SOMETHING IMPORTANT ABOUT CHINA

Earlier today I heard a sound byte of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talking about China. He used a term to describe China that is profound & extremely important. In referring to China, he referred to it as "the Communist Chinese government." In a 15-20 second soundbite he used this phrase twice.

Why is this important?

Mainland China is vast. It's also not a monolith. What I mean is that throughout China there are many different ethnicities, cultures, languages, & religions. The various people groups there are divided & distinguished by these differences. The thing that holds them together as a nation is not the willingness or even the desire of the people to be united. What holds them together is the martial power of the central government. This is a really important thing to understand & remember when discussing mainland China.

Sometimes people think that disparaging the Communist Chinese government is racist & disparaging to the Chinese people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Unlike the ideal of the United States, where government is constituted of, for, & by the people, in a communist state like mainland China the government is the power. The government is constituted of, by, & for the government (aka Communist Party). This is the reality regardless of any phraseology in the name of the country.

So, the term that Secretary Pompeo repeated (the Communist Chinese government) was really important.

When we speak of the Chinese people, or of any of the various ethnic, religious, cultural, or linguistic groups, we are speaking of those particular people. 

When we speak of the Communist Chinese government we’re not speaking about the people. We are speaking about the absolute power that the Chinese Communist Party wields to force its will on & to control the Chinese people.

That distinction is really important.