When Wen Jiabao visited Greece on Oct 2., he accepted an interview with CNN. Wen said that inflation and corruption may impact China’s stability. He also said that people’s pursuit of democracy and freedom is inevitable. It was another example of similar remarks about political reform made on several other occasions in recent weeks.
When asked why much of China’s Internet is still censored and blocked, Wen replied: “Both I and the Chinese people believe that China will continue to move forward. People’s pursuit for democracy and freedom is inexorable.
“The outside world does not understand China’s situation. There are 400 million Internet users and 800 million people have cell phones. They can go online and express their opinions, including criticism,” Wen said.
Like Chinese Soccer
In order to decipher the meaning of Wen’s remarks, China’s soccer scandal offers a good starting point.
In the past year or so, a crackdown on corruption in China’s Football Association has put nine high-ranking officials, including several deputy chairs, under criminal investigation. Many soccer coaches and players have been arrested.
Because of this, FIFA declared last month that it does not support China’s hosting the 2026 World Cup.
A few days ago, an official of the West Asia Football Federation (WAFF) even asked FIFA to disqualify China’s membership.
A person in charge of the WAFF secretariat told China’s Sports Weekly that he could see that gambling in soccer games is very serious. He held that the arrested even include the chairman and staff of China’s Football Association which makes him doubt if the Association should stay in FIFA.
The corruption in the Chinese Football Association is just one zit on China’s sporting world. Many other sports groups are equally infected. Corruption in the fields of finance, education, agriculture, and medicine are even worse than what we see in sports. What the outside world knows about corruption in China is only the tip of an iceberg.
One example that illustrates Wen’s point that “the outside world does not understand China’s situation” may be found in the experience of Claude Le Roy, who coaches Oman’s soccer team.
Le Roy used to teach soccer in Shanghai. He noticed that some major player’s performances in the games were very suspicious, but he didn’t understand why. Only later, after he left China, did he come to understand that corruption had caused the quality of China’s soccer to deteriorate. Now, when he looks back, he can’t believe he worked in such an environment, but at the time, he didn’t know what was going on.
Understanding China
Even western politicians and businessmen who deal a lot with the Chinese, or have lived in China for a long time, do not grasp many things about China.
The reason why the West does not understand China is that it considers and treats the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a legitimate political party. They never consider how this party has kidnapped China and its people and is now trying to kidnap the world. They have never understood the despicable means used by China’s officialdom. They don’t know of the countless crimes committed under this party and how many of them still continue.
Wen may be using the same words Western politicians use, but their intended meaning is entirely different, and is calculated to deceive.
When he said Chinese can go online and express their opinions, including criticism, he forgot to mention that most of the criticism will be deleted, and those users who are perceived as “provoking serious problems” will be arrested and punished.
Wen’s interview with CNN was not reported by any media in China. Even the premier’s words are blocked from the Chinese public.
When he said “Internet users in China have freedom of speech,” he himself likely did not believe his own words.
The question is, did the West believe them?
Some in the West who still have illusions about political reform under the CCP will start another round of discussion over Wen’s statements.
Some understand clearly that Wen’s remarks have no meaning and are merely made to deceive the foreign media and prolong the CCP’s weakening hold on power.
