習近平在毛澤東演說中宣揚替代西方資本主義的方案

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Xi Touts Alternative to Western Capitalism in Speech on Mao

Bloomberg News

Tue, December 26, 2023 at 7:14 p.m. PST

(Bloomberg) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping used a speech remembering Mao Zedong to push a framework the current leader rolled out recently to counter the West’s capitalist model.

The “central task” of the nation and its ruling Communist Party is “to build China into a stronger country and rejuvenate the Chinese nation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernization,” Xi said in Beijing on Tuesday, as he marked 130 years since Mao’s birth.

Xi described “Chinese modernization” — a vague concept he has been promoting since 2021 — as “a cause passed down from veteran revolutionaries including Mao Zedong” that is now “the solemn historical responsibility of today’s Chinese Communists.”

The Chinese leader has promoted that idea at events including last year’s leadership congress, describing it as an alternative to systems used by the US and its allies. The flagship People’s Daily has described Chinese modernization as containing unique features, including benefiting a large population, achieving “common prosperity” and developing peacefully.

By linking his own project to Mao’s legacy, Xi creates room for state media to tout him as an extension of the man remembered as the founder of a new China. That version of events largely glosses over Mao’s role in the famine-inducing Great Leap Forward of the 1950s and the chaotic Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and 70s.

Xi, whose government eliminated term limits in 2018, has spent his first decade-plus in office consolidating power to levels unseen since Mao. That campaign has left some investors worried his ambitions lack checks and balances, and his push to narrow the wealth gap may lead to sweeping income redistribution.

Some officials have in recent years called Xi lingxiu, or “leader,” a revered title of praise previously reserved for Mao. Xi has also moved to pack key positions with supporters, potentially making it harder for him to hear dissenting policy voices.

China’s propaganda machine has also stepped up efforts to draw parallels between Mao and Xi. A Communist Party research institute said in an article this month that Mao should be remembered for his “high achievements and strong morals.”

Then it added: “It is blessing for the party and the state, the people and the Chinese nation to have General Secretary Xi Jinping, another core of the party, leader of the people and commander-in-chief of the army who enjoys popular support.”

In his Tuesday speech, Xi also repeated the party’s lines on Taiwan, comments that come before the island that Beijing claims as its own chooses a new president next month.

“The motherland must and is bound to be reunified,” he said. China must “deepen cross-strait integration and development in all areas, and promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.”

Translation

（彭博）—中國國家主席習近平發表紀念毛澤東的講話，推動現任領導人最近推出的框架，以對抗西方資本主義模式。

週二，習近平在北京發表演說紀念毛澤東同志出生130 週年之際中表示，國家和執政黨的「中心任務」是「把中華民族建設成為一個更加強大的國家，全面實現中華民族偉大復興，推進中國現代化」。

習近平將 “中國現代化” - 這是他自2021年以來一直在推動的一個模糊概念 - 描述為 “毛澤東等老革命家傳承下來的事業” ，現在它是 “當今中國共產黨人的莊嚴歷史責任” 。

這位中國領導人在包括去年的領導人代表大會在內的活動中推廣了這個想法，並將其描述為美國及其盟國使用的系統的替代方案。 旗艦刊物《人民日報》將中國的現代化描述為具有獨特的特徵，包括惠及廣大人民、實現「共同富裕」、和平發展。

透過將自己的計劃與毛澤東的遺產聯繫起來，習近平為官方媒體創造了空間，將他吹捧為新中國創始人的延伸。 這種版本的事件在很大程度上掩蓋了毛澤東在 1950 年代引發飢荒的大躍進以及 1960 年代和 1970 年代混亂的文化大革命中所扮演的角色。

習近平領導的政府於 2018 年取消了任期限制，他在執政的第一個十多年裡將權力鞏固到了自毛澤東以來從未見過的水平。 這場權力鞏固活動讓一些投資者擔心他的雄心壯志缺乏制衡，而他縮小貧富差距的努力可能會導致全面的收入再分配。

近年來，一些官員稱他為 “習領袖” ，或 “領袖” ，這是一個以前為毛澤東保留的受人尊敬的尊稱。 習近平也採取行動，把國家關鍵職位用他的支持者填滿了，這可能會讓他更難聽到不同的政策聲音。

中國的宣傳機器也加大力度將毛澤東和習近平相提並論。 一家共產黨研究機構本月在一篇文章中表示，毛澤東應該因其「崇高的成就和堅強的道德」而被人們銘記。

然後它補充說： “黨和國家，人民和中華民族都因有習近平總書記而有福氣，這是黨的另一個核心，享有民眾支持的人民領袖和軍隊總司令。

在周二的演講中，習近平還重申了共產黨在台灣問題上的立場，這些言論是在聲稱自己擁有的台灣的下個月選出新總統之前發表的。

他說： 「祖國必須而且一定要統一」。 中國必須「深化兩岸各領域融合發展，推動兩岸關係和平發展」。

              So, Xi Jinping is touting an alternative to western capitalism. Based on my observation on what China has done in the past two decades or so, my feeling is that the Chinese concept of modernization is in a way only copying things that western countries have already done, as least in two major respects: economics and military. Under the idea “to build China into a stronger country”, economically China depends on land revenue to fund local construction works and to fight poverty. It sets up a modern stock market, it earns profits through trading with the outside world in the name of Belt and Road projects (to invest and earn money, also to create soft power). On the military side, it builds its own space station, builds more modern aircraft carriers. At the foreign relation front, as a “big” country, China is claiming sovereignty in the south China sea and building military bases on some islands. This expansive idea has led to conflicts and disputes with its neighbors such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan (over the Senkaku Islands) and Taiwan (over sovereignty issues), and causing uneasiness in Indonesia and Malaysia. China’s militarization of some islands in the south China sea also angers the US.

I think what Xi is touting is merely an autocratic way to rule China by top down manage, and this political system needs to sacrifice individual freedom and citizen rights (e.g. the right to have general elections) for the greater good of the country and for administrative efficiency. This contrast with capitalistic countries that do things bottom up, and that rulers are picked by a universal voting system. Previously, China under Mao Zedong (1893-1976) had tried to rush into communism but failed, and many people suffered from political turmoil from the Cultural Revolution (1966-76) initiated by Mao as the absolute leader. When this Revolution was over, new communist leaders began to rethink their future. From the late 1970s, China changed course by becoming friends of Western countries, in particular the US, and eventually reached the 2^nd position in economic size globally. Now Xi believes that he has learned from the Mao’s failure, and probably also from the collapse of the communist USSR in 1991. He is trying to rejuvenate socialism in China (he humbly describes China’s political system as socialism, a stage before reaching communism). Meanwhile I note that capitalism in the west has come a long way since the US independent in 1776 and the French revolution in 1789, both events were people’s struggle for the establishment of a fair, open and democratic society. Currently, between China and the US, there is a competition to show which is the better system to run a country. Let’s see who will prevail, and the price we will pay for this competition.