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Showing posts with label Communist Party of China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Communist Party of China. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Malaysian leaders should learn from Deng Xiaoping?

It’s all about leadership

Recent Asian political history provides us with some useful examples of effective leadership. However, the list, sadly, is not long.

WITH a general election in the offing, Malaysians are quite naturally thinking a lot about “leadership”.

Recent Asian political history provides us with some useful examples of effective leadership.

However, the list, sadly, is not long. Many of the men (and women) who have led our countries have also been deeply flawed.

For example, in the case of Jawaharlal Nehru, his ideas and rhetoric may well have been brilliant but his performance in government was often disappointing, if not disastrous.


Deng Xiaoping, conversely, stands out among Asia’s leaders. He’s also the subject of a recently published biography by the academic Ezra Vogel, Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China.

First, Deng did more to alleviate global poverty than anyone else in the past century. According to Bloomberg, more than 250 million Chinese escaped poverty during his stewardship.

Described by Mao Zedong as a “needle inside a ball of cotton”, the Szechuan province-born Deng rose to the top of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its Politburo after a long, arduous process, including two periods in political wilderness, the first of which was the Cultural Revolution.

By 1978, when he was returned to the centre of power, China was at its lowest ebb. As Vogel wrote: “The average per capita income of Chinese peasants, who made up 80% of the population, was then only US$40 per year (RM124). The amount of grain produced per person had fallen below what it had been in 1957.”

But China was lucky to have Deng at this critical juncture. By the late 1970s, Deng had accumulated more than 50 years of experience at the heart of the CCP, the military, high-level diplomacy and governance.

Deng was experienced, wily, determined and above all, extremely pragmatic.

Moreover, his family’s personal tragedy during the Cultural Revolution – his son Deng Pufang was crippled after being beaten by the Red Guards – made his desire to stabilise and strengthen China all the more intense.

Deng was lucky enough to have met and worked with outstanding leaders. For example, while studying in France in the mid-1920s, he was to forge a critical friendship with Zhou Enlai, who – in turn – grew to respect the diminutive but rock-solid Deng.

Similarly, in the years when the Communists were battling the Nationalists, Deng assumed a vital military role – leading men into battle; motivating, coordinating and administering hundreds of thousands troops, their supplies and their relations with the local communities.

His most enduring success was the Huaihai Campaign of 1948, after which the Communists were able to cross the Yangtze River without resistance, dealing a fatal blow to the Kuomintang and endearing Deng to Mao himself.

So while Deng is better-known for his achievements in the economic sphere – especially his transformation of the coastal provinces in the late 1970s and early 1980s – there’s no denying that his military experience in the field equipped him mentally to lead under pressure.

Having endured the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, Deng was understandably wary of relaxing political controls. He was no democrat. Instead, he saw discipline and loyalty to the CCP as absolutely critical.

Indeed, Tiananmen Square was proof his unshakeable belief in both the primacy of the CCP as well as the need for political stability at all costs.

Whilst we may disagree with what he did, there’s no denying his steadfastness.

Deng was detailed and meticulous in all matters – managing China’s administration with a firm hand.

Fortunately, his international exposure at an early age meant Deng was open to foreign ideas and when it was time for him to lead China; he was ready to embrace the world beyond the Middle Kingdom.

So what can Deng teach us about leadership? I think the following lessons can be drawn:

> Lead decisively and with conviction. If you make a decision you believe is right, stick by it. People respect (and fear) determination;

> Deng believed in education. He rebuilt China’s shattered universities after the Cultural Revolution and shielded the centres of learning from political interference;

> Leaders must prioritise, dealing with only the most critical obstacles to development. On assuming power, Deng took a close personal interest in overcoming the infrastructural glitches and political resistance to reform at Xuzhou’s critical railway hub – thereby sending out a strong message to those who dared challenge his authority; and

> Deng laid the foundations for China’s current, albeit uneven rise to power. His legacy is something Malaysian leaders should not ignore.

Ceritalah By Karim Raslan  

Monday, June 18, 2012

China manned space docking successful! Watch live now




Watch Live click here:
http://english.cntv.cn/special/shenzhou9/index.shtml

 Launch of Shenzhou 9 on June 16, 2012.
A Chinese Long March 2F rocket launches on the Shenzhou 9 mission, China's first manned space docking flight and first flight of a female astronaut, on June 16, 2012 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
CREDIT: China Manned Space Engineering Office

China is gearing up to perform its first-ever manned space docking Monday (June 18), a feat that would put it in the company of history's two greatest spacefaring nations, the United States and Russia.

