China

my post to HKFP:

some westerners cherish the value of total freedom like the US, but Chinese people value stability.

only 17% of hk people want independence, according to a survey conducted by hku.  and no one therefore would say that 83% love the CCP.  in short, hk people are very pragmatic.   we love our motherland and we want stability.

while it took the US more than 2 centuries to develop its democracy (and see the chaos they are now in), let's give China a bit more time.  there are still 700 million peasants.   when there are more and more middle class and university graduates, democracy will grow and flourish.

one thing about China which westerners may not know or understand is that after a chaotic century (the Opium Wars, imposition of unequal treaties of ceding Hong Kong and Macau, intrusion and ransacking by the Eight-Nation Alliance, overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, Japanese invasion, civil wars among KMT warlords and between CCP and KMT, cultural revolution, etc) Chinese people are desperate for peace, stability and prosperity at whatever costs.

some people say because of Mao many people died in the cultural revolution, and therefore we must hate the CCP.  on the other hand,  one can also say, given that painful experience, Chinese people don't want chaos anymore.

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