Date: Sat, 06 May 2000 12:36:46 -1000
From: Stephen E Philion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Jiang walks tightrope between left and right (fwd)
Saturday, May 6, 2000
Jiang walks tightrope between left and right
WILLY WO-LAP LAM
Communist Party ideologues have temporarily wound down their campaign
against rightists, or "bourgeois-liberal" intellectuals who advocate faster
political reform.
The main reason is that the hard left has exploited the anti-rightist
crusade to revive slogans running counter to Beijing's economic reforms.
In the past month, the head of the leftist faction, Deng Liqun, has spoken
out against exploitation of workers and farmers by a "new capitalist class".
Addressing several internal seminars organised by leftist think-tanks, Mr
Deng urged cadres and citizens to be "prepared for a new class struggle".
Mr Deng claimed that in many factories and places of work run by private
and foreign entrepreneurs, relationships between workers and the new bosses
were "nothing more than that between exploiters and exploited".
A party source in Beijing said the leadership of President Jiang Zemin had
always tried to strike a balance between left and right. Mr Jiang had
criticised liberal intellectuals who urged political reforms such as
multiparty politics and general elections, he said.
But the source said the President was also unhappy with leftist agendas
such as the suppression of private and foreign capital. This was because
the party leadership had given the non-state sector a bigger role. Mr Jiang
also feared a rise in the leftists' influence would drive away foreign
businessmen at a time when the country was about to accede to the World
Trade Organisation.
"Usually, leftists redouble their efforts when they see that their enemies,
the rightists, are under siege," said the source. "The authorities,
however, have countered the Maoists' offensive by asking official media not
to report their activities."
Meanwhile, the party Central Committee's publicity department and other
ideological units are promoting patriotism and the "Three Emphases"
campaign on toeing the Jiang Zemin line.
For example, on the anniversary of the May Fourth movement, leaders,
including Vice-President Hu Jintao, stressed the need to instil patriotic
values in the young and to develop national strength. However, with a view
to getting China's permanent Normal Trading Relations status passed in the
US congress, officials have been at pains to draw the line between
patriotic education and anti-American feelings.
The official media has largely refrained from playing up emotions in
connection with the anniversary of the Nato bombing of the Chinese Embassy
in Belgrade.
Meanwhile, the Three Emphases campaign, "study the Marxist canon, be
righteous, and be politically correct", is being conducted at county level
while a variant push is being waged in rich coastal provinces such as
Jiangsu and Guangdong. Its theme is "remember your origin after becoming
rich; and seek further progress in the midst of prosperity".
These campaigns underscore the imperative of toeing the "line of the
centre" and remaining in unison with the Jiang leadership.
Beijing has banned books about the Zhong Gong, a quasi-religious, qi gong
group similar to the Falun Gong. The Hong Kong-based Information Centre of
Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said yesterday mainland
bookstores had been ordered to destroy copies of nine books published by
Zhong Gong.
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