June 16, 2008
UNGRATEFUL WRETCHES:
Letters From China, Written in Blood: a review of: Out of Mao's Shadow by Philip Pan (GORDON G. CHANG, June 16, 2008, NY Sun)
The final part of the book contains stories of four ordinary Chinese — a determined military doctor, an idealistic and wily newspaper editor, and two extremely tough advocates — who refuse to accept the one-party state as it is. For instance, Mr. Pan follows Chen Guangcheng, a blind lawyer, as he eludes government-hired goons and special police in foot chases through villages, fields, and the subways of Beijing.Not all Mr. Pan's subjects succeed in their individual quests. Some pay a horrible price for resistance to authority. A few of them end up broken. Yet all of them inspire and show the drive, ambition, and resilience of the Chinese people. Mr. Pan has chosen his subjects well, lets them speak, and delivers a fascinating portrait of New China, as the Communist Party calls the nation it leads. What comes through in chapter after chapter is that some Chinese are determined to make their society better, are willing to take on an abhorrent system, and are prepared to pay the price for defiance.
What is less thrilling — discordant even — is Mr. Pan's commentary that both precedes and follows his portraits. Without exception, his profiles showcase an ugly, abusive, and corrupt political system responsible for millions upon millions of deaths and untold needless suffering. Yet in the introduction, he writes, "By almost any measure, the country's last twenty-five years have been the best in its five-thousand-year history." And in the epilogue, he notes, "Rarely has a government had a better case for authoritarianism than this one." But Mr. Pan has already delivered more than 300 pages of unrelenting indictment of the Communist Party's record during decades of horrible misrule. By the end of the book, it's clear the testimony of those who have struggled against that rule speak more clearly than does Mr. Pan.
After all the Party's done for them.....
That last paragraph outlining the repression and death caused by the current system and then saying it is the best China has had...I mean, heck - is that a condemnation of Chinese civilization or what? "This is the bestest brutocracy we've ever had!"
Thank God I was born American.
Posted by: Mikey at June 16, 2008 4:34 PM