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Contemporary China and Contemporary Russia, A Dramatic Contrast
Guest Column | By Paul M. Weyrich | August 13, 2008
As I watched
the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games and witnessed the incredible images
created by the Chinese people, my mind flashed back to the late Boris Yeltsin
who imparted to me an insight on China which I thought would be of
interest. Yeltsin told me that he saw to it that the people of Russia
had political and religious freedom before they had any sort of economic
freedom. “Because I knew if they had those it would be harder to go back.”
There has been a retrenchment of freedom in Russia
but compared with what is gong on in China Yeltsin had it
right.
Yeltsin’s Chief
of Staff, Gennady Burbulous, told me that when Chinese leaders met with Yeltsin
they rebuked him, saying that they would retain control of China
for the Communists. The Chinese leaders told Yeltsin, “You will regret the day
you have given up control.” Followers of both Russia and China know that there are fewer freedoms in
Russia today than there were under
Yeltsin.
Yet compared
with China Russia is a bastion of freedom. While there are no longer independent
television stations in Russia, many Russians get signals
from various parts of the world. And there are many newspapers critical of the
government. Not so in China. The Russian people are rather
well informed about what is going on elsewhere in the world. Not so the Chinese.
The Chinese people hear only what the Chinese Government wants them to hear. It
is fairly easy to travel abroad from Russia. It is much more difficult for
the Chinese. There is some freedom of religion in Russia.
True, the Russian Orthodox Church is again the official religion of Russia
but other denominations are permitted to practice there. Not so in China.
Leaders there are persecuted for their religious beliefs.
Economic
conservatives in this country have argued for decades that economic freedom
inevitably leads to political freedom. Where is the proof? In ways China
has some economic freedom. Is there any political freedom? I am open to be
convinced but I can’t find any.
Russia fancies herself now as a major world power as she was before the fall of the
Soviet Union. We shall see. China
will be a major world power soon. But the Chinese people have no real say about
the direction of their government.
Many economic
conservatives in the USA celebrate because cheap Chinese
goods are available on the American market place. Millions of well-paying
American jobs have been exported to China. I know I am considered a
heretic in some circles because I would prefer to have those jobs here even if
we would find ourselves paying for the goods at a higher cost to the consumer.
Moreover, it concerns me greatly that China is financing our huge national
debt. We are beholden to the Chinese to the tune of trillions of
dollars.
Clearly
China is capable of becoming a
modern, powerful country. But it presently is a country in which freedom beyond
the market place is nearly non-existent. Yeltsin, for all his faults, was
correct. I doubt that Russia, despite the Cold War-type
rhetoric of its leaders, will be a real threat to the West, particularly since
its demographics are in steep decline. China is a different matter. Some of
its leaders have an active plan to get the USA out of Asia.
I am not sure our leaders take this threat seriously.
Paul Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.
© This column is the property of the Free Congress Foundation and may not be reproduced without their permission. For comments and inquiries, contact Phyllis E. Hughes at . Visit our website at http://www.FreeCongress.org.
Guest columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Accuracy in Media or its staff.
2 Comments | Post a Comment
I never been to Russia, but was in China twice. I think China is now more open than it’s used to be. Tourists are more comfortable with a lot of promotions on their tourism campaigns. We can find many 5*star or high standard hotels in Shanghai, Beijing or every head cities. They also encourage their people to adjust attitudes with foreigners. This will surely make a lot of impacts on the control their socialism in the future.
August 14 at 11:56 am | #1 | Link
Russia is still very firmly in the control of socialism, as one can see on even a brief tourist visit. Socialism guarantees that people have very few choices, with the government owning their homes, education, medical care, and their wages.
We have to defeat the American Socialist (Democrat) party or this is our destiny too.