Global Voices Online » China

China and North Korea: Kim is like Chairman Mao?

Winglok Hung — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:05:05 +0000

On 4 July, the United States’ National Day, North Korea has launched seven missiles tests again and some of them were medium-range rockets that pose threat to Japan and South Korea. While Kim Jong Il has been portrayed as a crazy and authoritarian figure, Chinese netizens are eager to compare him with Chairman Mao.

An article titled “Kim Jong Il is just like Chairman Mao!” received a lot of attention in the Qiangguo Forum, a website run by state-owned the People’s Daily. In the article, chibilanting associates Kim Jong Il with Chairman Mao when dealing with military threats. As chibilanting argues,

我们看看毛主席的时代。新中国刚一解放，美国就联合诸国侵略朝鲜。我们保家卫国，支援朝鲜，我们打了过去，美国还是在自己没有胜利的协议书上签了字。印度占我领土，我们打了过去，剑指新德里。苏联占我珍宝岛，我们打了过去，珍宝岛还在我们手中。

Let's examine Mao's era: the United States joined force with other countries to invade North Korea soon after China has been liberalized. We defended our country and supported North Korea. We survived through the war and the U.S was forced to sign the peace agreement without victory. India occupied our territories, we targeted at New Delhi and survived through the war. The Soviet Union invaded our Zhenbao Island, we fought and now Zhenbao Island is in our hands.

朝鲜射出了卫星，美日韩没敢拦截，成了这一世纪的笑柄！紧接着，朝鲜又进行了核试验。联合国出了个什么几号决议，朝鲜的立场更加强硬。自称可以根据联合国决议可以检查朝鲜“江南号”货船的美国，动用了第七舰队，可是最后还是没敢拦截检查！朝鲜人在挨饿！这也许是真的。但是，金正日没输给奥巴马、李明博、麻生！正像中国的毛主席，没有输给世界一样！金正日就像毛主席！

When North Korea launched the satellite, USA, Japan and South Korea dare not intercept. It is such a joke! North Korea then launched a series of nuclear tests and the United Nations proposed several resolutions, but North Korean became ever stronger in its stand. The United States claimed that they could check upon North Korea's Cargos under the United Nations' resolution, eventually its Seventh Fleet did not make any interception. North Koreans might be starving, but Kim Jong Il did not lose to Obama, Lee Myung-bak and Aso. Just like China’s Chair Mao, who did not lose to the world! Kim Jong Il is like Chairman Mao!

A lot of comments followed, 221.205.34 said,

金正日只不过是毛主席的一名学生罢了!!!

Kim Jong Il is only one of the Chair Mao’s students!!!

Another netizen, Caiyunchangzai also agreed,

金正正在学习毛泽东精神，正在学习和运用毛泽东思想！

Kim is learning Mao’s spirit and his beliefs!

Gaoshanmei said,

不要说，金正日的硬骨头的确像毛主席！我们如果有这样像毛主席的领导，人民会感到多么幸福啊！

Needless to say, Kim’s bones are as strong as Mao’s. If our leaders resembled Mao, people will be very fortunate!

222.50.82 also said,

和老毛不是一个级别的，不过骨气倒不错，至少比我们的政府强

He (Kim) cannot compete with old Mao, but his bones (characters) are stronger than our government.

Another Chinese blogger, Enjoy Drawing, also compares Kim with Mao in his comment on Kim's portrait,

当年毛主席说：“枪杆子里面出政权！”现在时代进步了，应该说：“核导弹可以保政权！”

Chairman Mao has once said, “regime vests in gun”. Now the world has advanced and it should become “regime vests in nuclear bomb!”

The blogger explains why Kim was portrayed in an upright position:

他也很明白，他和萨达姆不一样，萨达姆在中东是孤家寡人，孤军奋战。而朝鲜身后—站着一个比上世纪抗美援朝时更加强大的中国！

He understands that he is different from Saddam Hussein, Saddam was alone fighting. While behind North Korea, stands a strong China, which is much stronger than the time when it fought against the United State during the Korea War in the last century.

China: Omitting the Uyghur grievances

Oiwan Lam — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 06:34:28 +0000

Will from imagethief pointed out that in order to solve the ethnic conflict, it is necessary for the Chinese government to reflect upon a national myth-making apparatus that allows no room whatsoever for the acknowledgment of Uighur grievances.

Taiwan: Bloggers comment on Xinjiang protests

David Reid — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:42:08 +0000

Taiwan bloggers have responded to the massacre in Xinjiang with concern. Lao Ren Cha writes that her own experience of the people of Xinjiang is that they are unfairly portrayed as terrorists. The Far-Eastern Sweet Potato says the Ma government's lack of response to the event in Xinjiang is disturbing.

