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In terms of historical seniority, arguably considered to be a very important criterion in defining Chinese culture among Chinese who are proud of their long history, it is not unreasonable to assert that Christianity is more Chinese than Communism, as its history can be traced all the way back to the 19th century missionaries. Technically speaking, Christians were frst allowed to establish a foothold in China as early as the 7th century. The rulers of the sect called the Kingdom of Heavenly Peace who rebelled against and nearly toppled the Qing Dynasty in the 19th century (a foreign Manchu dynasty that had invaded and conquered China in 1644) were a quasi-Christian force whose leader, Hong Xiuquan, claimed to be the brother of Jesus Christ. Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China (and considered by the Communist Party of China as the father of the nation) who helped to finally end foreign Manchu rule in 1911, was both a Confucian and a Christian. His successor and subsequent leader of China in the Nationalist era, Chiang Kai-shek, also converted to Christianity. All of this Chinese destiny with Christianity happened before the Chinese Communists ever took power in China.
Thus, if the Chinese Communists can worship their foreign gods, demi-gods and heroes such as Lenin, Stalin, Marx, Bethune and Genghis Khan (Russian, German, Canadian and Mongolian respectively) then what is wrong with Chinese Christians worshipping Jesus, the King of the Jews or an Argentinean Pope Francis?
Buddhists have been worshipping their Nepalese-born leader Siddhartha Gautama for milllennia in China, a foreign religion which spread to China from Central Asia. Yet another legendary Buddhist figure Bodhi Dharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism in China, was from India and was quite possibly one of the greatest single historical figures to promote China’s cultural influence in the world next to Confucius and Lao Zi (the founder of Daoism).
Therefore, in terms of historical seniority and cultural influence, we should conclude that Gautama Buddha and Bodhi Dharma are the two most ‘Chinese’ foreign gods in Chinese history. After all, even though Genghis Khan looked kind of Chinese, he was a barbaric and cruel invader who raped and pillaged China, then wiped it off the map. Although that is precisely why the followers of a Russian pseudo-religion called Communism in China still revere their ancient foreign barbarian hero; because he brutally dominated the ancient world. Maybe that qualifies Genghis Khan as the most ‘Chinese Communist’ foreign god.
Image compilation and text by Chris Harry
Article and image editing by Chris Harry
It is hugely ironic that ever since Premier Li Keqiang has declared war on pollution back in March the pollution in China's capital has steadily grown worse.
Since January of this year, days at 200+ levels on the PM 2.5 index are the norm rather than the exception. This means that Beijing's air quality is regularly 20 times higher than the level that the WHO considers a health hazard. On many so-called "sunny" days here in the heart of the China Dream, the skies are often dingy and enveloped under a glowing grey of thick haze.
The reality on the ground is that pollution continues to worsen here in Beijing and in the rest of the country. Another reality in China is that many, if not most laws, are either not actually enforced or are enforced inconsistently at best. Laws in China are often only applied arbitrarily to the benefit of government officials and to the detriment of its citizens.
The current anti-corruption campaign is a perfect example of this. It is simply a 'campaign' and not the consistent application and adherence to any laws. The only likely concrete result of the anti-corruption campaign will be the transfer of money stolen from taxpayers by some targeted officials from rival party factions to other corrupt officials allied to the new leadership. Under the current system, which has no independent monitoring or judiciary, laws simply become tools in the hands of officials to enrich themselves, remove political rivals, deny citizens the right to monitor, protest or interfere with their interests and to consolidate their own power.
As things stand now, polluting factories will simply give bribes to get around legislation and the central government will likely neither enforce nor supervise the rules in any meaningful way. Regional government leaders will also avoid enforcement in order to increase the profits of local industry and to enhance their GDP growth track records whilst pocketing graft money from local polluters.
In addressing the lack of results on the anti-pollution front the central government mainly blames regional governments (its favourite scapegoat) for causing the problem, but then fails to act to intervene or prevent 'regional pollution', which means the responsibility ultimately lies with Beijing. What is more, the levels of air and water pollution in the capital also speak to the lack of sincerity on the part of China’s central government to tackle pollution. Meanwhile, the majority of China’s top ten most polluted cities surround the larger region around the capital, which clearly demonstrates a lack of will or ability on the part of China’s national leaders to take concerted action to stem the tide of steadily rising pollution.
Back in February, the local Beijing government failed to enact its own emergency measures when air pollution had risen to red alert levels of over 500 on the PM 2.5 index, so it does not appear that China’s central government is even committed to enforcing its own laws consistently. Therefore, it is fair to ask why regional governments would take state laws seriously. If central leaders consistently flout national laws and regulations, then why should regional leaders be expected to respect anti-pollution legislation? In fact, Beijing stands as the key obstacle to the enforcement of laws to actually curb pollution. A one hundred percent monopoly on power unavoidably translates into one hundred percent responsibility for the destruction of China's environment.
The most compelling evidence to suggest that ‘sweeping’ new laws will likely fail to have a great impact can be seen from the government’s past record on 'fighting' pollution. China has already enacted a whole range of laws and regulations to curb pollution in recent decades, yet the pollution continues to worsen as the environmental crisis continues to deepen.
Laws have to be enforced in order to have any real effect. As long as China remains a corrupt country without a viable rule of law, anti-pollution laws are simply empty words on paper. The smog is very real and so far the implementation of anti-pollution legislation appears to be merely an illusory phantom with about as much substance as Emperor Xi’s China Dream.
Tiger Xi Inspects the Troops 习虎阅兵
