Academic

AUSTIN BAY: Liu Xiaobo and the War for the Terms of Modernity. ?Beijing?s full-throttle propaganda?

By Glenn Reynolds

AUSTIN BAY: Liu Xiaobo and the War for the Terms of Modernity. “Beijing’s full-throttle propaganda, political and police overreaction speaks volumes about the party elites’ insecurity seeded by their failure to address China’s array of internal challenges. . . . The Chinese government’s heavy-handed reaction to Liu’s prize provides an insight into China’s great 21st century internal struggle. China’s economic success is impressive, but it teeters on a very iffy political deal. China’s privileged communist elites seek the benefits of economic liberalization (including free trade) without concomitant political liberalization. The blood of 2000 Chinese citizens slain at Tiananmen Square demonstrated the lengths the communists will go to enforce this bargain. China’s continued economic growth, however, requires modern technology and communications. The Internet is an essential economic tool, but one that frustrates an authoritarian government’s ability to deny or control information. Over time, an informed population becomes an opinionated population, and dissident opinions endanger the communists’ harsh bargain.”

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on October 13, 2010 (boomark / email).