinese nation, from top to bottom, worships the strength of money while neglecting soft power such as culture and ideology. "Having more money does not mean the increase of soft power ... A nation that worships the strength of money is a backward and foolish one, both in terms of its internal governance and international expansion," Liu said.

                          Internally, "corruption becomes China's largest economic loss, largest social evil and largest political challenge", the general said. Internationally, money worship has badly damaged China's image. For example, Liu said China's investment mode in Africa is to bribe local officials, and as a result, local officials' appetite for bribes grows bigger and bigger while ordinary Africans become increasingly averse to the Chinese government and enterprises.

                          Without democracy, it is impossible for China to continue on a long-lasting upward trajectory, Liu said. "A system is bound to fall, if it fails to let its citizens breathe freely and enable them to maximally realize their creativity, and if it fails to send those to the leadership who can best represent this system and the people."

                          Taking the former Soviet Union as an example, Liu pointed out that what caused the collapse of the Soviet communist party was its system, not an economic or military failure. In an apparent allusion to current practices in China, Liu said that the Soviet Union used to set the maintenance of stability as its priority, "putting stability above everything else and trying to use money to solve all problems. But in the end [social] conflicts intensified and things turned to their opposite."

                          In comparison, the very secret of the United States' success lies in its long-lasting rule of law and the system behind the rule of law, not in Wall Street or Silicon Valley.

                          Therefore, according to Liu, China must change its political system. "Restructuring our political system is a task endowed to us by history. There is no way of escape for us," Liu said. He predicted that "within 10 years, a transformation from an authoritarian political system to a democratic one will inevitably take place. Great changes will be witnessed in China."

                          The 57-year-old PLA general, son-in-law of late president Li Xiannian and thus himself a princeling, is widely seen as a rising political star in the CCP and PLA but also a Young Turk because his outspoken speeches and writings often violate many taboos and restrictions. He is now also a member of the CCP's Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection, China's top anti-graft watchdog.

                          Given his position and background, it is no surprise that Liu's remarks on political reforms immediately aroused feverish public attention. The Phoenix Weekly article has so far been widely reprinted or reported on and discussed on major Chinese websites.

                          Yang Hengjun, a popular blog writer, told Deutsche Welle that "It is shocking for any other PLA general to say such words. But I'm not surprise that they were spoken by outspoken Liu Yazhou, who said similar words before. Liu is a person of conscience and foresight." In Yang's view, Liu spoke out for many inside the CCP. "Things can hardly go on in China as they are today. The CCP can hardly continue its rule like it does today. There must by changes, though people may have different views on how to make changes."

                          Some political analysts in Beijing believe Liu's remarks suggest the princelings and younger elites in the party are eager to gain a greater say in political affairs. They also hope expression of liberal views may help them to win greater popularity in the run-up to the 18th party congress in late 2012.

                          "The princelings, who think it is their destiny to safeguard what their parents or grandparents fought for, are worried that the CCP may lose its legitimacy to rule if nothing is done to make political progress. Also they certainly hope to benefit more from the reshuffle [in] two years," one of them says.

                          But some netizens criticize Liu's view about the success of the US. "His understanding that the success of the US lies in its rule of law and system [behind it] is superficial. One may ask then, from where has the US derived its rule of law and system?"

                          Like Liu, Hu Xingdou is concerned with the failure of the existing political system in China. In his open petition to President Hu, he said governance in China had yet to find the "right track". In order to maintain stability and safeguard their power and vested interests, many local governments "make use of lies, violent means, false charges, labor re-education, triad societies, illegal prisons and lunatic asylums, to detain journalists, informants and people who hold different views," he wrote. As a result, "[social] fairness and justice have already died. This is the biggest failure of the governance of the current administration."

                          Hu Xingdou attributed the unfairness and injustice to the existing system, featured in "the integration between administration, legislation, supervision and judiciary, the integration between officials and business people, and the integration between the party and state." As a result, he said, China was on a road to ruin.

                          The way out is to build what he called "constitutional socialism", making social justice the very foundation of governance. "I advocate a road of gradual reforms that are in accord with China's own national conditions. I don't advocate a road of totally Westernized liberty. I call it constitutional socialism."

                          In interviews with media after posting the petition, Hu Xingdou elaborated on the concept that constitutional socialism was the combination of constitutional government with justice. In short, socialism and CCP rule must abide by the constitution. Coming down to details, in his opinion people must be given back constitutional rights and freedoms, such as the rights of election and supervision of government, and the freedom of speech and publication

                          Hu Xingdou said he advocated a road of gradual change because many intellectuals agreed that China must avoid another violent revolution. So only a gradualist, evolutionary approach to push forward social progress and development was in the interests of the vast majority of the people. And he made it clear that his approach was pro-establishment: "After all, socialism is acceptable to the ruling party. Therefore this [my] proposal is one for moderate reforms."

