David Burchell will surely be disappointed

Comments on David Burchell “Lest we forget, China's party killed millions”, 5/10/2009, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26164177-7583,00.html

Burchell concludes his article in this way:

"From these awful revelations come two conclusions. First: that the Chinese Communist Party, now engaged in its ballet of self-celebration and self-delusion, is arguably the greatest violator of human rights in the history of the planet. (Even today, almost every one of the world's most inhumane states - from North Korea to Sudan to Zimbabwe - is a Chinese client.) Second: that when the era of the party's monopoly over China's public life comes to an end - as it will before too long - its undertakers will come, like Yang, from within its own ranks. China has had its Solzhenitsyn, you might say. It still awaits its Gorbachev."

However, he may be disappointed that his conclusions are unlikely to be anywhere near or close to the true.

There is no dispute that in the late 1950s and the early 1960s there was a big famine in china and many Chinese died of that. The “great leap forward” campaign, as well as the sudden deterioration in the relations between China and the former USSR, partly contributed to the severity of the famine that was a result of bad weather. It was a very sad episode of the first 28 year of Communism China under Mao.

However, that episode nearly 50 years ago does not mean that “that the Chinese Communist Party, now engaged in its ballet of self-celebration and self-delusion, is arguably the greatest violator of human rights in the history of the planet”, or “China's party killed millions”, as Burchell claims.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese have been lifted out of poverty as a result of China’s remarkably successful economic reforms over the last 30 years, under what Burchell branded as “the greatest violator of human rights in the history of the planet” - the Chinese Communist Party.

So it is incorrect to cite its past mistakes to argue that the Chinese Communist Party “is arguably the greatest violator of human rights in the history of the planet”. To argue that way is no different to saying that the earlier Europeans invaded and occupied the land now is called USA and slotted many Indigenous Indians during that process and from that Burchell would say the Americans are the greatest genocide.

Is that argument right? No definitely not. But that shows the absurdity of Burchell’s nonsense argument and illogic.

Secondly, Burchell says that China “still awaits its Gorbachev”. It is no different to daydreaming.

If the former USSR or Russia had benefited from Gorbachev, then it would be reasonable to argue that China might await its Gorbachev. But the problem is that both have suffered greatly following the Gorbachev era and the collapse of the former USSR. The Chinese have now realised that what Gorbachev did, if adopted by China, could only lead to chaos and a collapse in living standards.

No sane people would want a country to go down that path, except that Burchell is wishing China to. But he will be dismayed by the rejection of the Chinese.

The Russians have rejected Gorbachev. So have the Chinese.