The Chinese Industrial Fire and the State of the Chinese Communist Party Today

The tragic fire in the Chinese chicken processing plant has made headlines worldwide. The news stories focus on the poor or non-existent safety standards in the plant - and all over China. But for me, that is not the news. The news is that there is real news coming out of China in the wake of the fire that killed more than 100 workers. We have seen a live Chinese 'news conference' where leaders in the region tried to explain what happened. We have seen live TV reports on site showing the charred building and Chinese firefighters still working to keep the smoldering ruin under control. We have had eyewitness reports of the panic when the fire broke out. Roll back 10 - even 5 - years. There would have been a carefully controlled Beijing report on the 'accident,' with no live coverage, no eyewitnesses - just a carefully orchestrated Chinese Communust Party story with only the barest of facts disclosed. ~~~~~ Dear readers, we need to think about this. The Chinese Communist Party is still in full control. The Party is the only political group allowed in China. There are still human rights abuses about which we have only the merest information - even though the Party has permitted the famous painter WeiWei to talk to the world through the internet while preventing him from attending the Venice Biennial where his works are being highlighted. All these repressive measures reflect a Communist elite in full control and able to suppress civil liberties at will. But consider the fire with news coverage opened to the world. It is another indication of the Chinese Communist Party's split personality. They must open up their society because they want to be a major world power. But they do not want social and economic freedom to spill over into politics. It is a highwire act of significant prowess. But Chinese Communist leaders surely know that they will eventually fall off the tightrope. Perhaps - and I say this with a very quiet voice - perhaps it is time to treat China as one of us. After all, diplomatic efforts to bring the Chinese Communists into compliance with world norms on currencies, personal liberties and trade fair-play can and should continue. But public chastening of their leaders probably only serves to drive otherwise freedom-searching Chinese citizens to defend their leaders out of a sense of national pride. Why not treat China as a 'normal' world player and by doing so, hasten the day when the Communist highwire snaps under the weight of TV cameras and the healing presence of western human values in the midst of the Chinese people, who are wise with the wisdom of their five thousand years of seeing all sorts of "isms" arrive, flourish and die.