未经作者授权的英文翻译
Translated by a Taiwanese without collaboration from the author chenglap (http
s://goo.gl/W8v891) who is a Hong Kongese. Often the "we" used in this article
refers to the Taiwanese and Hong Kong people; the "they" used in this article
refers to the Chinese people.
—————
Huge wall of text. Not easy to read through. You've been warned.
Instead of seeing the Chinese as "uncivilized barbarians," perhaps we should p
ut ourselves in their shoes. Rather than becoming civilized by Western standar
ds, China wants to redefine the standards?
China in Mandarin Chinese language is ZhongGuo, or Middle Kingdom, because the
Chinese people have always viewed themselves as the center of civilization. W
hen they first came into contact with the West, they labeled Western people as
ManYi, or barbarians. They viewed Western behavior as barbaric, uncivilized.
Even today they call Western foreigners as GuiLao, with Gui meaning ghost, mon
ster, or unnatural. From濳he Chinese viewpoint, China is the one and only civi
lization of the world.
In the Chinese world view, there is only one Emperor and one government under
him to rule the world. Everyone else is neither nation nor civilization. If th
e Emperor cannot rule them directly, then they must give tributes to show thei
r obedience and respect. In other words, even though foreigners are not part o
f China, they must still recognize that they belong to the Chinese Emperor. Wh
y does the Emperor exist? Because we need a universal commander with unlimited
power to move all things forward, to make things happen, and to solve all pro
blems.
By unifying the world and centralizing all power into one single person and al
lowing that person to do anything, there now exists an ultimate universal solu
tion to all problems. All conflicts can be resolved by the single will of the
Emperor because he determines right and wrong for everyone and everything.
This is the Chinese version of peace. In the Chinese logic, the Emperor is alw
ays right, infallible. The Emperor should always have the most power. The idea
l Emperor is basically the God. He is the executive Commander-in-Chief, the so
le legislator, and the only justice three-in-one.
The Emperor can demolish all conflicts and problems. Let's say there is someth
ing really hated by most Chinese people, for example the Taiwanese Independenc
e. If the Emperor allows it, it will happen no matter how angry and upset peop
le are. They have no right to object the will of the Emperor. It's the job of
the Emperor to do and execute things to put opposition and controversy to rest
.
Without a universal Emperor, the world splits on topics like whether Taiwan sh
ould gain Independence or who should have dangerous weapons like nuclear warhe
ads. The Taiwanese people for example is split on the topic of Independence. T
herefore in the Chinese view, the only peace is when all powers and decisions
are unified and centralized.
Even though there is no more Emperor in China, the Chinese people still view t
he world the same way. Why do the Chinese people support their central and乸ut
horitarian government? Why do they think democracy is much less efficient? If
you really dig deep into their mind, you will see that they feel the world is
full of conflict and chaos. They fear chaos because they believe all unresolve
d conflicts lead to massive violence.
That is why they need a powerful figure to quickly end disagreement and confli
cts, to determine what's right from wrong, and to put the world in the right d
irection. This powerful figure can be the Emperor, the President Xi, the Chine
se Communist Party, or even former leaders of KMT. It doesn't matter who it is
, as long as that figure is wise and competent and make China better. He will
end all controversy, put everyone on the correct path, crush all opposition, a
nd give peace and stability for all.
This logic is rooted deeply in the Chinese culture. It is the ultimate solutio
n of all politics. Some people might think this is brainwashing by the CCP. In
reality, it's because this is the how the Chinese view the world in the first
place. A successful ruling party of China must play and act the part of the E
mperor well. Even if the CCP meets its demise, the next ruler must also play t
he Emperor well. Even a democratically elected leader must pretend to be God i
n the eyes of the Chinese people.
You might ask, "why spend all this time talking about the Emperor?" Because he
re lies a fundamental contradiction.
That is, when it comes to the law vs. the Emperor, who wins? If there is somet
hing the Emperor decides to be right and to be done but against the law, what
happens?
