陈凯论坛 Kai Chen Forum
不自由，毋宁死! Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!
陈凯博客 Kai Chen Blog: www.blogspot.com
陈凯电邮 Kai Chen Email: elecshadow@aol.com
陈凯电话 Kai Chen Telephone: 661-367-7556
America's founders understood clearly: American Constitution and her founding principles are written and established only for those with faith in God/Goodness, for those with Christian values and individual virtues. America's system and freedom can never be applied/achieved by those virtue-less, faithless "eunuslawhores". I only hope those so called "Chinese" understand this point/truth. Only truth shall set you free.
You are so right, Kai. America is synonymous with Liberty, not power nor wealth. Power and wealth are a consequence of America's rights and values.
America today is like a good family with a fine, exceptional really, home. But their heater is not working, the ducts are clogged, the house gets cold, the heater makes funny noises and upsets the family. They know repairmen but in spite of their assurances, they don't seem able to fix the heater. Then the family hears about this fabulous heater repairman. He has a reputation for fixing heaters expertly. So they hire him to come fix their problem. He arrives, talks a really long time of his heater's fixed, his successes, promises to fix theirs pronto. Then he goes to work, with a lot of noise, a lot of loud talking, and a number of trips to his truck. It's not pretty but he does appear to get the heater working and with a lot of fanfare and activity, gets the ducts cleared out. But he's tracked mud into the house, knocked over some precious items, scared the children with his bombast, and totally upset their homelife in short order, and done some serious damage. And to get at some of the ductwork he's broken some of the structure supporting the roof. While in the kitchen,he leans on the open refrigerator door and bends it. Spoiled food is later discovered. You get the idea... The heater system gets fixed, after a fashion, just as he bragged about so much, but the rest of his time in their wonderful house is a DISASTER. The family's sorry they ever heard of the guy! That heater repairman had no respect for their home, for their family life, just narrowly thought of himself as the heater expert, the hero. That's not enough.
"Power without moral compass is the most dangerous and destructive force that dooms mankind. Maybe "Lord of the Ring" can inspire you with my point." --- Kai Chen
As Rubio maintains: "America is great and has been great. " America's greatness is not defined by her power alone. America is great because it is good with a principled foundation - Human liberty and freedom. America is great not because of the stats or strength. America is great because of her values and meaningful existence.
It is not what Trump said that bothers me. It is what he always and consistently does not say: Despite his hugging the flag and wanting to 'make America great again", he fails thoroughly to understand and articulate what America stands for and what being an American means. Liberty/freedom has been lacking entirely in his speech. Trump wants power and power alone. He thinks only power defines America, not values. He believes "might makes right", not other way around.
Alarmingly, many Americans identify themselves with Trump's view of world and America. This is where dictatorship arises and endangers everyone's life and liberty. At the best, Trump is a nationalist, not a Conservative for liberty and freedom in society. At worst, Trump is trying to make enemies (he mixed China with Japan, not differentiate despotism and democracy) domestically and internationally. In Trump's world, like in most liberals' view, there is no right and wrong, truth and falsehood, good and evil. There is only power by strength/guns. Mao maintains the same world view. That is why I left China to look for a place with true values. I came to America. I fully understand in a gun/power dominated society, what a human being can become - zombies via a process of zombification by the government.
Indeed, America has never been perfect. Yet America has always been great, for America is the only country in the world guided not by tradition, language, religion, territory, etc.... America is guided by the eternal values/principles of mankind, manifested in the "Declaration of Independence" and "American Constitution with the Bill of Rights". America has always been under the guidance of divine moral compass, striving toward light and hope.
This is why I identify myself as an America since I was born. Only I was born in the wrong place. Trump can never represent me or America. I'd rather have Cruz, Carson, Rubio, Fiorina..., for they understand what America stands for and what being an American is all about.
"People" is only a collection of individuals. Only an individual is indivisible. America is "indivisible" for America is composed of individuals, not races and groups. Those who always identify themselves as first and foremost a member of a race or a group, is in essence never an "American" at all.
America is always Christian in nature, for being a Christian you cannot just be born. You must choose to follow the values and principles of Christ, not just join a church. Obama joined a "black liberation" church in Chicago, while this church preaches anti-Christ messages against America. Those who are for collective truth and freedom is actually only for "absolute power" by force and number.
"Only truth shall set you free" - Indeed, truth and freedom is only relevant to an individual. There is no such thing as collective truth and freedom. There is only God's truth and individual freedom - that is the true American spirit.
When slaves are first chased out of the cage to the open, some embrace the freedom and the possibility of happiness. Some others are simply frightened by the limitless possibilities in freedom. They feel totally lost, much like a blind person first opens his eyes after the surgery to recover his vision. They want to go back to the cage and the darkness, for in there they don't ever have to worry about where the food and shelter come from: Someone always provides those for them. A powerful slave-mindset drives them to yearn more for free stuff than for freedom to pursue happiness. Most Obama voters in the minority groups tend to belong to such category.
Much like Mao who understood the Chinese peasants, though he detested them in his private moments, and their yearning for an almighty emperor and peace under tyranny, Obama understands the slave mentality in his voting block - those who yearn to return to the cage and darkness. Obama then promised them the free stuff, though he didn't mention the cage and darkness, through his "hope and change" slogan: "You can get free phones, free cars, free houses...." Obama sends his powerful message via the leftist media and the closet communist supporters.
Yet the free stuff did not come after six years with Obama's promise - an actual deception to get the slaves' votes. Things get worse under Obama for the minority groups. They get frustrated and agitated. But it was they who put Obama in the office. So the slave crowd start to listen and believe to another Obama lie: "You haven't got the free stuff I promised, because of the obstruction from the Republicans. Even more, it is because American system is set against you. American freedom is your enemy."
I suspect that a family culture such as Michael Brown's propagated Obama's daily lies onto their children. And since after six years they haven't gotten the free stuff Obama promised, they extend to their kids: "Just go out there and take it. This is our American dream - our rights to take things from others (against the rights to keep what you have worked for and produced yourself)" So increasingly the slave-minded people will take American system as their enemy since in such a system no one is entitled of others' fruit of labor. So now the right to rob others, the right to loot others through a riot, the right to be deceived by the demagogues such as Obama, the right not to work but get free stuff have become the new rights with Obama's false promises and new calling to demolish American founding principles and system.
Obama set the fire and then pretended to extinguish the fire. This is not unlike Mao and the communists when they deceived the peasants by promising land for everyone. Then they turned around to have collectivized the land and made sure no one owns an inch of land. Today it is still the same in China - not an inch of land belongs to an individual citizen. Obama learned well from Mao and the communist regimes around the world - To control those slave-minded people, you just promise them "heaven on earth", then you blame imperialists, capitalists, individualists, selfishness of others..., for not delivering your promise. It has worked every time.
