Hope for China

As a Westerner, I am expressing my opinion from a far different perspective than my classmates. I have done much research to make sure that I am learning first before expressing my thoughts. If I were to blindly express my opinions on the way that China's government makes decisions then I would probably have nothing good to say about Communism, seeing as I am an American who believes strongly in freedoms of speech and the press. However, from my research I have gained a much better understanding for why China is the way it is today.

In my country we take pride in our freedoms. Personally, I come from a Christian family and our lives reflect the way that God discerns us through his word written in the Holy Bible. This means we live unashamedly, passionately pursuing his command to share the Gospel (福音) to others. Given my personal background, I may have an ethnocentric opinion. At the same time, I admire China very much. Their deep history shows how deserving they are to show their own patriotism. This patriotism was proven to me not only in the Beijing Olympics, but also in the recent 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

I would like to focus on state governance and how it relates to society today. Since Chairman Mao caught China's vision of becoming a utopia, the Chinese Communist Party has striven to bring the nation together in hopes of becoming modernized. It may be more than hope, but rather intent because China's sheer determination has proven to let there be no distractions or choice for ignoring its progressivism. A good example of this would be through the development of communes. Before the development of the communes, the state had much more social control. This, in my opinion, is because China was and still is extremely economically driven. They soon realized that embedding the work unit into the social body was not an effective tool for social control. This social control seems to be a strategy to get focused on Mao's vision of becoming modernized.

Reforming the danwei system by giving the people more autonomy was good for the people, but still not what they really needed in my opinion. This is just one of the many examples of how China has rapidly advanced it's society in the past 60 years. Although they started in coastal areas, the inland area is now already catching up. It's very impressive to see China, as Mao hoped, regain their wealth and power, dignity, international respect, and territorial integrity. Don't get me wrong - the CCP is legit and the majority of the Chinese have proven their loyalty to the party. Their massively industrialized cities such as Shenzhen are evidence of these strategies working quite well. According to TIME magazine's article "China at 60: The Road to Prosperity, China is the world's most populous and industrious nation, is the world's third largest economy and trading nation, has become a global innovator in science and technology, and is building a world-class university system. It has an increasingly modern military and commands diplomatic respect. It is at peace with its neighbors and all major powers."

I think China's government needs to cool down a little bit. Being mostly capitalist, their world view is continually progressing and beginning to reason. However, technological advancement is their main reasoning for how to make China a better place. When this becomes your main focus, people begin to face an identity crisis. Living for the market and not considering human rights denotes the value of human life. People living in China can't express their own individual opinions on how to make China a better place because they have to stay focused on the task at hand: "become modernized". China has yet to recognize the problems of market economy and capitalism and the importance of governing the people in respect to their freedoms of the press and speech. I really dislike the Chinese government censoring.

Living in Hong Kong for the past few months and visiting Tokyo a couple years ago has revealed to me how materialism can impact a society's livelihood. Chinese author K.K. Yeo in his recently published Chairman Mao meets the Apostle Paul states, "University students, Christian and non-Christian alike, have repeatedly told me of their fear that the pragmatism of capitalism, technological advancement, and economic modernization will lead to the neglect and robbing of China's ethical, spiritual, and relational wholeness." With the lack of nostalgia coming from Mao's visionary leadership, Chinese people can begin to question their purpose in life in regards to the fact that they seem to have already achieved modernization. Of course, I am mainly referring to those living in developed areas. The result can be depression or even suicide. Without a sense of meaning or an end goal, how can China have a healthy society?

I know that the CCP professes Atheism. They have tried and failed to abolish religion, and have now decided to protect the individual’s right to believe in Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Taoism, and Protestantism. Article 251 of the Criminal Law states: "State personnel, who unlawfully deprive citizens of their freedom of religious belief and infringe upon the customs and habits of minority ethnic groups, when the circumstances are serious, are to be sentenced to not more than two years of fixed-term imprisonment or criminal detention." Many westerners are unaware of the truth of religious freedom. Some still think that treatment is at the same level as it was during the Cultural Revolution. I, too, before researching thought this way. I am seeing signs of hope in China they are realizing how crucial it is to have religion in order to have a healthy society. However, in my opinion China is still struggling to find how they want to be seen by others. The state and its loyal citizens seem to be very patriotic, but also trying too hard to uphold secularism.

Secularism is not the answer. In my opinion, God is the answer. China can still keep its patriotism, but it needs to realize the imminence of something greater than technological advancement. What is best for the people is personal faith in the One who has all of the answers to life, not personal wealth which infects us with greed and temporarily pleases us inside. Personal faith gives people a sense of purpose. Love is a powerful thing. When someone experiences the love from God, human nature gives them the will power and internal desire to change lives. This love that I am talking about is contagious. If this love would transcend into the hearts of the government leaders, then they too could find individual purpose. Being convinced of eternal hope found in God's gift to the world of salvation through Jesus Christ will truly allow humanity to shine like the Sun. Money and assets, skyscrapers, a strong military, or even a strong leader as Mao cannot bring redemption to this lost world.

Although I try to focus on the big picture, I realize how difficult it would be for this politically run world to have a nation that solely relies on God. Even America, with "In God We Trust" on its dollar bill struggles to let God govern it's people. Because of this, I am reminded how faith in God must be personal. God speaks to us personally and desires to use his people to speak to the world. He doesn't choose to speak to all of China through the Chinese Communist Party. Before I get too off topic, I want to get to the point. China's government may be struggling with an identity crisis, but so is every other government. For that, I come to the conclusion that China is doing a wonderful job in governing its people. I just hope that they can become more receptive to the Gospel as it, too, does a wonderful job in bringing goodwill toward man and assisting us in our pursuit for happiness.