There are some Chinese people who say no one is above the law, that it's wrong
to be against the law no matter what. They believe the law must be followed.
But when they meet this contradiction, they crash like Windows Me. If no one i
s above the law, what about the absolutely powerful Emperors, the CCPs, the Xi
's, or the Chiang's? The easiest way out is to avoid this topic, to say it won
't happen, or try to circle around because they don't want to give up neither
the rule of the law nor the rule of the Emperor.
But there is one solution to this contradiction: give the Emperor the power to
change the law. If he always changes what he's about to do from illegal to le
gal, then he would never be against the law.
Just look at how the Chinese National People's Congress interpret the Basic La
w of Hong Kong to invalidate two of the elected legislator that supported Hong
Kong Independence. If the Chinese wants to rule against the law of Hong Kong,
they interpret it to their favor, basically changing the law. Even though Hon
g Kong democracy allows people supporting independence to be elected, China do
esn't want it to happen. So, they produce a new interpretation, change the law
, make what was legal illegal. This way there is no more contradiction between
the Emperor and the law because the Emperor can always make the law bend his
way. The CCP is basically the modern Emperor. This rule of the Emperor has nev
er changed.
But there is a limit to this solution. The Emperor must actually have to power
to change all laws in the world. By now you should realize the real reason fo
r a unified world. If the world is unified, then the power to change all laws
is also unified. This is the only way to give all that power to the Emperor.
Unify the world, and the Emperor will never break the law, as he can always ch
ange it first. If the world is not unified, then there will be some laws the E
mperor cannot change. There will be laws the Emperor can break, and the loyal
supporters will fall into the contradiction and panic and crash.
You might say, so what if they go crazy? If people like their leader so much,
they're not gonna overthrow the government anyway. If the Emperor contradicts
the law too often, people will come to the conclusion that the Emperor must be
above the law. "The law is not absolute. Power wins the law. Try to overthrow
the power if you want." As you can see, if you try to talk politics with the
average Chinese people, they always come to the conclusion that whoever has po
wer has the final say. So what if the Communist Party doesn't follow rules? Ca
n you beat them?
Is this a good thing? Actually this creates even more problems for the ruling
government. The entire country will start to disregard the law in favor of pow
er. But you cannot rule a nation without people respecting the law. The law is
required to bring standards and stability to the society and to make policies
work. If no one respects the law and no one follows the law, then everyone be
comes Emperor-loving criminals. They are hard to control. They become corrupt.
They make cheap and unsafe food. The society becomes vile, and the system bre
aks down.
So, it is important that the Emperor must avoid contradicting the law and unif
y the world in order to freely change the law.
When the Western world abandoned their papal infallibility, separated church a
nd state, and became modern democracies, they came up with a completely differ
ent system of laws, the treaty system. Treaties are laws. Peace now comes from
both parties following the treaties and respecting the laws. As long as both
parties obey the rules, there are no more wars.
Treaties are laws. Treaties are above all powers, including the Emperor. What
happens if the Emperor wants to do something he believes is right but forbidde
n by the treaties?
In the Western-leading civilization world, sorry, you must follow the treaties
, even if you are the Emperor. In the Chinese ideals it's the other way around
. The Emperor should have the power to change treaties singlehandedly, whether
through amendment, repeal, or interpretation.
By now you should realize this explains everything wrong with China.
Why is it so hard for China to go from乸uthoritarian to constitutional?
Why is there no court in China to check constitutionality and therefore makes
the constitution meaningless?
Why does China keep viewing all treaties as unfair?
Why does China refuse to follow any treaties made with Tibet?
Why does China disregard the fact that Hong Kong was supposed to be an indefin
ite British colony?
Why can China destroy the right to gather and to run for public office written
in the Basic Law?
Why can China say today that the Joint Declaration of UK and PRC is a meaningl
ess document?
Because these are all the will of the ruler which is above all promises and la
ws.
