>From: "Nathan Newman" <nathan at newman.org>
>Reply-To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
>To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
>Subject: Re: China Fascism weeds out the "unfit" from higher education
>Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001 17:26:33 -0400
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Justin Schwartz" <jkschw at hotmail.com>
>
>
> >The report is appalling, but one should avoid misusing terms. The Chinese
> >dictatorship is not fascist. It lacks the domination of capital--capital
>is
> >rising but stringly subordinated, the authoritarian populism, the
>military
> >aggressiveness, the public commitment to racial superiority, the
> >antomodernist blood-and-oil ideology and antirationalism, and many other
> >attributes of either classical or neo-fascism--the latter being typical
>of
> >the Latin america of the 1970s, say. We have to apprehend the specifity
>of
> >the Chinese regime on its own terms. --jks
>
>Specificity is fine but the avoidance of the term "fascism" to China seems
>odd given how flexibly the term has been used to other regimes. Capital
>was
>in many ways subordinated (if privileged) under both German and Italian
>fascism and given the capital ownership stakes of both individual and party
>divisions - an issue some of the more traditional Maoists have complained
>of - I'm not sure where you would find the distinction.
>
>As for military aggressiveness, I would think that the domination of Tibet,
>the threats to Taiwan, and other military stances are hardly
>non-aggressive.
>And the point of the article was to note the eugenic commitment to racial
>improvement. It may lack some of the more antirationalist elements of
>Nazism but a number of other readily-designated fascist regimes were much
>more on the rationalist mode.
>
>During the PNTR debate on China trade, condemnation of China's human rights
>record was denounced as imperialist- I didn't see a lot of rallying for
>discussing the "specificity" of the US-China relationship at that point.
>Of
>course, China is a complex country and has both positive and negative
>forces
>in operation, but then so did many fascist regimes- heck, fascist Spain was
>far more helpful to those fleeing the Holocaust than most of the democratic
>countries.
>
>As for Yoshie's post on China's humane treatment of the disabled, it still
>reinforces the eugenics thrust of policy: Note:
>
>"The Maternal and Child Health Care Law forbids the marriage of
>persons with certain specified contagious diseases or certain acute
>mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. If doctors find that a couple
>is at risk of transmitting disabling congenital defects to their
>children, the couple may marry only if they agree to use birth
>control or undergo sterilization."
>
>Yes, the Chinese government will let the disabled live out their lives -
>uneducated and without children - but to terminate their genetic line with
>their deaths.
>
>My argument is not that in any standoff between the US and China, the
>Chinese will be in the wrong, but that - in many ways like the US - it is
>dominated by bad capitalist interests with the extra spin of authoritarian
>tendencies. Yes, there are internal complexities to the policies China
>promotes which need to be evaluated for which class interests may have
>pushed their adoption, but then I argue for the same in looking at United
>States government policy.
>
>The US-China trade deal for instance was pushed by the authoritarian
>capitalist interests in both countries, yet many leftists were all too
>ready
>to denounce any opposition as imperialistic because of a knee-jerk defense
>of China's "anti-imperialist" position.
>
>There needs to be a reevaluation by a number of sectors of the Left on the
>complexities of regime actions, both by the United States and by China,
>reflecting the diversity of forces operating within and effecting policy in
>each.
>
>-- Nathan Newman
>
> >From: "Nathan Newman" <nathan at newman.org>
> >Reply-To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> >To: <lbo-Talk at lists.panix.com>
> >Subject: China Fascism weeds out the "unfit" from higher education
> >Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001 08:38:15 -0400
> >
> >If this article's info on China's eugenics is accurate, China is moving
> >from
> >merely authoritarian capitalistism towards full-out fascism. Folks can
> >dismiss this as enemy propaganda - which it may be - but given well
> >documented reports of union leaders being sent to mental hospitals, the
> >crushing of heterodox religionists, and the authoritian promotion of
> >capitalists allied to the party hierarchy, it starts to look like any
>word
> >other than "fascism" would be hard to apply to China
> > -- Nathan Newman
> >
> >Only the 'medically fit' can go to college, China decrees
> >Source: The Sunday Telegraph (U.K.)