                          Hu Xingdou said that while his open petition was addressed to the president, he had also passed copies to some top leaders through friends. It is not important whether Hu Jintao responded, the scholar said; what is important "is to wake up the masses and cadres in the establishment so that they will know the truth and understand how to improve our nation and push forward social progress."

                          Analysts say it is probably no coincidence that Liu Yazhou and Hu Xingdou make public appeals for political reforms at about the same time. It is likely that there is at present a debate at the top, and the liberal camp wants its views publicized to test reactions from within the party and the general public.

                          (Copyright 2010 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
                          Last edited by xinhui; 11 Aug 10,, 22:26.
                          “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all” -- Joan Robinson

                          Comment


                          • #43
                            Yup, he is a China hater.


                            The article starts with Liu's harsh criticisms of "money worship" prevailing in China. Liu says that now the whole Chinese nation, from top to bottom, worships the strength of money while neglecting soft power such as culture and ideology. "Having more money does not mean the increase of soft power ... A nation that worships the strength of money is a backward and foolish one, both in terms of its internal governance and international expansion," Liu said.
                            “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all” -- Joan Robinson

                            Comment


                            • #44
                              single - The Jamestown Foundation[tt_news]=3891


                              A Young Turk in China’s Establishment: The Military Writings of Liu Yazhou
                              Publication: China Brief Volume: 5 Issue: 19
                              December 31, 1969 07:00 PM Age: 41 yrs
                              Category: China Brief
                              By: Alfred Chan

                              Liu Yazhou, a 53 year-old PLA general, erstwhile novelist, and rising political star, has published a series of frequent and provocative essays in China over the last few years to considerable acclaim—and controversy. In a regime where political expression is strictly limited, and where discussion of political issues may be construed as “revealing state secrets,” for someone to speak with establishment credentials and without censorship can be a startling indication of policy discussion and change.



                              Liu’s essays violate many taboos and restrictions, covering a wide range of topics such as strategy, geopolitics, the nature of war and conflict, and China’s relations with Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. His underlying theme is unvarnished distress with corruption and conformity, and a plea for accelerated political reform to remedy China’s ills. While laced with reverent quotations from top Chinese leaders, Liu’s writings can be construed as indirect and direct criticisms of their policies. These arguments have dazzled as well as upset his readers; supporters praise his boldness and insight, and detractors condemn his alleged militarism and demagoguery.



                              A son-in-law of the late Chinese president Li Xiannian, Liu is a “princeling” (privileged offspring of a high official) who was promoted quickly and is now Deputy Political Commissar and a Lieutenant General in the PLA Air Force. He has traveled extensively overseas, including a term as a visiting professor at Stanford University, and is one of the few PLA officials to have visited Taiwan.



                              Liu’s first big splash was an essay on the October 1949 Jinmen battle circulated on the Internet last year, when tensions between China and Taiwan prompted hawks in Beijing to urge a military showdown, putting enormous pressure on the civilian leadership [1]. Liu reviewed the lessons of the Jinmen debacle, in which a PLA invasion was routed by Guomindang forces, with the loss of more than 9,000 troops. He attributes the devastating loss to complacency, along with poor planning and command.



                              According to Liu, history threatened to repeat itself in the late 1990s when hardline officials argued that Taiwan must be fought and that victory was certain. Disclosing a previously unseen Jiang Zemin quote—“A war in the Taiwan Strait is inevitable” (“Lessons of the Jinmen Battle”)—without providing the context, he argues that the lessons of Jinmen must be heeded, especially because the Taiwan issue is now internationalized and considerably more complicated.



                              In an essay entitled “The Grand National Strategy,” likely written in 2001, Liu repudiates the idea of taking advantage of the September 11 aftermath to conquer Taiwan with an overpowering attack [2]. Taiwan should not be the focus of China’s strategy: the more the Chinese fixate on it, he argues, the more they will be manipulated by the U.S. and Taiwan. This obsession has provided Washington with undue leverage over Beijing for the last half century.



                              In the same essay, Liu privileges diplomacy over fighting, and suggests that China can effectively engage Taiwan by exploiting Taiwan’s multi-party system. China can deal with not only with the Democratic Progressive Party, but also with other political forces, a view that may have contributed to Hu Jintao’s decision to invite Guomindang leader Lin Chan and James Soong of the People First Party to visit China in April/May of this year.



                              His appeals for moderation notwithstanding, Liu’s discourses on strategy reveal that he is a nationalist as well as a realist. His ‘dream’ is to have a strong army and country. “The sole purpose of power is to pursue even greater power,” and “national interest should forever be the highest principle of our action,” he writes in “Faith and Morality.” [3] Balance-of-power and divide-and-rule tactics seem to be his guiding principles.



