China unaffected by the Arab uprisings
Some political pundits predict that China would go the Egypt way. Perhaps they are not right as the Peoples Liberations Army of China is too loyal to the Communist party and the leadershipt to let this happen.
THE POLITICAL pundits claiming a deep knowledge of the going on in the Middle Kingdom could not suppress their glee in predicting how nervous the Chinese leadership has been of late. The public uprisings in the Arab world was cited as the main cause of the tottering knees of the Chinese leadership. Ren Min Jyefang Jyun or the People’s Liberation Army, PLA for short, is the biggest stabilising factor in China. The PLA shares power obliquely as no one says No to what it says. Moreover in the establishment of the present regime, during and after the civil war and overthrow of the Chiang Kaishek government, it was PLA that brought the entire China, including Tibet, under one flag. The PLA personnel enjoy prestige in the social order and command respect from the civil administration. Therefore, the PLA has no interest in toppling the government of the Chinese Communist Party. The PLA has provided more stability to the mainland China today than it had enjoyed ever before. Its role in China is diametrically opposite to that of the Egyptian Army that stayed neutral throughout the revolutionary days. At best it had played the role of a referee and had just physically separated the two warring groups. The Army stood by as a mute spectator while the palaces of Mubarak, furnished at great cost and with taste, were being vandalised by marauders. One cannot visualise a similar situation in China as the PLA would protect public property that it is sworn to do. However, looking at developing scenes in the rural China, one may say that the have-not sections of the society in the north-west may demand and receive a better slice of the cake of prosperity. The PLA has been traditionally loyal to the government of the day. In any case, under the constitution of China, it is the system of one-party rule and it is the Communist Party of China that runs the show. Right from the days of the civil war, it was hammered into ears of all concerned that the power comes out of the barrel of a gun and it is the Party that controls the gun. Thus, it is now the mindset of soldiers and civilians alike to respect the tradition. The PLA is the Defender of the realm. Should something go wrong with the civil administration, it would devolve on the PLA to preserve, protect and defend Jungguo or the Middle Kingdom. Thus no one calls a soldier names or whistles even in the red light district but just show respect that the man or the woman deserves. Under these circumstances, the People’s Liberation Army will play the role of a unifier of the nation like it did during the Tian An Men uprising of the student community. The loyalty to leadership and the constitution of the country went to such an extent that the higher echelon of the PLA did not hesitate or have second thoughts about rolling over their battle tanks on the unarmed youngsters demanding political reforms. COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP An altogether different situation prevails in China today when the collective leadership of the Chinese Communist Party is in saddle with a firm grip. Hu Jintao as President and Wen Jiabao as the Prime Minister share power and have joint responsibility towards the Communist Party. Unfortunately, during the student uprising two decades ago, the power and responsibility rested squarely on the shoulders of the then President Jiang Zemin. When his policy failed, he was shown the door. In the Middle-East it was again a single man’s rule that had degenerated into an aristocracy bent upon exploiting the people day in and day out. Ben Ali in Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak in Egypt and Col Gaddafi in Libya are prey to their own machinations. Their own people, exploited badly, turned against their own leaders and nothing short of a complete change at the helm would satisfy them. The individuals who rode the tiger’s back finally ended up in its stomach. CORRUPTION CORRUPTED ALL The leadership of the countries mentioned heretofore was out and out corrupt. The leaders and officials filled their own private pockets with public money in a fraudulent manner. With the result, the toiling masses starved but the bigwigs had the public money transferred to their private accounts and stashed in the foreign banks. The men, women and juveniles of the deprived sections of the society left their homes, poured out into public streets, shouted slogans against incumbent presidents and prime ministers and dared the police to arrest them. It was a complete breakdown of the state machinery and the police deserted their ranks in Cairo. The grave situation remained unabated for days. The pent up anger of the deprived masses was now uncontrollable. The writing was on the wall. Ben Ali, his wife and immediate members of the family were forced to flee Tunisia. But they carried away tons of gold and other precious items of jewellery. The rebels in Egypt had no love lost for Hosni Mubarak. He is reportedly hiding in Sharm El-Sheik and protected by the Army since he was a war hero of the Air Force once upon a time. Col Gaddafi has already collected gems, gold and what have you. His nurse of Ukraine has fled and Gaddafi’s future is not bright either. It is widely said by kings and commoners alike that the days of Kings, aristocrats, dictators are now over all over the Middle-East. Thus the countries that threw up new leadership of common folks have shown the way to other Arab countries still ruled by kings. Time and Tide wait for none. A big tide and typhoon, may be a Tsunami is now waiting in the wings, will sweep across lands where the path of righteousness was forsaken. It is the common man who would be the greatest beneficiary. The common man in China has been earning enough to make both ends meet, to have fish and rice, a cover overhead and now electrified public transport. Therefore, there is no immediate reason for him to pick up his pickaxe and sweep the government aside. One may safely say that the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing will provide peace and tranquillity to the Chinese nation for years to come.
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