Where the Communist Party finds New Recruits

October 4, 2010

“I think it’s worth remembering that China has parties other than the Chinese Communist Party (e.g. the CPWDP), although (of course) this does not make China a ‘multi-party state’ in the sense of the term. But observing how the CCP interacts with these other groupings can be revealing.” Source of comment from: Sino-Gist

My Response, There is also the All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF).  I wrote about that at Women’s Rights in China.

Then there is the China Youth League and other representatives from various democratic parties, which must be referring to the CPWDP, and patriots and democrats without party affiliation; (c) representatives of people’s organizations; (d) representatives of the People’s Liberation Army; and (e) representatives of minority ethnic groups with a population of over 1 million each. Source: China.org

Another segment of the population where the Party finds new members, are freshly minted millionaires and billionaires of China’s successful capitalists.


Many of these representatives may not belong to the Communist Party or have voting rights, but they do have a voice. 

Just as most Western corporate business is conducted on a golf course, in China these nonvoting members express themselves at meals and banquets in conversation with voting members.

These non-voting members are sort of like lower management in a corporation who take advantage to express their opinions and suggestions, which may be heeded by a voting member of the party.

Non-party members, who are of a like mind, will be noticed and possibly asked to join the party, which is an invitation few in China would reject since it means joining the ruling Party of more than 70 million.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

Leave a Comment » | China, Chinese Culture, Communism, government, politics | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Internet Censorship May be Global Soon

October 1, 2010

Before you curse China again for having a Net Nanny, better read this post and access the NPR link.

Russia is the culprit to watch.  According to NPR, every year since 1998, Russia has introduced a resolution at the UN calling for an international agreement to combat what it calls “information terrorism”.


According to this news broadcast, the U.S. is involved too.

NPR recently broadcast a story on this topic, Seeing the Internet as an Information Weapon, which mentions a host of other countries that want global Internet censorship. Click on the NPR link and listen to the story.

Brazil, Chili, and India, are on that list too.  Often, when we read or hear about India, we are reminded “proudly” by the Western media that India is the world’s largest democracy.

These countries, including India, want governments to play a bigger role on the Internet.

China is not the only country that wants to censor the Internet, so why do we only hear about China?

See Google’s China SeeSaw

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

4 Comments | America, China, government, politics | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

China’s Long History with Burma/Myanmar – Part 4/4

September 26, 2010

Enough said about The Economist, Christianity and differences between democracies and republics.

Back to the long history between China and Burma/Myanmar, which starts during the Han Dynasty.

Due to deposits of jade in Burma/Myanmar and that region, Chinese merchants have been involved in mining and trade there for more than two thousand years. 

Then during the Qing Dynasty, there were four major invasions (1765-1769) of Burma. In 1784, the long struggle between Burma and China ended and regular trade began again.

In November 1885, Sir Robert Hart favored a proposal that China, as Burma’s overlord, stand aside and allow the British Empire to pursue her own course there provided that Britain allow Burma to continue her decennial tribute (once every ten years) missions to China. Source: The I. G. In Peking, Letters of Robert Hart, Chinese Maritime Customs 1868-1907, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, page 614, 1975.

Then the British Empire made Burma a province of India in 1886.

Since independence from the British Empire, Burma has generally been impartial to world affairs but was one of the first countries to recognize Israel and the People’s Republic of China.

Territories such as the autonomous regions of Tibet, Xinjiang and countries like North Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Burma, Vietnam and others along China’s long borders were considered vassal states, which often sent lavish gifts and delegations to China’s Emperors as Sir Robert Hart wrote that Burma did every ten years.

See The Sino-Vietnam War of 1979 or return to China’s Long History with Burma/Myanmar – Part 3

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

2 Comments | China, Chinese history, government, history, politics | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

China’s Long History with Burma/Myanmar – Part 3/4

September 26, 2010

What is a democracy? A democracy is where the numerical majority of an organized group makes decisions binding on the whole group. A Republic, on the other hand, does not allow majority rule.

China is not a Western democracy or has a Christian majority, never has and probably never will.


When you hear the estimated number of Christians in China, do not forget that China has more than 1.3 billion people.

Today, China, by definition, is a Republic and has one political party with two recognized factions.

In November 2005, Cheng Li, the Director of Research for the John L. Thornton China Center, presented a paper at a Conference on “Chinese Leadership, Politics, and Policy” at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

In One Party, Two Factions: Chinese Bipartisanship in the Making, Cheng Li makes a case that there are two informal and almost equally powerful coalitions within China’s central government.

Li calls one of the coalitions the “elitists” led by former Party Chief Jiang Zemin and now largely led by Vice President of the PRC Zeng Qinghong.

He identified the other coalition as the “populists” led by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The core faction of the “populists” is the Chinese Communist Youth League.

Li also says it is unlikely that China will have a multi-party political system in the near future.

See Christianity in China or return to China’s Long History with Burma/Myanmar – Part 2

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

3 Comments | China, Chinese history, government, history, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

China’s Long History with Burma/Myanmar – Part 2/4

September 25, 2010

Until this piece, most of what I read about China in The Economist has been educational but this one was stilted and biased – another example of China bashing.

What does the Beijing based unnamed critic writing in The Economist expect – that China will adopt America’s evangelical, neo-conservative role to spread “democracy” and “Christianity” to the world through nation building?

Wait, stop the presses!

Did I hear that right? Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the critic from The Economist suggest that he or she expects China to spread “democracy” to countries like Burma and North Korea, which are by definition dictatorships, which the U.S. has a long history of supporting. See Cold War Origins of the CIA Holocaust to learn more.

Why do critics in America want dictatorships like Burma and North Korea to be democracies when America is a Republic, according to the Founding Fathers and the Constitution of the United States?

See Two Republics to learn more or return to China’s Long History with Burma/Myanmar – Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. 

If you want to subscribe to iLook China, there is a “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar.

Leave a Comment » | America, China, Chinese history, government, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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