To the crowd of slave-minded people, I would say this: Obama is your worst nightmare by deceiving you with an illusion. I also am your worst nightmare by fighting for truth and American founding principles against the crowd like you. There is no hope for you to "fundamentally transform" America, for your idea of American dream through taking from others and free stuff from the government is evil in nature. You can never succeed, for evil has two enemies - good and evil itself (Obama and yourself), and good has only one enemy - evil. Give up your illusion of heaven on earth promised by Obama and join the humanity of freedom. This is your only salvation.
When slaves are first chased out of the cage to the open, some embrace the freedom and the possibility of happiness. Some others are simply frightened by the limitless possibilities in freedom. They feel totally lost, much like a blind person first open his eyes after the surgery to recover his vision. They want to go back to the cage and the darkness, for in there they don't ever have to worry about where the food and shelter come from: Someone always provides those for them. A powerful slave-mindset drives them to yearn more for free stuff than for freedom to pursue happiness. Most Obama voters in the minority groups tend to belong to such category.
Much like Mao who understood the Chinese peasants, though he detested them in his private moments, and their yearning for an almighty emperor and peace under tyranny, Obama understand the slave mentality in his voting block - those who yearn to return to the cage and darkness. Obama then promised them the free stuff, though he didn't mention the cage and darkness, through his "hope and change" slogan: "You can get free phones, free cars, free houses...." Obama sends his powerful message via the leftist media and the closet communist supporters.
Yet the free stuff did not come after six years with Obama's promise - an actual deception to get the slaves' votes. Things get worse under Obama for the minority groups. They get frustrated and agitated. But it was they who put Obama in the office. So the slave crowd start to listen and believe to another Obama lie: "You haven't got the free stuff I promised, because of the obstruction from the Republicans. Even more, it is because American system is set against you. American freedom is your enemy."
I suspect that a family culture such as Michael Brown's propagated Obama's daily lies onto their children. And since after six years they haven't gotten the free stuff Obama promised, they extend to their kids: "Just go out there and take it. This is our American dream - our rights to take things from others (against the rights to keep what you have worked for and produced yourself)" So increasingly the slave-minded people will take American system as their enemy since in such a system no one is entitled of others' fruit of labor. So now the right to rob others, the right to loot others through a riot, the right to be deceived by the demagogues such as Obama, the right not to work but get free stuff have become the new rights with Obama's false promises and new calling to demolish American founding principles and system.
Obama set the fire and then pretend to extinguish the fire. This is not unlike Mao and the communists when they deceived the peasants by promising land for everyone. Then they turned around to collectivizing the land and made no one owning an inch of land. Today it is still the same in China - not an inch of land belongs to an individual citizen. Obama learned well from Mao and the communist regimes around the world - To control those slave-minded people, you just promise them "heaven on earth", then you blame imperialists, capitalists, individualists, selfishness of others..., for not delivering your promise. It has worked every time.
To the crowd of slave-minded people, I would say this: Obama is your worst nightmare by deceiving you with an illusion. I also am your worst nightmore by fighting for truth and American founding principles against the crowd like you. There is no hope for you to "fundamentally transform" America, for your idea of American dream through taking from others and free stuff from the government is evil in nature. You can never succeed, for evil has two enemies - good and evil itself (Obama and yourself), and good has only one enemy - evil. Give up your illusion of heaven on earth promised by Obama and join the humanity of freedom. This is your only salvation.
When slaves are first chased out of the cage to the open, some embrace the freedom and the possibility of happiness. Some others are simply frightened by the limitless possibilities in freedom. They feel totally lost, much like a blind person first open his eyes after the surgery to recover his vision. They want to go back to the cage and the darkness, for in there they don't ever have to worry about where the food and shelter come from: Someone always provides those for them. A powerful slave-mindset drives them to yearn more for free stuff than for freedom to pursue happiness. Most Obama voters in the minority groups tend to belong to such category.
Much like Mao who understood the Chinese peasants, though he detested them in his private moments, and their yearning for an almighty emperor and peace under tyranny, Obama understand the slave mentality in his voting block - those who yearn to return to the cage and darkness. Obama then promised them the free stuff, though he didn't mention the cage and darkness, through his "hope and change" slogan: "You can get free phones, free cars, free houses...." Obama sends his powerful message via the leftist media and the closet communist supporters.
Yet the free stuff did not come after six years with Obama's promise - an actual deception to get the slaves' votes. Things get worse under Obama for the minority groups. They get frustrated and agitated. But it was they who put Obama in the office. So the slave crowd start to listen and believe to another Obama lie: "You haven't got the free stuff I promised, because of the obstruction from the Republicans. Even more, it is because American system is set against you. American freedom is your enemy."
I suspect that a family culture such as Michael Brown's propagated Obama's daily lies onto their children. And since after six years they haven't gotten the free stuff Obama promised, they extend to their kids: "Just go out there and take it. This is our American dream - our rights to take things from others (against the rights to keep what you have worked for and produced yourself)" So increasingly the slave-minded people will take American system as their enemy since in such a system no one is entitled of others' fruit of labor. So now the right to rob others, the right to loot others through a riot, the right to be deceived by the demagogues such as Obama, the right not to work but get free stuff have become the new rights with Obama's false promises and new calling to demolish American founding principles and system.
Obama set the fire and then pretend to extinguish the fire. This is not unlike Mao and the communists when they deceived the peasants by promising land for everyone. Then they turned around to collectivizing the land and made no one owning an inch of land. Today it is still the same in China - not an inch of land belongs to an individual citizen. Obama learned well from Mao and the communist regimes around the world - To control those slave-minded people, you just promise them "heaven on earth", then you blame imperialists, capitalists, individualists, selfishness of others..., for not delivering your promise. It has worked every time.
To the crowd of slave-minded people, I would say this: Obama is your worst nightmare by deceiving you with an illusion. I also am your worst nightmore by fighting for truth and American founding principles against the crowd like you. There is no hope for you to "fundamentally transform" America, for your idea of American dream through taking from others and free stuff from the government is evil in nature. You can never succeed, for evil has two enemies - good and evil itself (Obama and yourself), and good has only one enemy - evil. Give up your illusion of heaven on earth promised by Obama and join the humanity of freedom. This is your only salvation.
Victims always need excuses to become villians. Secretly yearning to victimize others is always on the victim's mind. This truth goes with the black community in America as much as those slave-minded people in China who use nationalism as an excuse to support a regime that kills so many. Making excuses is an easy short-cut not to tackle the real issues - the slave mentality of always wanting to be masters of others.