China: Urumqi mass incident and beyond

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:35:54 +0000

According to Xinhua latest report (July 6), the violence in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has led to at least 140 people dead and 828 injured. The regional government said that the mass incident was masterminded by the World Uyghur Congress. However, Uyghur independent activist explained that the unrest was sparked by anger over a confrontation between Han Chinese and Uyghur factory workers in Shaoguan city.

Shaoguan June 26 riot

So what had actually happened in Shaoguan? According to the Chinese official report, the conflict on 26 of June was caused by a rumor about a sexual assault of Han Chinese woman worker in a factory campus by Uyghur worker. The armed fight between Han and Uyghur workers had led to the death of 2 Uyghurs (some unconfirmed sources said the number of death was up to 18 Uyghurs). The Youtube videos below showed the June 26 riot:

Ethnic policy and hatred

While the Chinese government continued to use western conspiracy theory in addressing the ethnic conflict, Drunken Pig pointed out from a Han Chinese perspective that the Shaoguan incident and other similar ethnic conflicts are a result of government's ethnic policy:

汉人女工被强奸的事情在广东经常发生，但是由于作案者大多能够得到有效处理，很少酿成大规模群体事件。这次因为涉及到维族群体，而且传说是涉案者被政府释放而不受惩罚的事情重复发生之后，才导致大规模群体仇杀。

In Guangdong, sexual assault cases involving Han woman workers are not rare, but in most cases, the criminals would be arrested and would not result in massive gang fight. This time, the case had involved Uyghurs and the rumor said that local government had released the criminal without any punishment. Massive gang fight seeking for revenge thus took place…

这些年的群体事件，大多出于民众对特权阶层的仇恨，而这些特权阶层的背后，都是国家暴力。中国政府的民族政策，把流到内地的维族群众变成了这样一个特权团体，但是同时也剥夺了维族人本该拥有的信仰权和自治权。

Most mass incidents in the past few years were generated by hatred towards the privilege class supported by the State. The ethnic policy of the Chinese government has turned the Uyghur in Han regions into privileged social group, while at the same time, the Uyghur is deprived of their religious freedom and autonomy back home in the northwest region.

Repressing religion freedom

由于中宣部的丰功伟绩，普通民众对其他宗教所知甚少，甚至有些人以为穆斯林不吃猪肉是因为猪是他们的祖宗。无知导致的种种误解…可以说，很多仇恨都是政府的宣传机构煽动出来的…

Because of the propaganda department's achievement, most Han people have very little knowledge and respect of others' religions. For example some Han Chinese believe that pig is the ancestor of Muslim and that's why they do not eat pork. Ignorance leads to prejudice… Much of the hatred is incited by the government propaganda department …

在广东，虽然有很多维族人，但是你很难看到清真寺。我相信礼拜和祈祷对减少穆斯林的犯罪率是有效的。

In Guangdong, the Uyghur population is quite large, but we have very few Muslim temple. I believe religious activities can lower the crime rate.

那些杀人的汉人，在这次冲突中表现得非常残忍。但是平心而论，他们长期以来是受害群体。在广东，几乎所有的政府部门都护着新疆人。镇压汉人群体事件不会有大问题，但是镇压维族人，会遇到很大的阻力。因此地方政府迫于当地民众压力清理新疆流氓的行动，有时候竟然要借用黑社会和便衣联手的方式。

The Han Chinese engaged in the killing (in Shaoguan) are very cruel. However, they have been suffering from injustice. Local government tends to protect the Uyghur people. In case of mass incident, it is common for the government to repress the Han Chinese, but they would be very careful in handling Uyghur people's protest. Sometimes the government would let the triad society to solve the Xinjian gangster problem.

Social minority and unemployment problem

Uighur online disagreed with Drunken pig's Han centric viewpoint and presented the other side of the story:

成千上万的维吾尔孩子被拐骗到内地毒打虐待做小偷是事实，你们有多少人想到背后的社会问题？一个人、一个民族谁天生愿意做小偷？ZF采取过什么有效的干预措施？在我看来：一部分维吾尔孩子沦为小偷的事实恰恰说明了一个真实的现状：维吾尔人在他们的故乡处于是社会的最下层地位。

Thousands of Uyghur kids were kidnapped and beaten to become thieves in Han Chinese region. Can we say that Uyghur people are natural born thieves? Has the government done anything to help them? The fact that so many Uyghur kids have become thieves indicates that Uyghur people are at the lower strata of the society.

