In the past few days, the People’s Republic of China has been trying to find its softer side again after recent incidents highlighted the tragic state of society. The people of the Republic were shocked and have been preoccupied with a hit and run accident that caused the death of a two year old girl. ‘Moral soft power’ as described by one Chinese newspaper is apparently to blame for her death and the stone cold heartedness of those passerby’s. Over 300 of the Chinese Communist Party’s highest ranking leaders met in Beijing and discussed ways of boosting the nations ‘cultural soft power’.
For those of you who haven’t heard the story of Little Yue Yue – nicknamed by the Chinese media from the original Wang Yue- who died on the 21st of October as a result of the accident eight days earlier in the southern city of Foshan,it has been anything but a winning one. It has revealed a widespread callousness fostered by an amoral pursuit of wealth. A video of the accident was found where a van proceeds to run over the child, then pauses, and then runs over her again with a rear wheel. Some time afterwards, another lorry rolls over her body. In seven minutes, over 18 people walk bye, but nobody ever looks back.
Since then, the incident has had a domino effect and triggered widespread soul-searching. Even the state run media has been nervously biting its nails over the state of Chinese society. The question on everyone’s lips at this point of time is ‘Is this the way people are by nature? or have they only fallen to this state as a result of prolonged damage to their public morals?’. The answer, although debatable seems likely to be down to China’s political culture. While people’s rights have been suppressed, people’s sense and ideals of righteousness and justice have also been suppressed. All the while, Chinese society has never looked back.
The party held its meeting from the 15th to the 18th of October where it’s agenda was to look for society’s heart again. The resolution it came to spoke of a dire need to build up ‘Cultural soft power’. Joseph Nye, the American scholar tried to tell people about this 20 years ago when he stated it as a key component of national strength. A country with soft power is one which can bend others to its will without force or payment, said Nye. “Success depends not only on whose army wins, but also on whose story wins” was Nye’s thinking.
Recent days have brought with them new developments which, while no less embarrassing to the Communist party, still show a different point of view to civic consciousness. Attention has been drawn to the plight of Chen Guangcheng, a blind activist in the Shangdong province via online campaigns. Mr Chen and his family have been under house arrest since he was released from prison one year ago. Thugs are deployed to keep supporters of Mr Chen and journalists away. In what has been named as a ‘rare wave of civil disobedience’, admirers have been making their way to his village to see him. Guards turned them away and ignored their pleas to pass. They never looked back.
On this issue, some Chinese newspapers have broken ranks with the party. They said how blocking information and hoping the inquiries go away will only lead to worse consequences. Perhaps amidst its economic boom, China has begun to forget about its People. If it would ease up on all its dissidents, its soft power would stand a far better chance of growing.
All the while, China has never looked back but now, perhaps it is time for them to re-trace their steps and learn where they went wrong, since when the people stopped caring. The People’s Republic of China needs to focus on just that – its people.
