Freezing Point , a weekly magazine printed by China Youth Daily in Beijing, was forced to end its 11 years of publication on January 25, 2006.
On the surface, the January 11 th article entitled “Modernization and History Textbooks,” published by Zhongshan University professor Yuan Weiwen, directly flared this incident. However, Li Datong, the editor of Freezing Point, pointed out that, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s oath is embedded with ideas of “seeking democracy, law and order, free thinking, freedom, and human rights.” Superficially, Prof. Yuan’s statement that Chinese students “were raised on wolf’s milk” enraged the CCP. Yet Mao Zedong, former chairman of the CCP, proclaimed himself to be the “Q in Shihuang of Qin Shihuangs“ [1], and stated that ”we are just this kind of” dictatorship, so how can being compared to a wolf be provoking? Instead, drawing this comparison to the CCP, which has taken the lives of 70 to 80 million Chinese, is nevertheless too merciful.
Li Datong’s open letter indicates that prior to Prof. Yuan’s article, the CCP was first discontent with two articles published by Freezing Point . One article, entitled “The Pingxingguan Battle and Victory” [2], was published a day before June 1, 2005 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. The article objectively and truthfully reported on the realities of battle, noting the sacrifices of tens of thousands of Kuomintang soldiers. Another article by a Taiwanese author Long Yingtai titled “The Taiwan That You May Not Have Known” was published near the end of Lian and Song’s visit to mainland China. [3] It presented the changes and development in Taiwan over the past several decades. Although these two articles may have been incomplete in some areas, they managed to violate the “main melody” of the CCP’s ideology control, which is the use of Sino-Japanese relations and the unification of Taiwan to incite blind nationalism. Yuan Weishi’s article exposed the fact that the CCP infuses their textbooks’ with “fake nationalism.” Nationalism is the CCP’s final weapon to coat itself with a goal and to maintain “concentrated power.” Incidentally, all who dare to challenge this weapon must be “killed without mercy.”
To be able to massacre its people while still maintaining the image of being “reasonable,” the CCP must have a strict information blockade that blocks the public from finding out the truth, including historical truths. Its dark hands not only extend to the domestic New Beijing Newspaper , China Youth Daily and so on, it has also infiltrated Yahoo, Microsoft, Google and other international corporations.
The CCP’s action of shutting out Freezing Point has already brought forth international media attention. However, the pressure being drawn from this exposure is merely moral pressure, thus it is hoped that the United States will be able to step in on more concrete grounds. This is because the CCP’s incitement of blind nationalism is also directed towards the US and in the future the US will inevitably become a victim of this.
The achievement of the development of democracy and the disintegration of the dictatorship in the Soviet Union, and the “thawing” of the Khrushchev period was significant. However, when there were such indications in the 80’s in China, they were throttled by the CCP campaign of “eliminating spiritual pollution,” “anti-bourgeoisie liberation,” and the Tiananmen Square massacre. In the coming month of April when spring flowers bloom, Hu Jintao will visit the US. The United States should use this opportunity to apply pressure on China in the area of information propagation, so that Chinese people, rather than merely the dictator himself, can also enjoy the harmonious environment seen in democratic countries.
Notes:
1. Qingshihuang, the first emperor in Chinese history, is a notorious dictator. He brutally killed intellectuals and citizen who held different opinions.
2. Pingxingguan Battle is a famous battle during the anti-Japanese war. Kuomintang (KMT) soldiers sacrificed tremendously during the battle. The book by Prof. Yuan reveals the truth that KMT, instead of the CCP, was the key force in the anti-Japanese war, which is against the brainwashing theme of the CCP.
3. Lian and Song' visit happened in 2005. Lian Zhan and Song Chuyu are two of the present KMT leaders. They visited mainland China in 2005.