Even though I am an “anti-communist” crusader, most anti-communists in the Chinese community both in China and overseas don’t like the questions I ask in my effort to pursue truth. Most anti-communists in the Chinese community want only to get rid of the communist regime/government. They blame everything on Mao and the regime’s tyranny and corruption. But my questions make them very uncomfortable:
What causes the never-ending Chinese despotic dynastic-cycle? Why do the Chinese always yearn for a savior in their life to solve their pain and suffering? Who have enabled Mao and the communists to usurp power and maintain the murderous regime for so long? If the Chinese culture is so great, why does it fail to prevent tyranny from happening and curb evil tyrants every time? Why is the Chinese society today still mired in a hopelessness and helplessness? Does everyone of us bear any responsibility in this gigantic human tragedy called China?
During Mao’s Cultural Revolution, I was a teenager who was forced/pushed into the murderous torrent: For fear of my own safety, I joined my fellow students in struggling my teachers. One of them died as a result of the torture and torment. I still have painful recollections and a deep sense of remorse from time to time: I do and I should bear my responsibility as an individual, as a fearful being, as a guilty enabler of evil in this gigantic human tragedy and atrocity – Mao’s Cultural Revolution.
Back to Ferguson’s tragedy and riots: What are the right questions to ask? Is it always, as the so-called black “civil rights” leaders forever framed, the issue of “white establishment oppressing the blacks and making their lives miserable and hopeless? Why does this question’s premise (one’s misery and suffering is always because of circumstances, history and others’ evil intention) go nowhere and become nothing but a nihilistic pursuit? Maybe the true questions should be:
Where does a family culture of violence and taking advantage of each other come from? Why does a man-eating cycle of victim-villain last in the black community? Is the victim also a villain in the Michael Brown case? If the truth is affirmative of this fact, then what causes MB to have become such a bully/robber that led to his own irrational confrontation with the police and eventually his own death? Maybe a more salient question should be:
Does the ubiquitous “Political Correctness” prevent American society which is established on seeking truth with individual liberty from asking these relevant and essential questions?
In my own personal experience with tyranny and a culture/a mindset of slaves in China, I often see a parallel in the cycle of victim-villain in the black community in America: People, due to their being brainwashed by their own political elite, their own fear of truth, their ignorance of their own true history, fail to ask the right questions. Therefore, their misery and plight is nothing but a never-ending cycle of their own making – a failure of individual responsibility, in another word, a failure to take control of their own individual lives and prevent themselves from become the part of man-eating cycle. In their eagerness to blame others, to blame circumstances, to blame history, people forget the truth that they are free beings with freedom of choices: Today, at this moment, you can choose not to be controlled by others, no matter how powerful they are. Today, at this moment, you can choose to recover the original meaning of life endowed upon you by God. Today, at this moment, you can make the painful but hopeful choice of moving forward on the path of freedom with a moral compass from your conscience, with a powerful tool of reason and logic. Today, at this moment, you can bid farewell to your own man-eating societal and family culture of despair and start a new life of individual with integrity and responsibility. Today, at this moment, you can be just like me – a person born into despotic tyranny, raised by communist brainwashing propaganda and the paralyzing Chinese nihilistic family culture of slavery - make your own choice to break the shackle in your mind/soul, to shout on top of your lungs: I am a free being! I can’t take this nonsense anymore!
If I can be free, can have dignity, can find true happiness, you can as well.
"Being American" in the Kai Chen sense of those words, Marc Stigeler, is absolutely the greatest thing in the world. He means that in terms of America's founding values which enshrine the individual man as sovereign.
Being American, truly American in the Kai Chen sense, is recognizing, no matter where on the globe one may be, that each human is endowed at birth with a human nature that no other man can take from us, and which provides us all with the opportunity to reach as far and as high as we can for ourselves, as free and unique individuals. These values - the inalienable, God-given right of each man to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness according to his nature - define "freedom."
Unfortunately, growing numbers on the national soil are not "American" at all in the sense Kai refers to, as we are rapidly abandoning the founding values and ceding our freedom to a government which no longer protects our individualism as is its legitimate function, but which instead increasingly attempts to destroy our nature and to make individuals subservient to some government-chosen way of life which would require us to conform by shedding or suppressing our inalienable individual liberties. Being American in spirit, no matter where one is born, is the greatest thing in the world because it means that at least in mind, you are truly free.
Being AN American, is not the same thing, necessarily. More and more, being AN American is living without freedom possessed by Americans of mind.
Kai Chen's remark on individual identity: 陈凯短评/个体认同：
I came to the US in 1981 and during the Reagan years, I studied English and graduated from UCLA in political science (my effort to understand American culture and system). Eventually I made my conclusion on my own individual identity: I was born already an American, only born in the wrong place. I would say this to all the individuals around the world: If you value life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, you are already an American. You don't have to explain to anyone about your identity. You just have to live it.
In 1989 when I stood on the Tiananmen Square witnessing the Martial Law being implemented, I realized that I as an individual who yearns for freedom and true happiness, had nothing to do with China as a culture and a system. I had everything in my fiber of existence to identify with America - my true home, the home of my soul. May God bless this great nation.
If you want to know more about me, read my memoir - "One in a Billion - Journey toward Freedom.
Obama has fast become not only a joke in modern American political history, but an endangerment to the underclass he proclaimed to save:
By lying, cheating, falsehood, empty promises, political expediency, by setting an example of nihilism and Machiavellian "end justifying means", Obama has actively, maybe purposefully, been creating an permanent underclass - an underclass Not just in material sense, but in a spiritual sense. By going 180 degrees to the opposite of what he claims not to do because of US constitutional constraints, Obama was actually telling the minorities, the poor, women and those who wrongfully voted for him: In finance, you can lie to get a loan; in commerce, you can cut corners to sell a product; in politics, you can deceive to get elected; in school, you can cheat to get a good grade; in athletics, you can take shortcut to become Michael Jordan; in life, you can just beg, manipulate, threat, blackmail, extort to control people's emotions, to appeal to their weakness and fear to get what you want. "See me, I cheated all the way to the White House."
The fiasco of Obama presidency has but one clear message, same as that from all socialist/communist societies:
Americans, or mankind by the same token, is stupid and weak, as Gruberism has taught us, as Obama's absolute lack of honesty, integrity and competence showed us: You can succeed by setting the people you claim to help to fail. Thus you create spiritual cripples in society - a permanent underclass with shrewdness but no intelligence, no wisdom and no moral compass. Then you can extort others with your total incapacity to do anything in a real world -- That is called "paying your fair share". No wonder there is a riot brewing in Ferguson based on propaganda and non-reality. People's attention is focused on not improving themselves by their own moral characters, integrity and effort, but on threatening others and extorting from others through fear, intimidation, helplessness and pity...