                              The projection of Chinese influence in international affairs should be specifically calibrated to the West in general and United States in particular, Liu argues. Citing Huntington’s thesis on the clash of civilizations, Liu views the alleged clash between the West and the Muslim world as a great opportunity. He argues in “The Grand National Strategy” that China’s improved relations with Muslim countries are an excellent move, since China “should do what the West fears.” In a moment of great exuberance, Liu maintains that China should have an outlet to the Indian Ocean, what he terms “China’s new boundary.”



                              Liu is more ambivalent about Sino-U.S. relations. While he acknowledges that the United States, as the world’s dominant power, will inevitably pursue policies that antagonize China, he believes America realizes that the forces for bilateral cooperation are greater than conflict. U.S. leaders would never instigate a full-fledged military confrontation. The United States is to be regarded as neither a wholesale enemy nor an ally.



                              Militarily, he urges Chinese leaders to learn from U.S. innovations in the military and its recruitment system. China’s military strategy is obsolete, he says in “Faith and Morality,” as its experts today still strategize of a “people’s war” of “luring the enemy into a trap.” It is a ‘tragedy’ that in China, from the top to the bottom, “those who are intelligent do not make policy, those who make policy are not intelligent.”



                              Indeed, as a Lieutenant General with a primarily civilian background, Liu emphasizes the important role of the military. Intervention during the Tiananmen crisis of 1989 stabilized the regime, he asserts in “Faith and Morality,” and the Sino-Vietnam war of 1979 contributed greatly to reforms. Deng Xiaoping used the war to consolidate his authority vis-à-vis the leftist remnants in the party. In the same article, Liu contends that China, by invading Vietnam, signaled the abandonment of “phoney” socialism, and also “avenged and vindicated” (chuqi) the U.S. experience in Southeast Asia.

                              In return, China’s reforms benefited from subsequent U.S. investment and economic, military, scientific, and technological assistance in a decade-long “honeymoon,” thus ensuring that China would stand firm, even after the worldwide collapse of communism. As in other developing countries, the Chinese military is a force for reform, and modernization without the participation of the military is inconceivable, although Liu does not explain why this should be so.



                              Toward the Japanese Liu is a nationalist. While his essays paint Japan as a “fierce” neighbor, he argues that a strong, independent Japan apart from an alliance with the United States would be easier to deal with. In such a case, Japan could act as a buffer, and to that end China would do well to support Japan’s membership as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.



                              Last April, however, Liu was angered by Japan’s announcement to begin drilling for oil in disputed areas of the East China Sea. His attempt to convene a conference on Sino-Japanese relations was reportedly prohibited by Hu Jintao. Liu then published an angry manifesto on the Internet, “Military Forum,” co-signed by nine military colleagues bluntly denouncing the Japanese for being haughty, provocative, and bullying [4]. It urged annulment of all treaties that renounced reparations—using a referendum if necessary—and immediate reopening of talks for reparations covering issues such as war crimes, the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands, and the textbook and Yasakuni shrine controversies (“Military Forum”).



                              Liu’s most daring ideas are those championing political reform and decrying corruption, censorship, and China’s “backward” political system. The strategic threat to national security, he argues in “The Grand National Strategy,” comes from within rather than from without. To strengthen the country, it is imperative that China’s leaders introduce political reform, especially when the dynamism of economic growth begins to slow. In an apparent dig at ruling elites, he warns that upholding stability as a primary goal and maintaining the status quo was the root cause of Soviet dissolution. Political reform for Liu requires a democratic yielding of power, a transformation of the people as their own masters, and rigorous methods to make the country prosperous, although, bowing to official orthodoxy, he is careful to concede that reform should include the “consolidation of the CCP’s ruling position” as well.



                              Democracy, he argues in “Conversation with a Secretary of a County Party Committee,” is a demand, a way of expression, an exchange process, and a way to resolve problems [5]. Rules, fairness, and citizen consciousness, the prerequisites of democracy, all have to be cultivated. Rampant corruption is the greatest political challenge and a dictatorial system based on the monopoly of power is itself fertile ground for corruption. In contrast to Asia’s other rising power, Liu notes that China’s poor are not only deprived of adequate food and clothing but they do not even have the vote.



                              The oppressed peasantry, Liu continues, which poses the greatest challenge to communist orthodoxy, must be thoroughly liberated and turned into citizens able to engage in active political participation. If political reform is further delayed, revolution from below may occur, he warns in “Conversation.”



                              As a military officer Liu Yazhou’s free airing of provocative views on both foreign and domestic issues, especially his calls for political reform and the freedom of expression, is unprecedented. Though a realist, a nationalist and a hardliner against Japan, Liu’s moderate views contrast sharply with those who still preach “people’s war” or the use of nuclear weapons. In his calls for new thinking and introspection, Liu represents military young Turks dissatisfied with the civilian leadership’s inability to deal with corruption and social crises. Fears of praetorian intervention in civilian politics may be exaggerated, but the issues Liu raises are real indeed.



