>Date: Tue, 01 Feb 2000 09:35:38 -0500 >From: "����'� HenryC.K.Liu >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Status: > >Stratfor.com > > 2031 GMT, 991116 � Chinese Demonstrators Raise Mao > > Demonstrations in the Chinese >city of Chongqing flared up again over the weekend, mirroring protests >held a month earlier. According to the Information Center of Human >Rights and Democratic Movement in China, 2,000 demonstrators took to the >streets demanding that the local government take responsibility for >losses in illegal investment schemes. The demonstrations took on a new >feel Nov. 15 as protestors waved pictures of Mao Zedong and chanted >"Down with corruption." > > The resurgence of the demonstrations against the local >government � coupled with the change in tactics � suggests that this is >not a spontaneous demonstration of public dissatisfaction as the October >demonstrations likely were. Instead, the symbolism employed now is >likely a message to the central government by interests opposed to >China�s economic reforms and its opening to the West. The symbolic use >of Mao imagery could very well appear in economic protests in other >cities. > > Ironically, the protest in Chongqing occurred on the >same day Chinese and United States officials agreed to a bilateral deal >which would further open Chinese markets while paving the way for >Chinese entry into the World Trade Organization. The deal, while long in >the works, brings China to a decision point. If it fully embraces the >economic and structural aspects of the agreement, a political shift will >necessarily follow. China cannot fully open its markets and adopt a >Western economic model, while maintaining centralized control. > > It is this problem that underlies the ongoing struggle >within China�s government. While President Jiang Zemin, resplendent in >his Mao suit at the Oct. 1 celebration of China�s fiftieth anniversary, >firmly established himself as the core of the third generation >leadership, the question remains as to who will replace China�s aging >leaders. However, the moderates and economic reformers, typified by >Premier Zhu Rongji, a key author of China�s economic reforms, are >fighting the hard-liners for leadership of the fourth generation. > > The image of the people rising up to embrace Mao and >to clean out corrupt government officials becomes a potential rallying >point for those opposed to the economic reformers and those deemed too >pro-West. The Chongqing protest may be just the first of many such >indigenous cries from the masses for a return to the days of Mao, when >greed and graft were purged from the government and Western ideas were >not allowed to infect the Chinese populace. > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki - Finland +358-40-7177941, fax +358-9-7591081 e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kominf.pp.fi ___________________________________ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe/unsubscribe messages mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________