To the minorities, the poor, the under-privileged, I would say this: Obama is your worst nightmare to your family and your children, for they can all now look at Obama and say to themselves: "If Obama can lie and cheat his way to the White House, so can I." If this is what you envision your children to be like, go ahead and follow Obama's example. But there is indeed reality and a free world out there you must deal with. It is not by any government rules or people like Obama's wishes. It is by a high being that you may not recognize but governs us all.
May God bless this great nation founded not by those in power, but by God's moral principles. I still believe: We Americans will overcome.
Back to top View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
If you still don't quite grasp the motive why the Chinese communist party-dynasty attempts to spread Confucius Institutes/Classrooms around the world, I now give you a parallel of Islamic "Jihad" against the infidels (those who still have conscience and soul):
Islamic Jihadists aim to convert the unbelievers by force and threat of violence. If you don't believe, they will kill you physically by beheading, mutilation and murder. Confucianism, with spread of Confucius Institutes/Classrooms under the auspice of the Chinese communist regime, is more insidious and effective to castrate a person emotionally, mentally and spiritually, making one nothing but a walking-dead. This is often done before one even realizes he/she is dying inside, gradually becoming nothing buy an empty shell.
Power by authority, with no moral constraints, is the central theme of Confucianism. Everything and everyone is made a subject of the power structure by force and threat of violence, with a seemingly benigh appearance. Once you become a convert of Confucian zombie, you will act to Confucianize others, starting from your own family by making them your own subjects. The zombification thus spreads exponantially.
Confucianism's insidiousness often starts from making one study Chinese character-based syllabic language, copying and mimicking everything the Chinese ancestors have done and invented. One's individuality gradually disappear in this process. All one focuses on is to obey and not to offend the authority. One's unique meaning by God thus forever is erased as one's sole purpose in life becomes serving the authority/government only.
The dehumanization process goes painlessly in physical sense as one loses his/her creativity, imagination, love and capacity to truly feel and enjoy life. Yet the castration of one's humanity is achieved with a mind-numbing spiritual drug, powerfully comforting yet effectively dehumanizing.
By eliminating a person's soul/conscience to judge what is right or wrong, good or evil, truth or falsehood, Confucianism instills a person nothing but an instinct and infinite shrewdness for power struggle. He/she will judge everything by inside/outside, strong/weak, male/female, power/powerless, friend/enemy, family/stranger, etc....
The billions of dollars the Chinese party-dynasty has spent around the world to establish Confucius Institutes/Classrooms is with only one purpose - to secure its grip of power and to legitimize its own criminal authority. The evil regime has waged Jihad Chinese style on the world and against humanity for a decade already. Now some Western educational authorities start to wake up to its true purpose by the Chinese regime. I only hope more and more people will wake up from their "political correct" nightmare and "cultural equality", and start a fight to protect their own soul and conscience from this insidious assult rooted in ancient despotic Chinese culture.
Be vigilant, people. Freedom is indeed never free.
1970-1971 Trainee, Chinese National Sports & Athletics Commission Youth Training Camp. Member, Chinese National Basketball Team (“B” Team”), Beijing. Member, Guangzhou Military District Basketball Team. 国家体委青少年集训营，中国国家青年队， 广州军区篮球队
1971-1973 Member, Jilin Provincial Basketball Team. Member, Shenyang Military District Basketball Team. Soldier (rank equivalent to private), 39th Army. 吉林省篮球队，沈阳军区篮球队，三十九军士兵，辽宁省
1973-1979 Military officer (rank equivalent to Captain). Member, August 1st Basketball Team and Chinese National Basketball Team. 解放军军官，八一男篮队员， 中国国家男篮队员
1979-1981 Student, Beijing Institute of Physical Culture. 北京体育学院学生
1981-Present Resident of the United States of America. Citizen of the United States of America. Student, Cypress College, California. Student, Santa Monica College, California. UCLA graduate in Political Science, BA received 1986. 美国居民，美国公民，Cypress College 学生，Santa Monica College 学生， UCLA 政治科学系本科毕业生
TRAVEL ABROAD 世界游历
1973 Pakistan. Member, Chinese Armed Forces Basketball Team. 出访巴基斯坦， 八一男篮
1974 Iran. Member, Chinese Armed Forces Basketball Team. 出访伊朗， 八一男篮
1975 Mexico, Argentina, Japan. Represented Chinese National Team (“B” Team) in tournament with Mexico and the United States. 出访，（经日本），墨西哥，阿根廷， 中国男篮 （八一队代表）
Romania. Member, Chinese Armed Forces Basketball Team. 出访罗马尼亚， 八一男篮
1976 Afghanistan. Games in celebration of Afghanistan National Day. Member, Chinese National Basketball Team. 出访阿富汗，中国男篮（八一队代表）
France. Member, Chinese Armed Forces Basketball Team. 出访法国， 八一男篮
1977 Turkey. Member, Chinese National Basketball Team (“B” Team). 出访土耳其， 中国男篮 （武汉军区男篮代表）
1978 Syria. World Armed Forces Basketball Championship. Member, Chinese Armed Forces Basketball Team. 叙利亚，世界军队锦标赛， 八一男篮
Philippines. 8th Men’s World Basketball Championship. Member, Chinese National Basketball Team. 菲律宾， 第八届世界男篮锦标赛，中国国家男篮
United States of America. Member, Chinese National Basketball Team. 出访美国， 中国国家男篮
Thailand. 8th Asian Games. Member, Chinese National Basketball Team. 曼谷，泰国， 第八届亚运会， 中国国家男篮
2007-2008 Olympic Freedom Run - Ten cities in four continents (America, Canada, Germany, Australia, Taiwan) 2007-2008 奥运自由长跑 - 四大洲十个城市 （美国，加拿大，德国，澳大利亚，台湾）
HONORS 荣誉
1974 First Place, Chinese National Basketball Championships. 全国联赛第一名
1975 First place, 3rd Chinese National Games. 第三届全运会第一名
Merit Citation Class III, awarded by the People’s Liberation Army Delegation to the 3rd Chinese National Games. 三等功，第三届全运会
1978 First Place, 8th Asian Games. 第八届亚运会第一名
Merit Citation Class II, awarded by the Chinese National Sports & Athletics Commission for 8th Asian Games. 二等功， 第八届亚运会
1981 Awarded the designation of Master Sportsman by the Chinese National Sports & Athletics Commission. 授“运动健将”称号
1983 Dean’s honor list, Santa Monica College. 校长荣誉名单榜人
1987 Awarded membership in Pi Gamma Mu, UCLA. 社会科学荣誉社团榜人
MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENTS PARTICIPATION AND WITNESS 历史事件的目击与参与：
1976 Witnessing the first Tiananmen Protest and photos taken but seized by the Chinese authority 参与目击了一九七六年天安门事件
1989 Witnessing the Tiananmen Square Protest and Massacre 参与目击了一九八九年天安门事件/惨案
1993 Wrote autobiographical book “ONE IN A BILLION”. 撰写自传故事 ”一比十亿 -- 通向自由的旅程，一个中国职篮球员的故事“ （ One in a Billion -- Journey toward Freedom, the story of a pro basketball player in China) http://www.amazon.com/One-Billion-Journe...m/dp/1425985025
2006 Protest against Mao's portrait in Alhambra's City Hall 自发抗议在阿罕布拉市市政厅展出毛像
2007 Initiate "Olympic Freedom Run" before the 2008 Beijing Olympics, calling for the world not to forget Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989 始发了“奥运自由长跑” 与 “奥运自由衫” 运动，呼吁世界良知不要忘记八九六四天安门屠杀
2009 Protest against Mao's statue in the Nixon Presidential Library 自发抗议在尼克松图书馆展出的毛塑像
2010 Protest Mao's Kitchen in Hollywood 自发抗议在好莱坞的“毛厨房”
2011 Protest "Confucius Classroom" in Hacienda La Puente school district 自发抗议哈岗学区引入“孔学堂”
MARRIAGE & FAMILY 婚姻与家庭
1981 Married to Susan Grueneberg, 2012 Divorced 1981年与郭素珊女士结婚，2012年离婚
Two Daughters 两个女儿:
Alexandra Chen 陈影 - Born 11/20/1986. Graduated from Yale University 2008. Currently attending University of Michigan in Architecture.
