Sir, – I have been following Xi Jinping’s visit from the distance of a small island republic, one which China thinks it owns but which thinks itself independent. Here, for the sake of “peace” with China and Beijing’s cash, population and government trim their ideals, curb their aspirations, moderate their values and let hard truths be silenced.
The more our politicians gush, the more I wonder “Is Ireland becoming Taiwan?” And where might that lead? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Clifford Coonan’s article about Chinese Premier-to-be Xi Jinping had some striking omissions (Weekend Review, February 18th ).
First, it is worth noting that Xi’s father, Xi Zhongxun, described as a “loyal servant” of Chairman Mao”, was in fact purged from the Party by Mao in 1962, and only rehabilitated by Deng Xiaoping in 1978.He had been close to the 10th Panchen Lama, and seems to have had a certain respect for Tibet and Tibetan concerns. When Tibetan envoys visited Beijing in the 1980s, Xi Zhongxun met them wearing a gold watch he had been given by the Dalai Lama.
However, he finally fell from favour again for opposing the use of violence against the Tiananmen Square demonstrators in 1989.
Xi Jinping may have been born in the government enclave of Zhongnahai in Beijing, but he was “sent to the countryside” during the Cultural Revolution. As a teenager he had been locked up and made to denounce his father’s “crimes”. Later he became a Communist Party member, vowing to become “redder than red,” while his father was still in detention.
When he visited Lhasa last summer to celebrate the 60th anniversary of China’s occupation of Tibet, he said China must “completely smash any plot to destroy stability in Tibet and jeopardise national unity.” His wife, Peng Liyuan, may be a pop star, but she is also a major general in the People’s Liberation Army.
Meanwhile, 12 Tibetans have self-immolated since January, 24 since last March, the latest an official of the Chinese administration. The question is, will Xi Jinping’s background and personal history encourage him to rethink China’s lethal policies in Tibet? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – It is understandable that a mere three-day visit is too short a time to discuss human rights abuse. It would take much longer to explain how, in a country of a mere five million, an educated business and political elite managed to appropriate the wealth, potential and existing, of entire younger generations. Of course it is not the first time. The wealthy watched the poor die during the famine. If a country the size of Ireland cannot develop a social conscience, then we cannot lecture others. – Yours, etc,