Regarding Tom Plate's July 13 article, "Breaking Point of China's communists": Plate talked of the prediction by Tor Christian Hildan, the Norwegian ambassador to China, that the Chinese Communist Party will fall, and ridiculed Beijing's defensive response to Hildan's comments.
I suggest that Plate, or anybody, imagine the reaction if the Chinese ambassador to the United States were to predict not only the demise of the Bush administration but also the collapse or the end of the American political system as we know it. Would that be considered appropriate? Would presidential Press Secretary Tony Snow brush it off?
Neither Hildan nor Plate told us exactly why the CCP will necessarily fall. Not tolerating dissent while reviving traditional elements of Chinese culture, especially Confucianism, should not be expected to cause its downfall exactly. Last year's Pew Survey on Global Attitudes had a little-noticed question: "Are you satisfied with the state of your nation?" Less than 30 percent of Americans said they were. China topped the list with respect to those who answered "yes" -- 81 percent.
I am not saying there are no problems in China and that the CCP does not face challenges. Make no mistake, we probably have the most problems of any country and the CCP is well aware of that. But how can one claim that the CCP will fall without providing anything substantial to back it up?
I don't doubt that there are people in the West who wish China well, but I believe that they are a tiny minority. The Chinese would be grateful if the West spared them the relentless and ever-growing China-bashing.
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