Dominique Chen 陈醒 - Born 10/6/1990. Graduated from Brandeis University 2012 in Film & Philosophy. Currently working in the film industry in Los Angeles.
2014 Married to Fiona Zhao with three stepchildren: Lawrence (15), David (8), Celina (5) 2014年与赵枫女士结婚，两个继子: Lawrence 15岁 and David 八岁，一个继女： Celina 五岁.
Below are the questions I hope you could answer for the article.
-Why do you oppose Confucius Institutes?
There are many reasons: First it is the Confucianism itself. It is a despotic doctrine every dynasty has to adhere to stabilize its reign over the population: Confucianism artificially divides the population by the individual's ascribed identity, not by the achieved identity. By such a doctrine, each dynasty does not have to worry or allow the population to question its legitimacy. It just demands the population to behave according to each individual's birth by social status, by gender, by age, by trade, etc. It is the ultimate "Rule by Law" in which the government is the ultimate arbiter to judge and control the individual, as against "Rule of Law" in which the government has to abide with the law to ensure God-given rights for its citizens. I have examined the Confucius Classrooms' material provided by the communist regime. I couldn't believe my eyes seeing so many brainwashing stories aimed at creating new zombies in the West and America.
Secondly, the communist dynasty establishes CIs to do only one thing - to muddle the world's conscience by making the world believe that there is no such thing as freedom, as free will. Each individual has already been predestined by his/hers ascribed identity from birth. By perverting the West with its tradition of rule of law, Beijing's rulers will feel safe seeing the world become just as dark, as confused, as morally muddle-headed as the Chinese population. In other words, if the entire world is polluted, no one will notice China's stink.
Thirdly, the communist regime can use Chinese language education by CIs as a pretense to identify potential communist regime's sympathizers, especially those with potential to hold positions in the US and Western governments. Also the regime can use CIs in US and Western universities and colleges to collect valuable economic, political, military, scientific information, making CIs as a legitimate/legal spy outposts.
-Do you think they pose a threat to academic freedom on campus? Do you think this is China's way of utilizing soft power?
Freedom means one is free to exercising his/her own natural right by God. Freedom does not mean one has the "rights" to restrict, interfere and control another person's thought. CIs precisely want to accomplish the latter. By restricting the information the students should seek, by distorting China's history (omitting subjects such as Mao's crimes against humanity - Great Leap Forward/Great Famine in which 45 million innocent people perished, the Cultural Revolution, Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, persecution of dissidents such as Liu Xiaobo and Fa Lungong practitioners, the atrocities due to China's "One Child" policy, etc.., CIs function as a brainwashing machine to make soulless zombies. Anyone who questions the regime's legitimacy will be ruthlessly repressed and persecuted.
China's has no soft power, for the Chinese regime was established on Mao's principle of "power comes only from guns and violence". A criminal regime that has no legitimacy and moral foundation will have no such thing as "soft power" which implies respect of an individual's free will. If you don't comply with the communist dynasty's version of history, you will be punished. That is "hard power".
-A representative from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said the institutes are part of a larger plan to change the image of China in the west, when students are forming their opinions on the world. Do you agree?
Not entirely. Using offense as defense is a traditional Chinese tactic learned from dynasties of wars and intrigues. China, to protect its own communist dynasty, is actively engaged in changing the world according to the Chinese/Confucian mindset of despotism and tyranny. If the West and America are perverted by the mind-warping Chinese propaganda machine - the CIs (and the CCs - Confucius Classrooms to pervert American younger students' mind, then China will be safe and the regime's power secured. If America remains free with a strong moral foundation, then China, and the tyrannies around the world for that matter, will be endangered and their days will be numbered.
China does not care about the image it poses around the world. China cares great deal about imposing its own despotic version of history and its tyrannical vision around the world. If you go to China, you will find that the population has no soul. Most people worship only power. They care nothing about right or wrong, good or evil, truth or falsehood. That is why Mao's image is still being worshipped and revered. Most people believe in China that to curb evil, you don't need good. You need only bigger evil.
-Other countries including France, Germany, and the UK have institutes on campuses and corporations also donate money to schools. Do you oppose these sorts of organizations as well?
Anything projected by the Chinese government which is criminal and evil in nature should be objected by all countries and peoples with conscience and soul. What has been worrying me since I came to America is seeing that Americans, evidenced by the election of Obama, gradually forget what this great nation was established for. When Ronald Reagan was the President, every time he went to USSR, he demanded to meet with the dissidents first. He believed in the meaning and the provident existence of America by God. He talked over the tyrants to the people. He was right. But nowadays, America is in mortal danger, precisely because no President since Reagan has ever talked to the oppressed people with America's founding principles. They'd rather talk with the governments that oppress their people. This tendency since Reagan has greatly weakened America's soft power around the world, and has subtly and effectively perverted not only the images of America, but the moral essence by which America has lived.
Today, Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, still sits in the Chinese jail for wanting freedom for the Chinese. Yet no Presidents of America utter any words to praise him and his spirit, for fear of the Chinese regime and for conforming with that omnipresent "political correctness". Cultures are never equal. Religions are never equal, languages are never equal, political institutions are never equal..., for they are all man-made. America's culture, language and religious background is the most close to the universal human aspirations. Therefore, America must be obliged by a moral duty to spread freedom around the world. It is not only for all the countries' good. It is fundamentally for America's health, meaning and security.
