The Sino-US Relationship

Foreign Policy is running an article about the Sino-US relationship, notably where there are disagreements and the likelihood of them being resolved. I think they did an excellent job listing them and providing explanations.

However, I disagree with them on their last point: that more American trade with China will make it a freer society, therefore Google should stay. Truth be told, I'm in disbelief that such a publication would actually say that (even scarier if they believe it). Increased economic engagement with China will not open their society. If we look back to the reforms first initiated by Deng Xiaoping, he purposely withdrew government and party from the daily lives of the Chinese people because of the mistakes made by Mao during the Cultural Revolution and figured out that the key to a stronger China lay in modernization through economic development driven by demand, not the government. Moreover, as a victim of the persecution under Mao's China, Deng had strong motivations for making sure it never happened again. Economic trade has not liberalized China - the CCP has made the decision to let the market function (to an extent) and is allowing its citizenry to become wealthier. As such, any increased freedom for the Chinese will come as a result of a conscious decision by the CCP or revolution, not economic engagement.

An eye into the past

It appears that more documents have been made available to the Chinese public concerning the Cultural Revolution (its full title is the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (无产阶级文化大革命) and took place from 1966 to 1976, with varying degrees of intensity). From my perspective, this is one of the greatest tragedies in Chinese history. During this period Chinese society was flipped upside down, resulting in the persecution of thousands of people who were thrown into labor camps, while at the same time making a mockery of the education system in China. My Chinese friends who have lived through it shared some stories about their experiences a few years ago and I'm still moved by the human suffering. I highly recommend those of you interested read up on it - it helps explain China's course today.

Back to the story at hand though. Will this action shed new light on the lost decade? Probably not. There are hundreds of millions of Chinese people who have their own stories to tell and would do far more in revealing unknown bits of information. However, without making it a bigger deal than it is, the Chinese government's decision to make them available is a good sign and should be welcomed, despite their limited availability.

This action highlights something that I feel is appropriate for China as a nation to conduct at this point in time: a public exploration of the Cultural Revolution. There is no shame in saying that mistakes were made and apologies be issued. So much suffering was inflicted that almost everyone has something to apologize for. Moreover, it would allow the Chinese government to start afresh, saying "This is what we've done in the past. We're sorry. Let's develop our nation together." Everyone deserves a second or third chance, and the Chinese government is no exception.