China's Shenzhou 9 space capsule — which launched Saturday (June 16) carrying three astronauts, including the country's first female spaceflyer — is expected to link up with the unmanned Tiangong 1 space lab around 3 p.m. Monday Beijing time (3 a.m. EDT; 0700 GMT), according to Chinese media reports.
 
Shenzhou 9 will dock with Tiangong 1 twice, with the first hookup being automated. At some point, the two spacecraft will separate, and the three taikonauts, as China's astronauts are known, will perform the second docking manually.

Forty-six-year-old Jing Haipeng leads the taikonaut crew, which also includes Liu Wang, 42, and 33-year-old Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut. All are members of the Communist Party of China and former pilots with the People's Liberation Army; Jing flew on China's last manned spaceflight, which took place in 2008.

Two of the taikonauts will live aboard Tiangong 1 during the 13-day mission, while one will stay aboard Shenzhou 9 at all times in case of emergency, Chinese officials have said.

Inside China's Tiangong 1 Space Lab
A look inside China's Tiangong 1 space lab, which launched into orbit in
September 2011.CREDIT: Dragon in Space
Shenzhou-9's flight is considered a key step in China's plan to build a permanently staffed space station in Earth orbit. The nation hopes to have a 60-ton station and up and running by 2020. (For comparison, the International Space Station weighs about 430 tons.)

Analysts say China's exclusion from the ISS, largely on objections from the United States, was one of the key spurs for it to pursue an independent program 20 years ago.

While Shenzhou 9's flight is China's first attempt at a crewed space docking, the nation has successfully linked up two robotic spacecraft in orbit. In November, the unmanned Shenzhou 8 craft docked twice with Tiangong 1 before returning safely to Earth.

Shenzhou 9's mission is China's fourth manned spaceflight, following taikonaut launches in 2003, 2005 and 2008. Another manned mission to Tiangong 1 — which launched to orbit in September 2011 — could come later this year, Chinese officials have said.

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Thursday, December 8, 2011

China executes female gangland prostitution ringleader!



Wang Ziqi  
Wang Ziqi was convicted of forcing hundreds into prostitution

The female head of a gangland prostitution ring in Chongqing in south-west China has been executed, Chinese media say.

Wang Ziqi was convicted in 2010 of luring hundreds of women to beauty salons or hotels and forcing them into prostitution.

She and her sister seized the women's identity cards or ruined their reputations, reports said.

Chongqing has been the scene of a drive against corruption and organised crime.

A court in the huge metropolis in south-west China sentenced Wang Ziqi to death in August 2010 after convicting her of organising and leading a criminal organisation.

She and her sister Wang Wanning would control the women by such methods as seizing their identity cards, confiscating their earnings and detaining them illegally, according to cqnews.net, a website that belongs to the official Chongqing Daily.



Wang Ziqi is one of many gang members to have been sentenced to death or executed in Chongqing since 2009.

Chongqing's Communist Party chief, Bo Xilai, has been waging a high-profile campaign in the city to smash corruption and criminal gangs.

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Friday, October 14, 2011

The 1911 Xinhai Revolution, a defining moment for China


Midweek By Bunn Nagara

The 1911 Xinhai Revolution’s 100th anniversary, more than any other event in China’s long history, marks its modern coming of age.

GIVEN their shared history of war, few events marked by both Beijing and Taipei are happy occasions with common aspirations.

The 1911 Xinhai Revolution and its anniversaries are perhaps the greatest of these exceptions.



The 100th anniversary of this historical event, marked on Monday, shows the mainland and the outlying island at their closest point politically.

Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Straits hail the Xinhai Revolution for throwing off 2,000 years of oppressive dynastic rule. The event 100 years ago practically created modern China.

In contrast, the 1949 communist revolution is only 62 years old, and merely characterised contemporary China.

Characterisations of a nation, particularly of a large country with a rich history and culture, tend to be more limited in scope and impact.

Besides, the birth of Mao Zedong’s communist movement is celebrated only on the mainland, and even then by a diminishing circle of the party faithful.

It is almost universally rued in Taiwan.

The Xinhai Revolution however, as a defining moment for the Chinese nation, has also become a unifying factor for Chinese history and culture.

Its 100th anniversary in particular shows the event to be the biggest political occasion for both sides of the straits, while acting as a bridge between them.

It also serves as fertile ground for nurturing modern Chinese nationalism. This year’s anniversary pays great tribute to Dr Sun Yat-sen, a leading pioneer of the Xinhai Revolution.



Beijing stressed two key goals for the Chinese nation: rejuvenation and reunification. President Hu Jintao traced the pursuit of national rejuvenation to Dr Sun’s struggle, while his emphasis on peaceful reunification drew from an aspect of China’s “peaceful rise”.