> >Published: 06/24/2001 Author: Damien McElroy
> >
> >STUDENTS wanting to attend university in China next term will have to
>pass
> >stringent new examinations first: not to test their ability for the
>courses
> >that they want to sit but to judge their medical suitability and physical
> >fitness.
> >
> >Teenagers whose legs differ in length by more than two inches or whose
> >spine
> >is curved by 1.5 inches will be disbarred from courses as varied as
> >geology,
> >law and civil engineering. Anyone with colour blindness will be banned
>from
> >sitting business administration courses, while those unfortunates
>diagnosed
> >with cancer, epilepsy, high blood pressure or "mental disorder" will be
> >prevented from enrolling altogether.
> >
> >The new medical examinations are an attempt to "engineer" a stronger,
> >healthier population free from physical and mental handicaps. Last week,
> >millions of teenagers across the country lined up at hospitals to be
> >certified by a doctor as fit enough to make the leap from school to
> >university.
> >
> >The new rules have forced many able and successful students who suffer
>from
> >physical ailments to pull out of the education system in despair. Next
> >month, the traditional Chinese period for entrance exams, is now being
> >called "Black July" by disabled groups. The Chinese higher educational
> >system is renowned for crushing the hopes and ambitions of more students
> >than it elevates. There are university places for only about five per
>cent
> >o
> >f the student population, although some 20 per cent apply.
> >
> >The Chinese authorities claim that, in view of the level of competition
>to
> >get into college, the system should weed out imperfect applicants. A
>doctor
> >involved in administering the medical examinations said the physically
> >impaired were generally unable to cope with the demands of the education
> >system. "How could they have made it to secondary school?" she said. "How
> >can they study?"
> >
> >Education officials have admitted that the new rules are designed to
> >prevent
> >the disabled from "clogging up" Chinese universities. "These days, no
> >college is willing to take a disabled student," one university head told
>a
> >Chinese newspaper. He said that allowing one disabled student in "only
> >encourages more to apply".
> >
> >"Once a college gets one, the media will publicise it, and then there
>will
> >be more disabled students applying next year," he said. "Of course, the
> >school should bear certain social responsibilities, but it's not a
>welfare
> >organisation."
> >
> >Even employees of the Chinese Disabled Persons' Federation concede that
> >such
> >viewpoints are understandable. "Universities have little experience in
> >dealing with the disabled and hence have worries about educating them,"
> >said
> >Li Dongmei, a deputy director of the education division of the
>federation.
> >"Many do not have the facilities."
> >
> >There have been few voices raised to object to restricting university
>entry
> >to hale students. Chinese law requires the government to work actively to
> >"raise the quality of the Chinese people". There is a continuing debate
> >raging about how far the country should go towards removing the mentally
> >deficient from the population.
> >
> >There has been widespread acceptance of the maternal and infant health
>care
> >law, a notorious piece of legislation that instructs citizens to avoid
> >having "idiotic" children. The prevention of new births of an inferior
> >quality has become a national objective that involves invidious controls
>on
> >reproduction.
> >
> >A nationwide screening process assesses the likelihood that pregnant
>women
> >will give birth to retarded children. If medical tests determine that the
> >risk is too high, officials will order an abortion that will often be
> >forced
> >on the pregnant woman. Li Peng, the former prime minister and the man
> >behind
> >the Tiananmen massacre, is known to be an enthusiastic proponent of the
> >drive to limit the "inferior stock" among the country's 1.3 billion
>people.
> >
> >The need to rid the Chinese population of its weakest links has been
> >described by foreign scientists as taking up where Adolf Hitler's
>eugenics
> >policies left off. But scientists in China claim that measures are needed
> >to
> >curb irresponsible breeding by the poorly educated or impoverished
> >residents
> >of the hinterland.
> >
> >Whole villages, said Qiu Renzong, a professor of bioethics at the Chinese
> >Academy of Social Sciences, are populated by mentally retarded people who
> >are the product of inbreeding or iodine deficiency, which is a problem
> >across the vast North China plain, home to 400 million people.
> >
> >
> >Nathan Newman
> >nathan at newman.org
> >http://www.nathannewman.org
> >
>
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