                              Alfred L. Chan is an associate professor of political science at Huron University College, University of Western Ontario, Canada. He thanks Don Hickerson for editing the manuscript.



                              Notes

                              1. Liu Yazhou, “Jinmen zhanyi jiantao” (Lessons of the Jinmen Battle), April 2004,

                              www.yannan.cn/data/detail.php.

                              2. Liu Yazhou, “Da guoce” (The Grand National Strategy),” n.d., www.yannan.cn/data/detail.php.

                              3. Liu Yazhou, Xinnian yu daode” (Faith and Morality), January 2, 2005, www.yannan.cn/data/detail.php.

                              4. Liu Yazhou, Peng Guangqian, Liu Hongji, et al., “Junfang yantaohui: yuren zunwo, bixian zizun: ribenren weihe duiwo changkuang” (Military Forum: If one expects respect, one must respect oneself: Why are the Japanese so recklessly provocative?), April 14, 2005, www.qian-ming.net/gb/viewarticle_gb.aspx.

                              5. Liu Yazhou, “Yu yiwei xianwei shuji de tanhua” (Conversation with a Secretary of a County Party Committee), December, 2004, Bjsjs.net.
                              “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all” -- Joan Robinson

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                China must reform or die
                                JOHN GARNAUT
                                August 12, 2010

                                A Chinese two-star general has warned his conservative Communist Party masters and firebrand People's Liberation Army colleagues that China must either embrace US-style democracy or accept Soviet-style collapse.

                                As officers of similar rank rattle their sabres against US aircraft carriers in the Yellow and South China seas, General Liu Yazhou says China's rise depends on adopting America's system of government rather than challenging its dominance off China's eastern coast.

                                ''If a system fails to let its citizens breathe freely and release their creativity to the maximum extent, and fails to place those who best represent the system and its people into leadership positions, it is certain to perish,'' writes General Liu Yazhou in Hong Kong's Phoenix magazine, which is widely available on news stands and on the internet throughout China.
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                                The fact of General Liu's article suggests China's political and ideological struggles are more lively than commonly thought, ahead of a rotation of leaders in the Central Military Commission and then the Politburo in 2012.

                                ''The secret of US success is neither Wall Street nor Silicon Valley, but its long-surviving rule of law and the system behind it,'' he says. ''The American system is said to be 'designed by genius and for the operation of the stupid'.

                                ''A bad system makes a good person behave badly while a good system makes a bad person behave well. Democracy is the most urgent thing, without it there can be no sustainable rise.''

                                General Liu was promoted recently from deputy political commissar of the PLA Air Force to political commissar of the National Defence University. His father was a senior military officer and his father-in-law was Li Xiannian, one of Chinese communism's ''Eight Immortals'' - and a one-time president of China.

                                While many of China's ''princelings'' have exploited their revolutionary names to amass wealth and power, General Liu has exploited his pedigree to provide protection to push his contrarian and reformist views.

                                But General Liu's latest writings are extraordinary by any standards. His article urges China to shift its strategic focus from the country's developed coastal areas, including Hong Kong and Taiwan - ''the renminbi belt'' - towards resource-rich Central Asia.

                                But he argues that China will never have strategic reach by relying on wealth alone. ''A nation that is mindful only of the power of money is a backward and stupid nation,'' he writes. ''What we could believe in is the power of the truth.

                                ''The truth is knowledge and knowledge is power.''

                                But such national power can only come with political transformation. ''In the coming 10 years, a transformation from power politics to democracy will inevitably take place,'' he says.

                                General Liu inverts the lesson that Chinese politicians have traditionally drawn from the collapse of the Soviet Union - that it was caused by too much political reform - by arguing that reform arrived too late.

                                Since 2008 the Communist Party has steadily tightened the political screws to stifle dissent.

                                Many Chinese are concerned that reforms have been blocked by powerful military, security, corporate and family groups that benefit from the status quo.

                                General Liu was famously outspoken until he stopped publishing his essays about five years ago.

                                It is unclear how his latest article appeared and whether he has backing within the system.

                                Last year Hong Kong's Open magazine published a leaked report of one of General Liu's internal speeches which raised the taboo topic of how some generals refused to lead troops into Tiananmen Square in 1989.

                                General Liu returned to the subject of Tiananmen in his Phoenix article, saying ''a nationwide riot'' was caused by the incompatibility of traditional power structures with reform.

                                China must reform or die
                                “the misery of being exploited by capitalists is nothing compared to the misery of not being exploited at all” -- Joan Robinson

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