MCLC: new left grows louder

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: new left grows louder
***********************************************************

Source: Wall Street Journal (10/5/12):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443493304578038121620762516.h
tml

China's 'New Left' Grows Louder
Followers of Bo Xilai Criticize Direction of Communist Party, Exposing
Leaders to Sensitive Questions Over Mao's Legacy
By BRIAN SPEGELE

BEIJING—Supporters of ousted political leader Bo Xilai are turning up the
note of political discord in China with increasingly loud criticism that
the policies of current Communist Party leaders are widening inequality
and breeding social unrest.

The movement, known as the new left, remains relatively small and obscure,
and is unlikely to have a major impact on the coming shuffle of party
leadership positions. But criticism from Communist hard-liners in the era
of online social media places China's leaders in a tricky position as a
debate over the direction of the party and China's economic model is
quickly spreading from universities and closed-door sessions into public
view.

Calls from what's known as China's new left are growing in volume, laying
bare divisions around Mao's legacy and the role of the state in China's
economy, placing leaders in a tricky position. Anti-Japan protesters hold
portraits of Mao outside the Japanese Embassy in Beijing last month.

The new left—a loose collection of academics, lower-ranking government
officials, writers and overseas activists—advocates a stronger hand for
the state in economic planning as well as a return to the values put forth
by the late Chairman Mao Zedong. The new left argues that China's economic
reforms over more than 30 years have led to wide income disparity, and the
movement has criticized the takedown of Mr. Bo, once its most visible
leader.

Dealing with the new left requires some balancing for the party. Unlike
the political activists who often oppose the party on democratic or
human-rights grounds, the new leftists act as defenders of the vision Mao
once laid out for China: Rejecting them outright would risk exposing party
leaders to sensitive questions around the very foundation the party is
built on.

Mr. Bo's takedown indicates consensus among Chinese leaders to push ahead
with economic liberalization despite growing social problems, said Minqi
Li, an economics professor at the University of Utah, who is aligned with
new leftists in calling for more-egalitarian wealth distribution in China.

"The basic message for every layer of government official is that they try
to please higher-ups and forget trying to create anything that is positive
in the sense of contributing to the livelihood of local people," said Mr.
Li who helps run redchinacn.net, a popular Maoist website that has been
outspoken about Mr. Bo's case.

"In the next few years we could see an acceleration of the various
contradictions and the problems and the economic-social crisis," he said.

Political analysts say scenes of blue-collar workers and students
embracing Maoist imagery and slogans during officially tolerated
anti-Japanese protests in a number of Chinese cities last month
underscored leaders' fears that support for the new left could spread.
Many protesters said in interviews the demonstrations were also a way to
express dissatisfaction with what they see as weak party leadership and
Beijing's inability to protect China's interests.

During the protests in Beijing, one of China's leading new-left thinkers,
Han Deqiang, scuffled with an elderly man who Mr. Han said derided Mao.
Photos of the incident and a heated discussion spread rapidly online,
laying bare deep-seated public divisions over both Mao's legacy and the
state's role in the economy.

While Mao's face is on China's currency and his portrait hangs in the
heart of Beijing, at the gate of Forbidden City on Tiananmen Square,
China's more recent leaders have been careful to draw a line between his
experiments with communism, in which tens of millions of people died due
to famine and political chaos, and the country's recent years of economic
growth.

In the past three decades, China's economic reforms were little questioned
amid double-digit growth and dramatically rising living standards. But
during the global economic crisis the new leftists gained a growing voice,
according to analysts who have studied the movement.

The new leftists have called attention to a widening wealth gap,
government corruption and what they see as exploitation of cheap Chinese
labor, raising questions about the effectiveness of current leaders and
whether the party has drifted too far from its founding principles. Such
questions come as the party prepares for a once-a-decade leadership
transition beginning Nov. 8.

As a charismatic politician and onetime candidate for top office, Mr. Bo
served as the new left's most powerful champion. From the southwestern
city of Chongqing where he served as party chief from 2007 until March
2012, he launched popular social programs to help the city's poor,
promoted an aggressive anticorruption campaign and restored Mao-era
traditions like the singing of red songs.

Mr. Bo was removed in March from his Chongqing post and subsequently
expelled from the Communist Party on Sept. 28. He is likely to face trial
on charges of corruption as well as abusing his power during a murder
investigation against his wife, Gu Kailai. Ms. Gu in August was convicted
of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood at a hotel in Chongqing in
November.

State media have worked to sully Mr. Bo's image, painting him as a leader
who lived decadently and flouted party guidelines governing officials'
behavior. But his advocates maintain sway online, where many use Sina
Corp.'s popular Twitter-like Weibo microblogging service. New-left
activist Sima Nan, who has more than a half-million followers, uses the
forum to regularly discuss Mr. Bo's case.

It is unclear how extensively popular Maoist websites have been targeted
by China's censors as a result of the Bo case. The University of Utah's
Mr. Li said the site he works with, redchinacn.net, was first targeted by
hackers beginning in mid-March. After Mr. Bo was dismissed from the
Politburo in April, leftist websites including his were shut down
completely, he said. Mr. Li's site quickly relaunched overseas. Government
officials haven't commented publicly about closing any websites.

On Sept. 29, a day after Mr. Bo was expelled from the party, the party-run
Guangming Daily newspaper published a commentary on its website saying Mr.
Bo's fall ensured the country would never experience another Cultural
Revolution, a period of political and social chaos lasting from 1966 to
1976.

Mr. Han, the new-left advocate who slapped the elderly man in September,
published an online essay in response a few days later. The essay—widely
republished on leftist websites and apparently left alone by China's
online censors—argued that the Chongqing model under Mr. Bo simply set out
to fight corruption and to better entwine the party with common people.
Top leaders' and state media's praise for Chongqing in the years before
Mr. Bo was fired was proof that Chongqing's programs hadn't previously run
afoul of the party, he wrote.

Mr. Han became the subject of national debate after his scuffle with the
old man on Sept. 18 outside Japan's Embassy in Beijing where thousands had
massed over the course of days to pelt the fortress-like building with
eggs and plastic water bottles.

According to a statement by Mr. Han posted online, he was chatting with
young protesters who carried a sheet with characters proclaiming they
missed Chairman Mao. He said an old man approached and began cursing the
former chairman. Mr. Han retorted the old man was a traitor, and slapped
him across the face, the statement said.

Mr. Han declined to be interviewed, and the old man's identity wasn't
known. Mr. Han's actions toward the old man were widely criticized in
China, though Mr. Han has responded defiantly. Hearing someone bad-mouth
the country's founder was more than he could bear, his statement said.

Write to Brian Spegele at brian.spegele at wsj.com

UNDER BO'S WATCH

The new left found a friend in the Chongqing party chief

2007—Bo Xilai becomes party chief of the southwestern city of Chongqing.

2008—The global financial crisis gives voice to those in China who
advocate a greater state role in the economy.

2009—Chongqing engages in a high-profile campaign to strike at corruption
and organized crime. The program won Mr. Bo popular support but drew
criticism from legal experts and others.

2010—Vice President Xi Jinping, the heir-apparent to President Hu Jintao,
is among leaders to visit Chongqing, a move seen as an endorsement of its
policies.

2010—Chongqing leaders promote giving rural migrants access to urban
welfare benefits.

2011—Henry Kissinger is one of many foreign dignitaries to visit
Chongqing. Meanwhile the city's ambitious social housing program is
popular among poor residents.

2012—Mr. Bo is removed from his post in Chongqing and later expelled from
the party, and likely will face corruption and other criminal charges. His
wife is convicted of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood in
Chongqing.

—WSJ research