Democratic elections give the citizens of a country an ability to have a necessary input on how their government will operate. Citizens of Hong Kong have no input within their government because their chief executive, Hong Kong’s version of president, is not elected by universal suffrage. Instead, since Hong Kong is under China’s rule, China has a committee comprised of elites that appoint Hong Kong’s chief executive. However, China’s promise for democracy can be dated back to the 1980s when it was declared in the Basic Law, “The ultimate aim is the selection of the chief executive by universal suffrage…” (Ortman 3). This promise of universal suffrage has been broken because of the Chinese government’s inherited ideology, known as Marxist-Mao-Zedong, which causes the desire to assert power without interference as well as the Chinese government’s angst over Hong Kong’s potential to change the Chinese government towards pro-democracy; the effects include the Umbrella Movement and Hong Kong’s citizens anxiety over decreasing human rights. The Chinese government has been against democracy ideals since the communist party rose to power in 1949. China’s communist party used Marxist-Mao-Zedong ideology, a document that formed the basis of China’s communism. Marxist-Mao-Zedong ideology has two key features that still triumphs in modern China. Firstly, the power-holders in the government are superior to the law and can do whatever they please without consequences. This was because
In the excerpt from Mao's Little Red Book, we can understand that he used these sayings to gain more supporters during the Cultural Revolution. This is because, he says things that praise the youth, and make them want to join the Red Guard. For example, he says, "The world belongs to you. China's future belongs to you." This quote demonstrates that Mao is placing his hope on the children. This makes the children feel that they have the power and control what goes on. Not only does Mao make them feel like they have all the power in the world, but he also makes them feel special about themselves. Likewise, when he says the children are the bloom of life, Mao wants to gain their support by making them feel good about themselves. What child would
Mao ZeDong is one of the greatest leaders in the history of New China. The influence of Mao’s theory is profound and lasting. He is a great thinker, poet, and a highly intelligent military strategist. Under his leadership and the actions he performed during The Long March, Chinese Civil War then defeating the Kuomintang Party to built the New China are the main epic episodes. Mao ZeDong's extravagant actions made two of the many changes to China. They are the shift from a capitalist system to a socialist system and the achievement of China's independence against Japanese imperialism (Somo, 2013a). The influence of Mao’s theory has been widespread to the world up until this day. Especially, in the countries of the third world have
When one uses the internet in China, the person must always understand… he or she is being watched. In China, over 100,000 government enforcers work to censor or block unwanted information from Chinese and foreign websites. Much of this information being shot down includes talk of democracy, the very opposite of the Chinese Communist Party’s ideas. Censorship of internet and media in China has been brought by its Communist government who have wanted to shield the Chinese people from undesired ideas, such as democracy, that could start a large revolt of citizens demanding government reforms. On October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong founded the People’s Republic of China after he and his Communist supporters defeated the nationalists, beginning a new era for China of strict totalitarian rule. When Mao died in 1976, the country was left in ruins from Mao’s failed plans. A new leader, Deng Xiaoping, emerged and made reforms allowing open-market capitalism in the economy that changed China into a powerful country. Yet, Deng stayed with a totalitarian government that still had harsh crackdowns such as the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Massacre and today censorship law. Some may argue that it is necessary the Chinese government continue to censor foreign websites and information in order to ensure the public’s safety and trust. Although the Chinese government states that censorship is necessary to ensure citizens’ safety, it will threaten the country’s future success because it constricts
A line of thousands of Chinese communists hiked up the mountains of Northern China. The years of struggle and harsh life they lived did not deter these fighters. Their goal was to create a better future for the common Chinese citizen by using communism; something which their leader called “a hammer which we use to crush our enemies.” He stayed true to his word. This bold and charismatic leader was at the head of a mass revolution in which China was forever changed. He led a movement which transformed China into the powerful and influential nation which they had never envisioned for themselves. This man’s name was Mao Zedong. Mao’s actions drove forward the process in which he turned both his nation and himself into world leaders.
(Lihua) Again, the unwillingness of the Chinese to retaliate against established authority becomes increasingly evident, and can also be traced back to Confucianism. It is important to the Chinese that they maintain the order that has been put into place, simply because it acts as the basis on which harmony can grow. The Chinese do not generally think of the government as a system that they can change if they actively participate in it; but rather, if they do actively participate, it is usually for the good of their country and for the preservation of the political system that has already been put in order. This idea stands as a stark contrast to the democratic attitude of the American, whose involvement in the political system is usually used only as a means through which to lessen the grip of the government on the people, or to ensure that what grip the government does have is benefiting the people the best that it can.
At first these plans along with an extremely ingenious propaganda campaign stirred great optimism and productivity within the Chinese people, but as years went by the initial flare and excitement went out and few of these promises, reforms and goals had been reached. In some cases the promises were lies. The real actions of the Communist party showed quite a different picture than the lie of democracy that it was feeding the people. The new government never was a democratic one. As a matter of fact it was a dictatorship controlled by the China’s Communist Party (CCP). Throughout the years the communist government consistently and cruelly suppressed any attempts for the country’s democratization.