China never wanted to be part of the Western treaty system. They never recogni
ze that laws can be above the Emperor. They just know that in the past two or
three centuries China lagged behind the West in technology and civilization, s
o with shame they had to pretend to accept the Western "law over power" rules
and logic. From the bottom of their hearts they always believe in rule of powe
r over rule of law. They just try to avoid conflicts with the West by playing
with Western rules and using loopholes whenever they can.
For example, Hong Kong was a colony. According to UN resolution, if the ruling
nation gives up a colony, the colony has the right to hold referendum for Ind
ependence. Therefore, Hong Kong would have had the right to gain independence.
China did not want that to happen, as they know the majority would vote for i
ndependence. China used diplomacy and other political means to change the stat
us of Hong Kong from a colony to Chinese territory under outside rule to make
HK lose their right to independence. Then all they had to do was to threaten m
ilitary action on HK to make HK compromise to give up HK.
China just wants Hong Kong. Whatever treaties it signed in the past with UK or
UN or whoever were all just shows for the West to see. They never wanted to f
ollow any of it, but they knew they weren't powerful enough to make a stand. T
hat's why they keep circle around or try to twist the facts.
What China wants ultimately is to overthrow the Western-leading system of UN.
If China is more powerful than Europe and the US in terms of technology and ci
vilization, there will come a new age of the world led by the Chinese Emperor.
If the Emperor decides to follow any of his promises or treaties, it's purely
a blessing and should be thanked. If he decides not to follow, that's his rig
ht. He has the power to change any promises and treaties. That is the Chinese-
leading civilization for the world.
Therefore, the more powerful China becomes, the less likely it will follow thr
ough any promises or agreements. The people of Hong Kong and Taiwan have alrea
dy gotten used to the Western system of rule of law. Even if we still speak Ch
inese languages and use Chinese characters, our philosophy and worldview have
already been westernized and we no longer doubt the rule of law.
In the eyes of the Chinese, they aren't breaking promises or laws because thei
r most fundamental belief is the rule of the Emperor. The power of the Emperor
is absolute and greater than any constitution and any treaties. To the Chines
e people, treaties are just tools to be used by the Emperor. It can be a bless
ing by him or just an blank piece of paper, solely based on the current will o
f the Emperor. One day the Emperor will rule all of the world with unlimited p
ower, and all you have to do is obey his will and thank him. You can only take
what he gives; everything you have is a gift from him. Water in Hong Kong or
peace in Taiwan didn't come naturally. Human rights didn't come naturally. The
se are all granted to you by the Emperor. You should kneel before him and than
k him for anything and everything.
Even in Taiwan you can find people who believe in the rule of the Emperor. The
numbers are much less than in China, but they are worth studying. You'll see
that they have the exact way of thinking as the Chinese people. The chairman o
f KMT, for example, is viewed in a similar way by members of KMT.
Whoever is the closest to the Emperor must also be the most civilized; whoever
is farthest from the Emperor must be the most barbaric. The return of the cen
ter of civilization of the world back to China with all countries obeying his
rule, becoming rewarded by him for following his rule or punished by him for o
pposing his rule, is the ultimate ideal world for the Chinese people.
We thought China was becoming a modern country like the US in the West, but th
at is a huge, one-sided misunderstanding. They never wanted to become a modern
Western country. They don't want and don't need democracy or freedom; they do
n't even want a working constitution with checks and balances of the three bra
nches of government. They don't want the rule of law. Everything they do that
looks like Western modernization is just a show for the rest of the world. Whe
n China becomes powerful enough to take on the West, they will stop the show a
nd end the charade.
Does this mean China is ultimately just a barbaric nation? Nah. They just have
completely different definitions for civilization. In their eyes we are the w
ild barbarians that don't obey the rule of the Emperor. We are lesser beings t
hat don't deserve any promises they make. To them we might as well be a reptil
e that can't think or speak.