Chinese Massacre
Our first reaction to China’s cynical denial of the killings in Tian An Men Square is outrage. But we remind ourselves that the Big Lie is in the universal tradition of statecraft--some lies are just bigger than others and some liars more brazen.
Still, how can the Chinese leadership possibly think it can get away with it, given the witnesses and evidence on film? By comparison, even the decision to fire on the demonstrators--the tragic and brutal reaction of autocrats fearing a threat to the state--seems “logical.”
The dreaded answer appears to be that the Big Lie is being orchestrated precisely because the Chinese leadership is turning the clock back and reimposing political repression and isolation. Yet Deng Xiaoping reaffirms China’s goal of economic modernization. How can Deng expect that political and economic freedoms will be kept distinct and apart? How does he imagine the Big Lie will survive his Long March generation? How can he not realize, on the evidence of Mao and Stalin, that his Big Lie will be a deadly legacy to his successors that will surely further undermine communism’s legitimacy?
Sadly, this myopia is just the latest manifestation of an old condition: After over a hundred generations, old men in China still cannot adjust to change or learn when or how to let go of power.
HONG DEA
Los Angeles
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