-Confucius Institutes often claim they have no influence over academics, but can rather only be involved in extracurricular programs. Do you buy into this claim?
Of course not. First, all languages carry values by themselves. The Chinese language carries a great deal of moral confusion, anti-reason illogic and despotic hierarchy in itself. It should only be studied as an art form or as an ancient linguistic phenomenon, never as a communication tool. Please check books written by William Hannas on Chinese character-based syllabic language's defects.
Do you believe any treaty made with despots and tyrants will be carried out, as the one between Hitler and Stalin? If not, then don't ever believe a word made by the Chinese government.
-UChicago and PennState recently eliminated their institutes. Do you think this is a step in the right direction?
Absolutely. It is only a logical extension of common sense. If you make a deal with the devil, you will bear all the consequences of the deal. When people start to realize the evil and insidious nature of CIs, they will logically rethink about their position of China as a normal country. The truth is: China has never been a nation state, as so many in the West imagines of fantasized. China has, from the ancient time when it came into existence, always been a despotic dynasty. Today's China? A communist party-dynasty that is just like any other dynasty in Chinese history that observes no rules but only power, that observes no borders but subjects, that has never had any moral foundation to seek freedom and happiness for its citizens, but to impose despotic rules over its population and all the subjects around its neighborhood. If possible, the party dynasty will impose its perverted culture and atrocious rule over the world.
-Anything else you would like to add?
I think I have said enough for now. But if you have any question, you can always call me or email me. I have not edited my answers. I only hope you understand my English.
Jay: I now forward this article I wrote about Hong Kong's protests. Hope this will supplement my answers to your questions.
I am worried about America, seeing so many in America losing the founding principles, divine to mankind, of America. I, as an immigrant from a despotic country, want to wake up America to this mortal danger - a numbness and a moral confusion permeated in today's society. I will do my best, my moral duty, to alert America of this danger: As long as America is free with its founding principles intact, no despots and tyrants will feel safe, no matter how powerful they are. But if America is perverted with its founding principles subverted for no apparent reason, then the world's despots and tyrants will feel safe. And the world may be thrust into another dark ages that may last decades, even centuries.
We are at a crossroad and America must wake up to redeem herself from her recent confusion and blunder by negligence and willful dereliction of her duty by God to the world. Without America moral leadership, mankind is in deep moral confusion without direction. Recent development around the world has demonstrated my point.
If you want me to add something to my answers to your questions, above are the words from my heart.
Best and send me a link if your article is published. Kai Chen
Below are the questions I hope you could answer for the article.
-Why do you oppose Confucius Institutes?
There are many reasons: First it is the Confucianism itself. It is a despotic doctrine every dynasty has to adhere to stabilize its reign over the population: Confucianism artificially divides the population by the individual's ascribed identity, not by the achieved identity. By such a doctrine, each dynasty does not have to worry or allow the population to question its legitimacy. It just demands the population to behave according to each individual's birth by social status, by gender, by age, by trade, etc. It is the ultimate "Rule by Law" in which the government is the ultimate arbiter to judge and control the individual, as against "Rule of Law" in which the government has to abide with the law to ensure God-given rights for its citizens. I have examined the Confucius Classrooms' material provided by the communist regime. I couldn't believe my eyes seeing so many brainwashing stories aimed at creating new zombies in the West and America.
Secondly, the communist dynasty establishes CIs to do only one thing - to muddle the world's conscience by making the world believe that there is no such thing as freedom, as free will. Each individual has already been predestined by his/hers ascribed identity from birth. By perverting the West with its tradition of rule of law, Beijing's rulers will feel safe seeing the world become just as dark, as confused, as morally muddle-headed as the Chinese population. In other words, if the entire world is polluted, no one will notice China's stink.
Thirdly, the communist regime can use Chinese language education by CIs as a pretense to identify potential communist regime's sympathizers, especially those with potential to hold positions in the US and Western governments. Also the regime can use CIs in US and Western universities and colleges to collect valuable economic, political, military, scientific information, making CIs as a legitimate/legal spy outposts.
-Do you think they pose a threat to academic freedom on campus? Do you think this is China's way of utilizing soft power?
Freedom means one is free to exercising his/her own natural right by God. Freedom does not mean one has the "rights" to restrict, interfere and control another person's thought. CIs precisely want to accomplish the latter. By restricting the information the students should seek, by distorting China's history (omitting subjects such as Mao's crimes against humanity - Great Leap Forward/Great Famine in which 45 million innocent people perished, the Cultural Revolution, Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, persecution of dissidents such as Liu Xiaobo and Fa Lungong practitioners, the atrocities due to China's "One Child" policy, etc.., CIs function as a brainwashing machine to make soulless zombies. Anyone who questions the regime's legitimacy will be ruthlessly repressed and persecuted.
China's has no soft power, for the Chinese regime was established on Mao's principle of "power comes only from guns and violence". A criminal regime that has no legitimacy and moral foundation will have no such thing as "soft power" which implies respect of an individual's free will. If you don't comply with the communist dynasty's version of history, you will be punished. That is "hard power".
-A representative from Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said the institutes are part of a larger plan to change the image of China in the west, when students are forming their opinions on the world. Do you agree?
Not entirely. Using offense as defense is a traditional Chinese tactic learned from dynasties of wars and intrigues. China, to protect its own communist dynasty, is actively engaged in changing the world according to the Chinese/Confucian mindset of despotism and tyranny. If the West and America are perverted by the mind-warping Chinese propaganda machine - the CIs (and the CCs - Confucius Classrooms to pervert American younger students' mind, then China will be safe and the regime's power secured. If America remains free with a strong moral foundation, then China, and the tyrannies around the world for that matter, will be endangered and their days will be numbered.
China does not care about the image it poses around the world. China cares great deal about imposing its own despotic version of history and its tyrannical vision around the world. If you go to China, you will find that the population has no soul. Most people worship only power. They care nothing about right or wrong, good or evil, truth or falsehood. That is why Mao's image is still being worshipped and revered. Most people believe in China that to curb evil, you don't need good. You need only bigger evil.
-Other countries including France, Germany, and the UK have institutes on campuses and corporations also donate money to schools. Do you oppose these sorts of organizations as well?
Anything projected by the Chinese government which is criminal and evil in nature should be objected by all countries and peoples with conscience and soul. What has been worrying me since I came to America is seeing that Americans, evidenced by the election of Obama, gradually forget what this great nation was established for. When Ronald Reagan was the President, every time he went to USSR, he demanded to meet with the dissidents first. He believed in the meaning and the provident existence of America by God. He talked over the tyrants to the people. He was right. But nowadays, America is in mortal danger, precisely because no President since Reagan has ever talked to the oppressed people with America's founding principles. They'd rather talk with the governments that oppress their people. This tendency since Reagan has greatly weakened America's soft power around the world, and has subtly and effectively perverted not only the images of America, but the moral essence by which America has lived.
