Why no change in Covid policies?
I thought there might be some changes in Xi's zero-Covid policies right after the National Congress meeting in October. The deteriorating economy and uncertainties are frustrating Chinese people and foreign businesses alike. But no changes came. Right now, the protests are huge and widespread and not yet violent, but getting there. And CCP fears nothing more than it does coordinated protests across cities.
More on Hu Jintao
You've all seen the video of Hu Jintao being forcibly removed from the 20th CCP Congress just before voting on the new appointments to the Politburo Standing Committee. If you've not seen it, here it is, available everywhere in the world but in China - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFaG3EpFM8A
You'll see the papers have already been taken away from in front of Hu. You'll see Hu is forcibly removed from his seat and he tries to see the papers in front of Xi Jinping, but Xi pulls them away.
It appears that Hu had a deal with Xi Jinping to promote his son Hu Jaifeng to the Central Committee. Hu Jiafeng is now the party leader in Lishui in Zhejiang Province. The deal was to let Xi have his way with the appointments to the PSC if Hu Jaifeng was also promoted. This did not happen.
When economics becomes a morality play
... just a comment from disparate readings in the past week –
Sowing and Reaping
The Mandate of Heaven means that Heaven shows its displeasure toward a leader via occurrence of natural disasters, disease epidemics, widespread political opposition and foreign threats. Harmony, in other words, does not obtain. It is an ancient Chinese meme, probably created in the Zhou dynasty to justify its defeat of the former Shang dynasty.
Am I too isolated, or has nobody written a short post about Mr. Xi’s third term and the apparent displeasure of Heaven? I mean, I don’t expect dire warnings about the end of the dynasty coming out of China right now, but everyone can see that Heaven is screaming Condition Red (as it were) for CCP.
Confucianism - Freedom and Democracy 2.0
Is Confucianism a religion?
Appendix 7. What is the individual’s relationship to leaders and family and others? Mutual obligations …
Chinese is a relationship culture. Who you know can take priority over regulation and law, even more so than in the US. Confucianism is part of that ancient understanding of how the world works, although it is not the hidebound, patriarchal system sometimes portrayed in the west.
Below, some brief comments on how the relationship culture works with regard to families, leaders, and strangers.
Confucianism - Freedom and Democracy 2.0
Is Confucianism a Religion?
Appendix 6. Do You Have to Follow Rituals? No rituals – no civil society
In a word, yes. Rites are the right thing to do – when done for the right reasons. We may say that rituals are part of what makes for a civil society.
