Do you know that the Communist Party of China, which has been captured by country’s supreme leader Xi Jinping, who has emerged very rapidly in the economic and military fields of the world, was the same party that had imprisoned his father Xi Zhongxun in 1962. Xi Zhongxun was one of the most powerful members of the Communist Party, but Mao feared betrayal by him. That’s why he was tortured and lodged in jail as well. Such was the situation that Xi Jinping was also expelled from the school where the children of politicians used to study. Xi was not even getting party membership when he was young. He is now the uncrowned king. Clever dictator! Mao would not have even imagined this in his wildest dream. So, is this powerful dictator trying to put an end to Mao’s communism?
Though the attitude of the Communist Party of China towards its opponents has always been repressive, the party, however, saw to it that no person could become an unchallenged dictator. That is why a rule was framed in the 1990s that no person could hold the office of President for more than two terms. Xi cleverly made inroads into the party. He went on to deal with his opponents and grabbed the President’s chair in 2012. On the one hand, he instilled a dream in the minds of the Chinese and on the other hand adopted a strict policy that ensured no one could raise their voice. He became so powerful that even the party became secondary to him. The all-powerful Politburo dances to his tune.
In 1989, when thousands of Chinese youths demanding democracy were gunned down in Tiananmen Square, Xi was in charge of the party in faraway Fujian province and was instrumental in suppressing a local rebellion there. It is said that his brutality made him move fast in the party hierarchy. After that incident, I went to Tiananmen Square with the then Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. When asked, the people said nothing had happened. It’s all American propaganda! You will be surprised to know the massacre is not even mentioned in Chinese history. Such incidents have increased further under Xi’s rule. Protesters are banished overnight and nothing is known of them. Today this dictator has imprisoned lakhs of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province in the name of ‘re-education’. China has not only ended the autonomy of Hong Kong but also brutally and cleverly crushed the 2019 democracy movement. By enacting the National Security Act in 2020, the pro-democracy protests were put to an end.
In fact, the Chinese Parliament has now completely become a rubber stamp of Xi. Last Saturday itself, the Parliament elected Li Qiang, extremely loyal to Xi, as China’s premier. Let me tell you that the Zero Covid policy of China, due to which lakhs of people there became victims of starvation, was prepared by this Li Qiang. No one knows how many people died due to that policy.
You can also guess the grip of this dictator occupying the president’s chair from the fact that in 2017, a book based on Xi’s views was incorporated into the constitution. Earlier only the views of two leaders Mao and Deng Xiaoping found a place in the constitution. Today he has created such a situation that whatever comes out of his mouth becomes the law of China. Don’t know how many industrialists in China are currently in jail and how many have fled the country. No one knows the whereabouts of Jack Ma, who gave a new identity to the Chinese industry worldwide. Every medium of criticism has been eliminated. Top media outlets like Apple Daily and Stand News were also liquidated. What is left in the name of media is only the government media.
It is not for nothing that I said this man is not a president but a dangerous dictator. He doesn’t care about anyone’s life except his own. America has said that the Covid virus was originated in China and it created havoc in the world. Xi’s writ runs large in China. People have no religious freedom and the mosques and Buddhist temples are run secretly inside homes. On the one hand, Xi is letting loose a reign of suppression and repression on the people of China, and on the other, he is desperate to control the world. More than a hundred countries are trapped in China’s vicious cycle of debt. Be it Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Maldives, it has infiltrated everywhere. Look at his daredevilry that he has started challenging and browbeating America as well. Only last week, Xi threatened America that if needed, China would launch a full-scale war. You must have read that China’s balloon was flying in the skies of America for espionage. For espionage, he got an American plane and even opened it to inspect its spare parts. Certainly, the situation is more dangerous for India because it is our neighbour and has grabbed not only Tibet but also our land. It is not even allowing us to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. The danger for the world is that it has also severely subverted the relevance of United Nations. It is justifying the proverb of might is right. It is dominating through various means: on the strength of money, at point of a gun, on the strength of UN power, or on the strength of industrial production. Even today, more than 60% per cent of fertilizer in India is imported from China.
This dictator, who has become a fiend for the world, has already destroyed the civilisation of China and eliminated its scholars. He turned China into a big soulless market. He wants to paint the whole world in his colour. Is there anyone to tighten the screws on this dictator?
The author is the chairman, Editorial Board of Lokmat Media and former member of Rajya Sabha.