Hong Kong: Does the US really want “Democracy in China?”

Hong Kong: Does the US really want “Democracy in China?”

16.10.2014
Author: Caleb Maupin

The western media is loudly cheering for the Hong Kong protesters. The echoing call of commentators in the US and Europe is about the need for “Democracy in China.” The real goals of these protesters, who face increasing hostility from the Chinese population, are being widely questioned. Interestingly, despite the current words of US leaders, the United States government has a long record of opposing forces that fought for further democratization of Chinese society.

The “Fight for Liberty and True Democracy”

During the Second World War, the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang) and the Chinese Communists were aligned against the Japanese invaders. The Chinese Communist Party did most of the fighting and incurred most of the losses on the battlefield, and in the process won the hearts and minds of millions of Chinese people.

The heroism of the Chinese Communist “People’s Liberation Army,” or “Eighth Route Army” as it was called during some periods, was recognized around the world at the time. The Hollywood War movie Gung Ho features an officer of the US Marine Corps raving about their tactics. In the late 1930s, Edgar Snow’s book “Red Star Over China” sold thousands of copies throughout the US and Europe, as millions read about Mao’s army, where soldiers elected their officers and engaged in “criticism/self-criticism,” with awe and fascination.

At that time, the word “democracy” was used very frequently in the speeches and documents of Chinese Communist Party leaders. The policy that Mao Zedong and his allies implemented in liberated areas was called “New Democracy.” Mao Zedong polemicized against other Marxists who argued for a strict “dictatorship of the proletariat.” Mao Zedong’s “New Democratic Revolution” involved a “bloc of four classes” so that there could be broader representation of the population. The process the Chinese Communists called the “New Democratic Revolution” in the areas they controlled involved redistributing land, freeing peasants from enslavement by landlords, teaching people to read, and empowering women.

At the time, the world Communist movement was waging a global fight to “defend democracy against Fascism.” This fight included the Soviet Red Army, which lost more soldiers in the fight against Hitler than any other. It also included the underground resistance forces in France and Germany, as well as the partisan fighters in Italy. Even the US Communist Party, which was persecuted and imprisoned in the postwar period, was calling for “democracy” and rallying the US population to support the war effort and President Roosevelt.

The governments established in Germany, Poland, Romania and other parts of Europe liberated by Soviet troops were called “People’s Democracies.” They included not just Communists, but Social-Democrats, Christians, and other sections of the anti-fascist movement.

A Revolution for Free Elections

Despite having such overwhelming support and playing such a key role in defeating the Japanese invaders, the Chinese Communist Party was not allowed to participate in the elections for a new government once the war with Japan was over in 1945. The Chinese Communist Party was perfectly willing, like any other party, to run for office and join a coalition government with other forces.

The Nationalists, led by Chiang Kai-Shek, refused to allow the Communists to be part of postwar China’s government. The United States and Britain supported the Nationalists in refusing to allow Communists to participate in a democratic election.

So, the Communists took up arms once again. The Chinese Communists were not bloodthirsty ultra-leftist adventurers, and in their publications loudly rejected what Marxist-Leninists call “Putschism” or “Blanquism” – struggle philosophies that reject participation in the democratic process and glorify violence.

The anthem to which they had rallied to fight the Japanese invaders, the “March of the Volunteers,” had opened with the words:

Arise, all who refuse to be bond-slaves!
Stand up and fight for liberty and true democracy!

They sang these words once again as they battled the Chinese Nationalists and their US and British allies. This song is now the National Anthem of the People’s Republic of China.

The Chinese Communist Party took power in 1949, creating the “People’s Republic of China” in a war that was fought over free elections. In response to their victory, the Republican Party in the US fumed with hatred for President Truman, demanding to know “Who Lost China?”

If the US-backed Nationalist Party had been victorious in 1949, the result would have not have been democratic in any way. After being defeated, Chiang Kai-Shek retreated to the island of Taiwan, which still claims to be the “Republic of China,” where he ruled with an iron fist. At one point he waged an ugly “White Terror” campaign in which 140,000 people were rounded up for daring to criticize him or his party.

The US happily coddled the dictator Chiang Kai-Shek, seeing him as an effective ally against the Communist Party. Meanwhile, on mainland China, women emerged with unbound feet, land was redistributed to the peasants, literacy became universal, and the first industries were constructed.

Read more here: [link to journal-neo.org]