The word genocide, derived from the Greek roots genos (people) and cide (killing), did not enter the English language until 1944; the end of World War II. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the term means, “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group.” Not everybody believes genocides continue to this day, other may have a different opinion or thoughts. Sometimes people don’t see the genocide they’ve created because they believe their methods are not causing any harm because they are not affected nearly as much as the people around them.. To be taken away from family, to be forced to live somewhere else, or to be killed can have a huge impact on life. Genocides play a huge role in the world
China has been a communist country since the communist revolution took place in 1949, since then China has been ruled by the dictator Mao Tse-Tung. However the Chinese dictator died in September 1976, he was hailed abroad as one of the worlds’ great leaders. Certainly one of the more impressive aspects of the Chinese communist government, has been the willingness of the people to protest against it (3, pg. 4).
Imagine somewhere that was the opposite of what you know now. Picture children not being able to have futures from birth because their ancestors made a small mistake, smoking since you were 8 as one of the few ways to pass time, and constantly being controlled by a corrupt government. This was China under the Cultural Revolution and reign of Mao Zedong. During this era, a person with traditional political or religious views struggled incredibly. Mao Zedong attacked traditional Chinese culture and “launched what became known as the Cultural Revolution in order to reassert his authority over the Chinese government. Believing that current Communist leaders were taking the party, and China itself, in the wrong direction, Mao called on the nation’s youth to purge the ‘impure’ elements of Chinese society” (History.com “Cultural Revolution”). Essentially, Mao was about crushing all of the Communist Party’s enemies so that he could have all the power. The propaganda during the Cultural Revolution was very reflective of its ideals. Mao Zedong tried to make people think that he was for the people. For example, the picture below shows the government and the people forcefully throwing out the capitalists. These images make it seem like the government is kicking out the capitalists, not for their own benefit, but for the benefit of the people. The people shown are also average farmers (like Da Chen’s family) using their own tools to get rid of the enemies, with the government using its
From summarizing the sources, it can tell that Mao had a strong desire to improve economic but also to improve the social problems.
Democracy has been spread around the world due to globalization, and there are countries that are more democratic than others. Democracy is essentially a variable that can be measured. Democracy can be defined as a set of practices and principles, such as political participation and electoral processes, that protect freedoms and at minimum include the presence of free and fair elections, the protection of minority groups, the respect of human rights, and governed by majority rule . The People’s Republic of China (of which will be referred to as its conventional short form China) has established itself as a communist state, being one of the few remaining functioning ones in the world. This report will be answering the question “how democratic is China?” and will be looking at multiple variables to measure that, using a combination of variables from the models offered in The Economist Intelligence Unit’s index of democracy by Laza Kekic and The Quality of Democracy by Larry Diamond and Leonardo Morlino. The reasoning for using The Economist model is due to the scoring process that it uses, allowing for there to be an actual number on a scale for how democratic China is. China is an authoritarian regime; therefore it is known to have minimal aspects of democracy to it, so not all variables in The Economist will be used. The reasoning for using The Quality of Democracy model is to fill the parts that will not be extracted from The Economist model, therefore enabling this country
The resemblance of those story is a reason of the journey to get an existence. Both are escape from one place to another place to survive a worst trouble of themselves. Trouble of Mao Zedong is about conflict with the Nationalist Government, and Korea’s underground railroad is about the economy in their country. However, in the humanity if we were in the huge trouble we will definitely find the way to get out the trouble no matter what will happen in the future.
Thorton presents a democracy emerging within China, growing around the CCP and gaining importance, without penetrating the highest level of the central government. He begins by pointing to the rural villages; while the process is flawed, there is an inclination towards democracy. Villages elect local leaders in “fair and competitive” elections, in some villages, anyone can run for office. This initiative was instituted in the interest of having competition and transparency. Village, city, and county elections have proven to be the first step towards democracy. While the party has retained control, there have been efforts to introduce competition and selection within the party. Thorton then points to the legal system, and its rising quality
Another reason for the protest is the increasing dissatisfaction with the chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, who is very unpopular in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, unlike other politicians who are disliked by people because of his or her incapability of bringing positive changes, political theories that are either too aggressive or too conservative, or not following his or her original mind, Leung is condemned only because of his awkward position as a leader who is elected and supported by China before the implementation of direct voting. Leung is always criticized for being too dependent on the Chinese government and thus undermining the practice of democracy in Hong Kong. This opposition, or even hate, toward Leung, reflects the same attitude of Hong Kong people have over the fact that they are governed by someone else -- in this case, Chinese government -- instead of themselves. Leung, as the last victim before direct voting, unavoidably became the target of both political activists and young people who are enthusiastic about independence and democracy to express their discontent (Hunt, 2014).
bringing, China is and continues to be a one-party, authoritarian state that obliges people not