Stability of China

When Pol Pot, who practiced a version of Maoism adapted for Cambodians, became the Prime Minister, he had a grand vision for his country. In his land there would be no private property. He introduced the idea of communal farms, communal property and communal education. Some people dissented and they were sent on the fast path to Communist hell. In his world there would be no rich nor poor and everyone would be equal and pigs would be flying as cows jumped over the moon.
About 1.6 million people, or about one-fifth of the population paid with their lives in this Communist experiment.
Now Communists have learned their lesson. It has been accepted that in Communist Paradise, there will be inequality. The Communist Party in India is worth about 4000 crore. In China too the gap between the rich and poor are increasing. According to an editorial in People’s Daily, written by some rich Communists for the poor Communists, this fact has to be accepted.

But the editorial said widening inequality is an inevitable phase of growth. “This is a golden period of development,” it said. “And it is also a period when conflict is becoming pronounced. The incessant deepening of reform must inevitably involve the adjustment of interests. “It is unavoidable that different people and different groups enjoy the fruits of reform and development to differing degrees.”[China warns protests won’t be tolerated]

In China, the Communist party controls the land allocation since ordinary people cannot be trusted with important decisions. The powerful and corrupt party leaders sell land to builders and pocket the money. It was such an abuse of power that resulted in violence that resulted in the death of six villagers in Shengyou village.

The battle of Shengyou village has come to highlight one of China’s sharpest social issues – the Communist Party’s complete control of land allocation. More than 66 million Chinese farmers have lost their land in the past 10 years. It is a land grab which has fattened the wallets of government officials and left tens of thousands of people homeless.
In recent years, however, more and more farmers have become aware of their rights, and have begun to resist – leading to rising social unrest. Some estimates suggest more than three million people were involved in demonstrations last year, and the government in Beijing is getting increasingly concerned. [China faces growing land disputes]

The Communist way of addressing unrest is to apply more force and limit freedom of expression and even theatre companies and artistes are not spared. The unrests by villagers, retirees, and ethnic minorities has now caused the ruling class to issue a stern warning to the population. In an unprecedented step an editorial appeared in the front page of People’s Daily with the threats of severe consequences.

The Chinese government has warned citizens that they must obey the law and that any threats to social stability will not be tolerated, a sign that top leaders are growing increasingly worried about unrest in the countryside. “Protecting stability comes before all else,” the editorial cautioned. “Any behavior that wrecks stability and challenges the law will directly damage the people’s fundamental interests.”[China warns protests won’t be tolerated]

There is widespread inequality, there is unrest among the population and the govt. is becoming more authoritarian. When Communists in India are offended, they just kick people out of the party. But that’s not how China is going to deal with its problems. Now with United States making friendly gestures to India and going bellicose on China, and with the nuke word entering the conversation, the external relations do not seem to be faring well either.
Right now with China being the 800 pound economic gorilla in the world, internal and external matters of China cannot be dismissed as regional issues. The stability of China should be of concern to every globalized country.