Arab Color Revolutions a Source of Concern to Chinese Regime

The popular revolutions in Egypt and in Tunisia have triggered a chain reaction.
Arab Color Revolutions a Source of Concern to Chinese Regime
An Egyptian anti-government demonstrator sleeps on the wheels of a military vehicle at Cairo's Tahrir square on February 6, 2011 on the 13th day of protests calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. (AFP/Getty Images)
2/7/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/egypt108878481.jpg" alt="An Egyptian anti-government demonstrator sleeps on the wheels of a military vehicle at Cairo's Tahrir square on February 6, 2011 on the 13th day of protests calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. (AFP/Getty Images)" title="An Egyptian anti-government demonstrator sleeps on the wheels of a military vehicle at Cairo's Tahrir square on February 6, 2011 on the 13th day of protests calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. (AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1808649"/></a>
An Egyptian anti-government demonstrator sleeps on the wheels of a military vehicle at Cairo's Tahrir square on February 6, 2011 on the 13th day of protests calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. (AFP/Getty Images)
The popular revolutions in Egypt and in Tunisia have triggered a chain reaction. Citizens of Algeria, Jordan, and Yemen are also holding street protests condemning government corruption and demanding political rights. The response from Chinese state media indicates that communist party leaders may be worried that the wave of color revolution will expand to China—concerns that they have expressed for years.

Chinese state-run media has been reporting negatively on the democracy revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia while Chinese authorities have blocked information on the Internet.

The Chinese regime has been downplaying world news headlines of Egyptians demanding that their dictator step down. Chinese state media never mentioned that the cause of the protest is people’s dissatisfaction with their authoritarian government. Instead, it has been depicting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as a hero, and has been deliberately painting a picture of chaos in Egypt by focusing attention on burning vehicles and vandalism, and calling the democracy protesters “mobs who beat, smash, loot, and burn.”

Chinese media reports have also highlighted efforts by the regime to rescue and evacuate expatriate Chinese from Egypt.

In a Jan. 30 editorial called “Color Revolutions Will Not Bring About Real Democracy,” the regime’s mouthpiece, Global Times, argued that it is questionable whether the democratic system really works, as more and more “failed examples” arise. What and where those failed examples are, the article did not say.

Another mouthpiece media, People’s Daily, published an article “Chaos in Region ‘Stabilizer’ Egypt Harms Everyone” on Jan. 28. It said Egypt is “a country that cannot afford chaos” and quoted the Egyptian government saying, it “would punish those who undermine national security and social stability according to the law.”

Beijing Reason to Fear

In a Radio Free Asia report “What the Middle East Has Taught China,” political commentator Hu Shaojiang said Zhongnanhai, the Communist Party’s leadership compound, has reasons to fear.

Hu said: “The collapse of authoritarianism in the Middle East and the beginnings of political reform there means Beijing is more and more isolated in its practice of opposing democracy and of suppressing human rights. It also means that its argument of denying the universal values of democracy and freedom to developing countries because these countries are special cases, has once again been proven false.”

According to Hu, substantial economic growth has been observed in Egypt and Tunisia, with economic growth rates in the past three years being 7.2, 4.6, and 5.3 percent in Egypt, and 4.6, 3, and 3.4 percent in Tunisia. In regard to purchasing power, both countries have similar per capita income as China, with Tunisia’s being nearly 30 percent higher than China’s. “But this does not give the rulers the legitimacy for ruling,” Hu said.

Hu said the Middle East is teaching China a lesson: economic growth is an important condition for social stability in a modern country, but definitely not a sufficient condition. As long as there’s a lack of modern political civilization, social stability can never be a fair one, nor can it be stable or long lasting.

Next: Chinese Army  

Chinese Army

Gordon G. Chang, China expert and author of “The Coming Collapse of China,” wrote in his Forbes blog on Jan. 30: “China’s communists have every right to be concerned. In a world connected by optic fiber, revolutionary fervor not only crosses from one country to the next but from one continent to another.

“Beijing’s officials know that every resentment felt by Tunisians and Egyptians is shared by those they rule. ... So it’s not surprising the Chinese are closely watching the streets of Cairo and Alexandria. China’s netizens, for example, cannot stop talking about the lone Egyptian who stood in front of an armored car last week.”

Some media and commentators have compared Egypt’s revolution to the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. The difference is that then Chinese regime leader Deng Xiaoping ordered the army to open fire at the student demonstrators, whereas the Egyptian military did not.

What would happen if this kind of demonstration occurred in today’s China?

Li Tianxiao, political commentator with New Tang Dynasty TV believes that nowadays the possibility is high that the Chinese army would, under those circumstances, stage a military coup or local uprising to oust the CCP during a critical moment. Li also said that even during the June 4 crackdown some troops actually refused to move against the students.

Li said Commander Xu Qinxian of the 38th Army was such an example. Xu was well aware and understood why the students held hunger strikes, and he was moved to tears; it was just like what happened in Egypt.

“Many soldiers in the 28th Army saw the situation and learned the truth, so they also decided not to follow orders; some took off their uniforms and some threw their guns into the river,” Li said.

Li said today’s Chinese army is not stable.

“For instance, since 2006 many people in the army have quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). There are power struggles between military factions. Many officers can surf the Internet and find different perspectives. Many soldiers, identifying themselves as local forces, have sent e-mails and submitted articles to overseas websites, saying they are seeking to organize more military forces to overthrow the CCP and hope others would cooperate, etc.”

Mass protests in China have swelled to over 200,000 annually in recent years.

Exiled Chinese law professor Yuan Hongbing said it’s not too far away for China to have its own Jasmine Revolution.

“All the social factors and the logic that caused the Soviet Union and the Eastern European communist bloc to collapse are quickly maturing within Chinese society. All it takes is a major incident to detonate the already culminated social conflict. I believe another national protest and uprising situation like the ‘6.4’ [the Tiananmen protests of 1989] one will come soon,” Yuan said. “Only this time Chinese people will not let go of the historical opportunity like they did in 1989.”


[email protected]