DXXX (account protected) from twitter also pointed out that:

在新疆名义上是维吾尔自治区，但是维吾尔在新疆是弱势民族。仅就汉语的使用,就是当地维吾尔族处于极大的劣势，所有招聘单位都由汉语主导。很多企业排斥招收维吾尔员工。金融、通讯、银行、石油化工，天然气等诸多领域，维吾尔人都是限制。由于政府的歧视政策,造成维吾尔人就业困难。

In theory the Uyghur region is autonomous, in reality Uyghur is social minority in Xinjian. Han Chinese is the dominant language in the job market. Many corporates refuse to employ Uyghur. In sectors such as finance, communication, bank, oil and natural gas, Uyghur people could not enter. Government's discrimination has led to unemployment problem among Uyghur.

Urumqi mass incident

Back to the Urumqi Mass Incident, during the curfew, twitterer zz23377737 experienced 1. electricity cut. 2. disrupted tele-communication 3. non-stop police siren. Several twitterers said that the Internet connection was still cut unavailable this morning in Urumqi.

Below are two videos showing the protest scene:

ESWN has the most updated collection of news and informations on the Urumqi Mass Incident.

The Uyghurs: Persecuted Muslim Minority in NorthWest China

Juliana Rincón Parra — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:38:27 +0000

Today we take a look at the situation faced by the Uyghur people, a Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region of China, where their culture is being obliterated by the central Chinese government, first because they were deemed separatists and now, after the September 11 attacks to the USA, also as terrorists.

Image by http://futureatlas.com

Facing many of the same problems Tibetans have due to their religious views such as religious restrictions, forced abortions, imprisonment and execution, the Uyghurs' (also spelled as Uygur, Uigur, Uighur) plight isn't as visible to westerners as the Buddhist's situation. In past Global Voices articles we've followed up on their situation including on how their online forums were closed by the Chinese government back in 2008, and also how the Chinese government pressures other countries to refuse asylum to those they deem criminals, much in the same way it happened with 17 Uyghur detainees in Guantanamo, who had been released but China pressured countries not to accept them.

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is also controversially known as Uyghurstan or East Turkistan, and this following video is brought to us by the Saving East Turkistan project where they point out that due to the religious persecution including forced abortions passed of as family planning and the many deaths due to nuclear testing it may be possible that the Uyghur culture will die off:

East Turkistan (Uyghur) Genocide by China

Now, the documentary video about the Uyghurs by the Stanley Foundation, where compounding the decreased numbers of Uyghurs, they have restrictions in how they can raise their children, making it virtually impossible for them to pass on their religious traditions to their offspring, creating what they call a cultural genocide:

China: Spoofing the collapsed Shanghai Building

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:45:41 +0000

Netizens from cat898 started spoofing the collapsed Shanghai building with PS photos.

China: Shishou official speaks out about riot

Oiwan Lam — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:29:49 +0000

Sam Verran from China Elections and Governance translated a blog post written by a Shishou official reflecting on the local government's “mistake” in handling the investigation and riot.

China: A clean bull returned

Oiwan Lam — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:47:25 +0000

The blog hosting website bullog was exiled and blocked early this year. Recently a new website bullock is launched, with a notice that it will strictly adhere to the policy of “no political content”. More from Under the Jacaranda Tree.

Green Dam and its kinds

Oiwan Lam — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:30:58 +0000

Angry Chinese blogger explained the problem of Green Dam and reviewed similar censorship software and policy adopted by democratic countries.

China: The Shishou riots and the uncertain future of Control 2.0

Oiwan Lam — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:22:39 +0000

David Bandurski from China Media Project explains the meaning of control 2.0 and checks how it works / or not works in Shishou riots.

China's Stimulus Package and its Effect

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:25:11 +0000

China elections and governance has a series of article on the China's economic stimulus package and its effect. Part one is An introduction to China's stimulus package. Part two is The green dragon soars on the wind: Chinese stimulus and the environment. Part three is Migrant workers and social unrest. The last part is China's Stimulus Package and its Effect on China's SOES: Bad for the Economy and Bad for the Prospect of Democracy.

China: Being blocked

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:38:49 +0000

Uln from Chinayouren shares his frustrated feelings on being blocked by the Great Fire Wall of China.

China: Netizens' reactions over Michael Jackson's death

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:32:16 +0000

Fauna from ChinaSMACK translated Chinese netizens' reactions over Michael Jackson's death.

China: A migrant worker strikes back

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:27:46 +0000

Michele Scrimenti from Chinageeks translated an excerpt of a post by Wan Xiaodao, a rural migrant worker in his 20s who criticizes the society from grassroots point of view.

China: Online social movement

Oiwan Lam — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:07:30 +0000

Fili An posts a review on Chinese censorship and netizen's online social movement.