Today, Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, still sits in the Chinese jail for wanting freedom for the Chinese. Yet no Presidents of America utter any words to praise him and his spirit, for fear of the Chinese regime and for conforming with that omnipresent "political correctness". Cultures are never equal. Religions are never equal, languages are never equal, political institutions are never equal..., for they are all man-made. America's culture, language and religious background is the most close to the universal human aspirations. Therefore, America must be obliged by a moral duty to spread freedom around the world. It is not only for all the countries' good. It is fundamentally for America's health, meaning and security.
-Confucius Institutes often claim they have no influence over academics, but can rather only be involved in extracurricular programs. Do you buy into this claim?
Of course not. First, all languages carry values by themselves. The Chinese language carries a great deal of moral confusion, anti-reason illogic and despotic hierarchy in itself. It should only be studied as an art form or as an ancient linguistic phenomenon, never as a communication tool. Please check books written by William Hannas on Chinese character-based syllabic language's defects.
Do you believe any treaty made with despots and tyrants will be carried out, as the one between Hitler and Stalin? If not, then don't ever believe a word made by the Chinese government.
-UChicago and PennState recently eliminated their institutes. Do you think this is a step in the right direction?
Absolutely. It is only a logical extension of common sense. If you make a deal with the devil, you will bear all the consequences of the deal. When people start to realize the evil and insidious nature of CIs, they will logically rethink about their position of China as a normal country. The truth is: China has never been a nation state, as so many in the West imagines of fantasized. China has, from the ancient time when it came into existence, always been a despotic dynasty. Today's China? A communist party-dynasty that is just like any other dynasty in Chinese history that observes no rules but only power, that observes no borders but subjects, that has never had any moral foundation to seek freedom and happiness for its citizens, but to impose despotic rules over its population and all the subjects around its neighborhood. If possible, the party dynasty will impose its perverted culture and atrocious rule over the world.
-Anything else you would like to add?
I think I have said enough for now. But if you have any question, you can always call me or email me. I have not edited my answers. I only hope you understand my English.
Thanks so much. I look forward to hearing your answers.
The protesters know that what’s hailed in the West as ‘the China dream’ is a hoax.
By Bret Stephens (WSJ)
Oct. 6, 2014 7:03 p.m. ET
Whatever comes next with the demonstrations in Hong Kong, they’ve already performed a historic service. To wit, they remind us of the silliness of the China infatuation so prevalent among pundits and intellectuals who don’t live in China.
That’s the central lesson of “Occupy Central With Love and Peace”—a movement that, morally speaking, is to its Wall Street namesake roughly what Václav Havel was to Abbie Hoffman. The student-led protests, which have demanded that Beijing honor its promises to allow democratic elections for Hong Kong’s chief executive, represent the ideal future of modern China: principled and well-educated, pragmatic and worldly. And what this potential Chinese future has been saying emphatically for the past week is that it wants no part of China’s dismal present.
That might come as news to the legion of China boosters who have been insisting for years that the 21st century belongs to the Middle Kingdom, and that the sooner we get used to it the better off we all will be. These are the people for whom a visit to Shanghai’s skyscraper-rich Pudong district, or a glance at official Chinese economic statistics, or a ride on one of China’s bullet trains, is enough to convince them that the West has had its day.
If only we could be “China for one day,” so that democratic partisanship didn’t stand in the way of enlightened governance— wouldn’t that solve everything?
Don’t tell that to the people of Hong Kong, who have learned the hard way that, except when pressured, Beijing honors no promises, countenances no dissent and contemplates no future in which the Communist Party’s grip on power can be loosened even slightly. Hong Kong became rich on the small government, laissez-faire, rule-of-law-not-men principles of its late colonial administrators. It has remained rich because, by comparison to mainland China, it remains relatively free and uncorrupt. Hong Kong is what China could be if it weren’t, well, China—if state intervention were minimal; if government weren’t a vehicle for self-enrichment; if people could worship, write, exercise and associate just as they please.
That’s what’s been at stake in the past week of mass protests: The people of Hong Kong have come out in force because they know what China is. Yes, they value their territory’s political autonomy, its traditions and idiosyncrasies. Yet they would not be lying in the streets, enduring thunderstorms and tear gas, if Beijing were offering them a better deal—better governance, bigger markets, greater wealth, wider possibility.
It’s not. There’s a reason why the elite of the Chinese mainland are often looking for the exits. The daughter of Supreme Leader Xi Jinping enrolled at Harvard under a pseudonym, as did the grandson of former leader Jiang Zemin . Other wealthy Chinese vie for jobs at U.S. investment banks, apartments on Manhattan’s 57th street, passports from Canada, green cards from the U.S. Chinese entrepreneurs account for three-quarters of the EB-5 U.S. visas—green cards for foreigners willing to put $1 million down.
“While the [Communist] party touts the economic success of the ‘Chinese model,’ many of its poster children are headed for the exits,” reported the Journal’s Jeremy Page in 2012. “They are in search of things money can’t buy in China: Cleaner air, safer food, better education for their children. Some also express concern about government corruption and the safety of their assets.”
These are the people for whom every conceivable door in China is already open. What about the nonelite? What about the people who don’t have a politically connected relative, or can’t afford to bribe a party official for a contract or a doctor for a medical procedure, or lack the funds to leave the country, or simply intend to pursue an honest calling in life, and do so honestly?
These are the people for whom the demonstrators in Hong Kong were also marching. “Don’t make us like the rest of China,” is an implicit theme of the movement. It comes from people who understand that what is hailed in the West as “the China dream” is a hoax. Dreaming is the essential freedom: There can be no true dreaming when the state regulates the sorts of dreams its people may have.
Where the real dream lies is in the minds of China’s cheerleaders in the West. These are people with the souls of technocrats. They look to Beijing now—as they did to Moscow in the 1960s—as a model of government in which wisdom comes from the top, national energies are put in the service of gigantic projects, and autocratic consensus replaces democratic fissiparousness. They seek life (and politics) without contradictions. Five or 10 years from now, when the China bubble has burst, they’ll be making a fetish of some other promising technocracy.
Meanwhile, pay attention to the people of Hong Kong. They have reminded us again that China is a dream only to credulous columnists, and that the lamp of the West still shines brightly in Asia.
Very eloquent and correct. May I forward this to the China-POL list?
