'..This exquisite totalitarian era has surpassed that of the Mao era in history. It is as barbaric and ferocious as Hitler’s rule. It could be even more ferocious than Hitler’s.
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What’s the second issue? Frankly, for thousands of years, Chinese society has been an imperial ruled society. People worshiped power. It was natural that power was not constrained. But people didn’t care; they only cared about whether this person was good or bad. There is a Western concept called “Stockholm Syndrome.” The abused would be grateful to the abuser at the slightest improvement of the situation. The victim appreciates the abuser. A person with Stockholm Syndrome does not change, because fundamentally he worships power and the authoritarian political system. It has become a deep-rooted cultural mindset within the society. This mindset is very different from that of the Western society. We can see that people in Western society are not afraid of power, rather, they want to oversee and restrain power.''..When power is highly centralized, any effort to reform technical, local, or applications of the system is just moot. .. I think they are incapable of removing Xi through the normal procedures. In my earlier discussion, I talked about whether the former Standing Committee members and the former Politburo members, current Standing Committee members, and current Politburo members could all sit down to have a meeting, in which the minority respects the decision made by the majority, and ask Xi to step down. I’d say, in fact, it is impossible to follow those rules. However, today’s China is complex and dynamic, both domestically and internationally. Maybe an emergency of some sort or an unexpected accident could trigger explosive changes. Maybe he would step down unexpectedly. Who knows?
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..ever since Xi took office in 2012, the party had wobbled unsteadily under his leadership. Whatever hopes for reforms we had were reversed. It has regressed back to totalitarianism. And in this new totalitarianism under Xi’s rule, there is one distinction that clearly differs from that of the 1990s and that of the Mao era. That is, the use of advanced technology. Strict surveillance enabled by big data. He can precisely monitor everyone. He can put you under 24/7 close surveillance .. Totalitarianism 3.0.
..A few years ago, some scholars in mainland China, a small group of us, already shared the same three views. However, some differences exist. Some scholars thought that we were already in the post-totalitarian era. In that view, the society has opened up to the outside world, and people are not as shut down as they used to be. A civil society is developing. However, some other scholars, myself included, felt that we were not in the post-totalitarian era at all; instead, we have regressed from authoritarian back to an era of “exquisite totalitarianism.” This exquisite totalitarian era has surpassed that of the Mao era in history. It is as barbaric and ferocious as Hitler’s rule. It could be even more ferocious than Hitler’s.
I summarized a few characteristics of “exquisite totalitarianism.” First, the high-tech, 24/7, comprehensive surveillance of the entire party and the entire society. Second, he forcefully suppresses different opinions within the party. From the totalitarian 1950s to the authoritarian 1980s and to the market economy of the 1990s, China’s political system has gradually loosened and given party cadres some room for corruption. Therefore, in such a system no one’s hands are clean. When you voice a different opinion, he can accuse you of corruption. He has been using this tactic to cleanse different opinions in the party.
Additionally, there are the “rules.” If he thinks that you have broken the “rules”, then you have committed serious crimes. But if you have done something that is not allowed in the system, but he deems it as fitting the “rules” in the party, then you have done a great job. By using the “rules” and anti-corruption tactics, he could overpower anyone and everyone within the party. Under such circumstances, the opposition within the party is unable to place any restrictions on his moves. This is the second characteristic of totalitarian rule.
The third characteristic lies within the society. We knew China does not have a sound legal system. In the CCP Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee, Xi said that CCP should rule the country in accordance with the laws. So, is it a right to pass many laws following his comment? It seemed so. However, what did he really do with the laws? He uses them as tools to oppress the people. More importantly, since the party has a monopoly on the country’s resources, it takes hold of everyone by their throat. What do I mean by that? Take Xu Zhangrun, the (Tsinghua) university professor that you all know. ‘After I fired you, no other universities would dare to hire you as a professor.’ He also uses this against many retired senior party members. ‘If you express different opinions, then I would take away your pension, cancel your retirement benefits.’ There is a good number of seniors who have to remain silent. He’s silencing them by the throat. Look at Inner Mongolia. Recently many Mongolian cadres stood up against him to safeguard their ethnic language. This is a right thing to do. But he said, if you do not send your children to school, you will lose your government job.
Moreover, in the past, I thought that if you hold a job outside of the party then you should be ok. You could be a business outside of the system. But no, he now uses class struggle slogans and calls the businessmen in the private sector “private capitalists.” Isn’t capitalist exploitation a crime? Then you will be discriminated against in the country’s politics. I can then use various reasons to oppress you.
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So, I want to be clear that a system like this cannot be reformed internally. It is impossible. Therefore, the system must be changed. The system must be completely discarded. If we use the term “liberalization,” then we’re talking about the liberalization of the entire 90 million party members. To free the 1.4 billion people from being kidnapped by the party, to liberate them, we must abandon this system.
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It makes sense to some degree. This is what I think. Many only see parts of the problems but not the roots deep down. Is there anything wrong with anti-corruption? No. But have you ever wondered why there are so many corrupt officials? Why do you only get another batch of corrupt officials after the previous ones were replaced? Only when you change the system can you truly be protected with job security and secure lives. This is something that people at the bottom of society cannot imagine. This is the first point. The so-called social elites shoulder more responsibilities. When we talk about the differences between the elites and the common public, this is where the difference lies. The elites should shoulder more responsibilities and more obligations. They must do so.
What’s the second issue? Frankly, for thousands of years, Chinese society has been an imperial ruled society. People worshiped power. It was natural that power was not constrained. But people didn’t care; they only cared about whether this person was good or bad. There is a Western concept called “Stockholm Syndrome.” The abused would be grateful to the abuser at the slightest improvement of the situation. The victim appreciates the abuser. A person with Stockholm Syndrome does not change, because fundamentally he worships power and the authoritarian political system. It has become a deep-rooted cultural mindset within the society. This mindset is very different from that of the Western society. We can see that people in Western society are not afraid of power, rather, they want to oversee and restrain power.
..
Let me tell you a story. Bo Xilai was abusing his power in Chongqing; he even killed a very well-known local businessman. Later we invited that man’s daughter to Inner Mongolia to speak with the Inner Mongolia business association. We talked about what businesses could do when political powers are abused. Do they push for political reforms or do they submit themselves to the powerful one? You know we had hoped, or we had expected, that the businessmen would have said that “we will join forces together to promote a national political reform.” But do you know what the businessmen said? They said, our force alone cannot beat them, so we can only protect ourselves. So, I felt there needs to be a process for political awareness to emerge and grow in society. Just because your income reaches the middle-class level doesn’t mean that you are then equipped with essential ideological and political qualities needed as the backbone of society. There is still room for that development in society.'
- Cai Xia (a former professor at the Chinese Communist Party's influential Central Party School, expelled from the CCP on Aug. 17, 2020),
Part I and
Part II, October 5 & 6, 2020
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