This is interesting:
On the morning of Nov. 19 Beijing time an extraordinary moment in the history of journalism occurred. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was served notice that its unchallenged hold over the hearts and minds of the Chinese people had come to an end.Communism is dying...no tears here.
The Chinese language newspaper The Epoch Times published the first of "Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party." These commentaries begin a discussion with the millions of readers of the Chinese language editions of The Epoch Times around the world about the imminent end of the CCP. The commentaries argue that the Chinese people need to understand the true history of the CCP and the reasons for its inevitable demise.
The Commentaries are being published in English on the English Epoch Times Web site, with the first one posted yesterday ( http://www.theepochtimes.com ).
These Commentaries smash a psychological barrier erected in the Chinese people by over five decades of terror, propaganda and indoctrination. A threshold is being crossed beyond which lies an entirely new world.
The peoples of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union crossed this threshold in 1989. What had previously been forbidden could now be spoken, memories were unlocked, experiences shared, and the Communist Parties that had seemed so formidable found they could not resist the changes in people's hearts.
What is beginning with millions of print readers will not stop with them. The Chinese Epoch Times Web site on busy days gets as many as 1 million hits a day. Beginning this week, a new Web site ( http://www.9ping.com ) was launched just to handle the traffic coming to view the "Nine Commentaries."
Until now the CCP could count on controlling what the long- suffering Chinese people might think or say. As The Epoch Times' Commentaries begin appearing inside mainland China itself-and reports say they are there already-the CCP will find China's people begin to discuss openly what before could not even be thought.
Indeed, these Commentaries have immediately touched the hearts of the Chinese people. Copies of the Chinese Epoch Times are being snapped up very quickly, immediately after distribution. Within 24 hours of the publication of the first article on the Chinese Web site, 60,000 viewers read it. Yet, there had hardly been time for anyone to know of it, and long pieces of analysis ordinarily do not attract many readers.
The Commentaries discuss, in substantial, detailed essays that taken together will be book length:
1. What is the Communist Party?
2. The Beginnings of the CCP
3. The Tyranny of the CCP
4. The CCP Opposes Nature
5. The Collusion of Jiang Zemin with the CCP to Persecute Falun Gong
6. The CCP Destroyed Traditional Culture
7. The CCP's History of Killing
8. How the CCP is an Evil Cult
9. The CCP, a Band of Scoundrels
Mark's Remarks
While I applaud this new openness, I would urge caution. At the same time they were urging Perestroika and glastnost, the Soviet Communists were seeking to keep their party alive. Do not be fooled. Even now, as this supposed bold new era of open criticism is going on, the Chinese government has stepped up the persecution of Christians and other religious groups in China. (source1, source2, source3 )
While the 9 part commentary is a hopeful sign, until there is real opposition from another party that gains some clout, I will not buy into the whole the Demise of the Chinese Communist has begun. This sounds to me like delaying tactics.
Call me a grizzled Cold Warrior, but I am not buying it. The actions of the Chinese government when dealing with opposition speak for themselves. This is a step in the right direction, but let's not take it for more than it is.