Thomas Bartlett Visitng Professor Stanford University Yesterday at 12:31pm · 10/3/14
------------------------------------------
Kai Chen: Absolutely Thomas. Please spread this message. It is very important for HK student and people who support the protest to understand the moral foundation of their argument. Yesterday at 3:23pm · 10/3/14
------------------------------------------------
Personal bio of Professor Thomas Bartlett:
Thomas Bartlett has taught modern and classical Chinese at Cambridge (1975-76), Princeton (1977-79), Harvard (1987-94), Johns Hopkins (1995-96), and La Trobe (1996-1999) Universities, and modern Chinese at Middlebury (1973, 1983, 1987), Wellesley (1986), and Swarthmore (1987) Colleges, before coming to Stanford in 2010. He received the BA (cum laude) in Classics at Harvard (1961), with a thesis on Aeschylus' drama "Agamemnon", read in Greek. Five years' residence (1967-72) as a student in Taipei, Taiwan, ROC, led to receipt of the MA (1972) in early Chinese history at National Taiwan University, with a thesis on Confucian historiographical thought. In 1978 Bartlett was a finalist in the Department of State's selection of a full-time Mandarin interpreter. In 1980 he resided in Beijing, PRC, for six months as interpreter and translator for a major international corporation in contract negotiations with various Chinese official and commercial entities. In 1985 he completed the PhD at Princeton, with a dissertation on Gu Yanwu (1613-82), a classical scholar whose encyclopedic record of China's cultural heritage is widely recognized as an invaluable resource by modern researchers, and whose study of poetic rhymes was very influential in the history of Chinese linguistics. In 1987 Bartlett declined the award of a Mellon post-doctoral fellowship, when told by the offering institution that affirmative action guidelines would make him uncompetitive for a subsequent teaching position there. In 1989 his proficiency in Chinese was graded at level 4 (of 5) by the US Foreign Service Institute. From mid-1989 through 1994, Bartlett was Professor of Chinese Language and Director of Harvard's Chinese Language Program. In 1995-96 he was Director of the Language Teaching Center at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. From 1996 to 2010, he lived in Melbourne, Australia, and taught Chinese history at La Trobe University. His published writings have included articles on Gu Yanwu, on early Chinese history and, recently, a survey history of China's Song dynasty (960-1279), in Berkshire Encyclopedia of China. He is currently interested in the history of the word "Zhongguo", meaning "Central State", now usually translated as "China", and looks forward to publishing his doctoral dissertation.
As I watched the BBC coverage on Hong Kong student protest, I deeply sensed a very disturbing and sad phenomenon – an entirely opposite interpretation of the British tradition of Rule of Law from its original meaning by a Chinese speaking population. As some physical altercation broke out between pro-Beijing Chinese speaking mobs and mostly English speaking student protesters, a Beijing’s mouthpiece appearing on BBC accused the student of violating “rule of law”. And the students on the program somehow are acquiescent of such absurd accusation, using “civil disobedience” as their only defense. I observed a horrible mal-interpretation of the concept of “rule of law”. And such misunderstanding of the concept will possibly lead to meaningless actions and negative consequences, even tragedy.
Under the British rule before 1997, English language is the basis to understanding legal and political terms and concepts. And the concept of “rule of law” was based on the principle that freedom is God-given and laws are human attempt to safeguard individual freedom by curbing human abuses from the government. Hong Kong residents, though without election, enjoyed maximum individual freedom with minimum government corruption. This situation has been gradually reversed with the British departure in 1997. The influx of Chinese speaking government officials and mainland residents gradually erodes the “rule of law”. Instead, “rule by law” increasing becomes the norm.
In Chinese language, there is no difference between “rule of law” and “rule by law”. They are all mixed together into two characters “Fa Zhi”. Yet the two concepts are entirely opposite to each other: “Rule of law” as understood with English language is to ensure that government be not governed by some dictator’s whim to trample on individuals’ freedoms. “Rule by law” as commonly understood in Chinese is that government has the ultimate authority to make laws to control the individuals and govern the society. The former is for freedom. The latter is for slavery and despotism.
Since 1997, rule of law and individual freedom have been gradually and unmistakably eroded and taken away. More and more, fear of government, corruption of government officials, self-censorship of the media, toeing government official lines and a Fascist tendency of businesses serving Beijing’s government interests become prevalent. Now the “White Paper” Beijing issued to blatantly violate the “Basic Law” established to safeguard Hong Kong people’s freedom was the result of more than a decade of cultural erosion. A despotic culture aimed only to preserve the power of the government and the interests of those who are associated with Beijing gradually stifles the way of life Hong Kong residents enjoyed, even took for granted, under the British rule. Fear replaces joy and achievement to have become the new norm of Hong Kong. Lies, falsehood and dead silence in the face of injustice and repression, all in the name of unity, peace, maintaining status quo in order not to offend Beijing masters permeated a culture in which a moral standard of human contact and doing business was a general rule. Lawlessness from Beijing and the despotic Chinese cultural tradition of parental government and infantile people dependent on the rulers have edged away individual freedom under the British rule. Now the same rhetoric from those with confused mind and fear of government to defend Beijing’s “rule by law” comes out again and again to attack the student protesters.
Who has broken the law in the first place? It is not the students. It is Beijing and the communist party-dynasty which bases their legitimacy only by the muzzles of guns and by lies and deceptions. Who will be the ultimate victims of such lawlessness in Hong Kong? It is not just the students. It is the entire population of Hong Kong and especially the business community. Without trust and with a moral code broken down under Beijing’s iron fist, no meaningful transaction of values will happen. True stability will disappear with Beijing’s irrational orders aimed only to save the communist dynasty. Instead, stagnation and silence will reign supreme and the population of Hong Kong will be “Zombified” to become soulless walking dead.
I am glad to have witnessed that most Hong Kong student protesters are English-proficient. They are able to communicate with the rest of the world with logic and reason, thanks to English language. There is an unmistakable gap of understanding the world between those who speak English language and those who are stuck with their ancient irrational mother tone. With a logical language, questioning Beijing’s government and its legitimacy is a natural extension of using the language. This is probably the most conspicuous difference between Hong Kong protesters and the crowd on Tiananmen Square in 1989.
In the long run, the student protesters with their goal to ensure a genuine election and democracy in Hong Kong are protecting Hong Kong’s business interest and prosperity, not harming it. Those who have come out to criticize the student protesters should understand their own mal-interpretation of “rule of law”, confusing with their Chinese despotic tradition of “rule by law”. They should also understand Hong Kong must go forward toward a future of freedom, not being dragged backward toward a hopeless and soulless existence under the guns of their Beijing masters. Most of all, they should keenly understand the fundamental premises of “rule of law” – Freedom is God-given, not bestowed upon them by government as some beneficent charity.
Sat Jul 09, 2016 7:03 am
Board Statistics
Visitors