In swift response, Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou identified the Xinhai Revolution as the common heritage of Chinese on both sides of the straits.

Besides endorsing Hu’s call for more cooperation to ensure peace and development, Ma also touched on the common concern that no party should disrupt the status quo.

This accords with Beijing’s two major priorities: that both sides abide by the “1992 consensus”, and that there should be no “Taiwan independence”. These themes are well accepted in Taipei.

Ma’s presidency over the past three years has seen steadily improving relations across the straits. His Kuomintang party is nationalistic, which gels with the mainland’s current tendencies.

Communist ideology is a “product” with declining popularity on the mainland, particularly as a capitalist-based economy continues to make giant strides.

It is a “sunset industry” despite the best efforts of the Communist Party of China, and few others know it better than party leaders themselves.

Hu and his colleagues, more as national than party leaders, realise that the structural integrity of the nation is an even greater priority than the viability of the party.

The main priorities are therefore political stability and national unity, whether this means reviewing some traditional controls or asserting a firmer grip on specific issues.

This has meant party hardliners like former premier Li Peng receding into the background, in terms of both public visibility and government posts.

It also means that leadership style has changed in the context of modernisation.

Deng Xiaoping was a landmark leader who ushered in a new, pragmatic, post-Mao China.

Then post-Deng, China no longer has any charismatic, ideologically domineering “paramount leader”.

Chinese leaders today are professional technocrats tasked with national administration.

Former president Jiang Zemin and former prime minister Zhu Rongji were both engineers, the latter with a good practical knowledge of economics.

Current President Hu and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao are also both engineers, the latter with a working knowledge of geology.

Their successors, respectively Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, are a chemical engineer and a lawyer-economist.

Next year’s succession also makes the 100th anniversary more significant.

That is why Jiang has appeared publicly with Hu at this week’s anniversary, to emphasise a sense of continuity.

In politics as in cross-straits relations in particular, continuity is crucial because it signifies stability and growth.

They are both cause and effect of improving ties between Beijing and Taipei.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

The great leap forward!




By Ben Blanchard, Reuters

China says no expiry date on Communist Party rule

Looking at Mao's life, his achievements should be put first, and his mistakes second ...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Communist Party sees no reason why it cannot stay in power indefinitely, having made the nation into the envy of the world with its economic success, one of the Party's top official historians said on Thursday.

Li Zhongjie, a deputy head of the Party's History Research Centre, made it clear that China will use the impending 90th anniversary of the Party's founding as a time for rousing pride, rather than reflection on a history that has spanned war, revolution, mass famine and deadly purges.

Under the Party's rule, China had made leapfrog developments, Li told a news conference, and he said it was foolish to expect any party to want to give up power.

"Over the last 90 years, especially the last 30 years of reform and opening up, we have made major achievements. This is something the world basically recognises," Li said, ahead of the Party's anniversary of its 1921 founding on July 1.

"I could ask, 'Mr. Obama, does your Democratic Party still want to contest the election'? Do you still want to stay in power? They would think that a weird question. Of course our Party hopes to remain in power.

"...Objectively, the issue is rather: how is your rule, and how effective is it? Is it welcomed by the people? Are you running the country well, or into the ground? The Communist Party has built China to what it is today. Many countries in the world are extremely envious.

So why can't we carry on? It's a very simple question."



His impassioned answer drew applause from the audience, made up mainly of state media and Chinese academics, with a smattering of foreign reporters.

While the Party's rule has seen China become the world's second-largest economy, lift millions out of abject poverty and put men in space, critics say it has come at the expense of individual freedoms, with the Party brooking no dissent.

Under the late Mao Zedong, China went through disasters such as the 1958 Great Leap Forward campaign to catapult it to prosperity, but ended in a three-year famine in which an estimated 30 million people starved to death.

"Objectively speaking, Comrade Mao made some mistakes later in his life, which created major damage," Li said. "But looking at Mao's whole life, his achievements should be put first, and his mistakes second ... He established 'New China' and socialism's basic system.

"We should 'seek truth from the facts' in analysing and researching the lessons from Mao's mistakes," he added. "What Mao hoped to do, we should ensure we do even better."

Pressed after the news conference on whether China would one day set up a public memorial to those who suffered during the Great Leap Forward, or the chaos of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, Li answered cryptically: "We are making overall plans. It's being considered."

But there would be no atonement for the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators around Tiananmen Square in 1989, which the Party these days labels a "political disturbance."

"We have already reached a solemn conclusion," Li said. "There's really nothing more to say."

(Editing by Nick Macfie)
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