CHINESE MODERN FREEDOM: the truth view of a former native

Kremlin relations
Tommy Yung covering the protests in HK, personal archive 

Tommy Yang, an international correspondent, who has been working as a reporter for over 10 years for a number of prominent publications in both Chinese and English languages, including Chinese state press China Daily and American newspaper Los Angeles Times. After a 7-year tenure with the LA Times Beijing Bureau, he moved to Moscow and is currently working as a correspondent for the English language news desk at a Russian media outlet.

I asked Tommy about his personal attitude towards the current state of affairs in China. And that is what he told me during Sunday’s speech in the Central House of Journalists.

What do you think about the political situation happening in China right now? Do you believe in the official position of the Chinese government?

I think you have already seen the news and the video where Hu Jintao was taken away from the party meeting. Obviously, there was only one official explanation which was published in Xinhua. What was stated is that the Xinhua’s reporter, who had been there, found out that Hu Jintao was not feeling well and after he was unable to finish his speech, he had to be taken away. But in fact he did not want to leave. He seemed to be held by the body under pressure – that’s what we saw on the video.

There are a lot of rumors about the power struggle happening in China right now. As for me, I do not believe in these rumors as well as I do not believe in the official position of the Chinese government. 

Why was Hu Jintao taken away? Personally I believe that if the reason had a medical justification it could have been dementia. He was confused while people were holding him, which means he had no idea what was going on. I do not think there is anymore to rip into that. I understand that the former president today has no more power because he was one of the weakest presidents in Chinese history.

What is your personal attitude towards Xi Jinping’s third term?

As a person who does journalism I believe in a certain state of values. We are reporters – the ones who write stories. People read our stories and understand the world thanks to them. That is why it is important to hold a progressive point of view. As a person who believes in those universal values of democracy, basic rights and progressivity I could say that the political issue in China was partly the reason why I left this country in 2016. Even then I did not like where China was moving under Xi Jinping’s political regime. 

It is needless to say that when Xi Jinping first took over in 2012, Chinese liberally-orientated people had a hope that the country would become more open and more liberal changes would be introduced. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Even in the first 5 years the level of control has risen enormously, so we could feel the change. China turned into a place where no voices were heard. 

Answering the question of what I think of  Xi Jinping securing the 3rd presidential term, I would say that the ‘dark times’ are gonna continue. Hopefully, there is always darkness before dawn. As for now, I cannot see any positive changes.

It is possible to compare Russia and China in terms of the lack of power change. Do you see any similarities between both countries at the current period of history? 

– My theory is that China goes 30 years after Russia. Actually, there was a great shift in the Russian political system in 1991, which led it to a current state of affairs. But if we look back 100 years, we will see that the countries had quite the same situations. Russia went through the revolution in 1917 as well as China in 1912. But basically nothing has really changed in China since then as the truly democratic system has not been established. By contrast, we cannot say the same about Russia because its regime changed completely in 1991. 

Well, Russia and China are obviously similar due to their historical and cultural heritage. We have very similar histories, traditions and mentality. That is also the reason why communism may be established only in these two countries. 

The essential difference is that Russia has made immense progress since the USSR has fallen apart while China still has a communist party. But again, I suppose that Russia moved 30 years before China. The former now can enjoy a lot of rights today: elections, freedom of speech, etc. Chinese people need 30 more years to achieve such a system and I am not sure if this time will be enough. I hope that one day China will have that ‘USSR moment’,  but at least for now it is not happening.

Does the Chinese government introduce patriotic lessons at schools? And how would you personally define modern ‘patriotism’?

— Well, it is the initiative which the government wants to achieve. They are trying to introduce some new lessons. But for me patriotism is not a phenomenon which is unique to China. For example, I always compare it with America (I went there to cover the NBA games). Actually, I would say that American patriotism is everywhere too. Who are always the heroes in the movie you watch? Who saves the planet from aliens? Definitely, American soldiers! The identity of being a proud American is much stronger in their sense.

I believe that every government loves to present the national identity. But I also believe that the Chinese government does a really bad job here. They do not have a specific idea of why people should stay patriotic. That is why I find Western patriotism, especially American, much better than the Chinese variant. 

To be frank, in China teachers would just put children in the class and say: ‘We live in the best country in the world’. But they would never explain why! Moreover, nobody tells children how to become a part of their motherland — that is the problem. 

On the contrary, American patriotism proves that people must sacrifice for freedom and liberty. Americans know what they represent and what they fight for. China is different. There are no specific set of values we spread all around the world. 

What is your opinion on the Chinese industrial expansion into Russia?

– Personally I think there exists the danger of growing Chinese influence on other countries including Russia. It is also quite a common narrative that ‘The Red Dragon’ is coming to enslave your motherland – there is always this sense of threat which depends on the perception of the Chinese republic. But as an ex Chinese native I would say that this threat is exaggerated. China is not that strong. We have got enough problems to be solved in our own country. Our industry is struggling in many places, it needs to be reformed. 

Well, the expansion might be happening but i guess it will not reach the degree when China becomes the World Empire. Modern Chinese culture is not as powerful as it may be considered. Nobody wants to live in China, nobody wants to become a part of it. For example, if one learns the Chinese language, he does it in order to earn more money but not to stay here. There is nothing in contemporary Chinese culture we can offer as a worldwide icon. Even BTS belongs to South Korea!

By contrast, I think that Taiwan is a good example of how Chinese culture could flourish and become a part of an International one. Taiwan has less restrictions and less control. As for me, what is happening in Taiwan is a point at which China could be in the future if we had more freedom.

What is the foundation for all the restrictions China imposes? 

Well, most of the authoritarian countries have the tendency to impose some excessive control on their citizens. And here comes the dilemma: such governments are enormously powerful, but they are really scared. They are afraid of normal people. They are strongly convinced that if one person said something it would definitely lead to revolution. That is the logic of such control.

Don’t you think that Russia is coming closer to the same situation as China now?

– Russian people have more courage to say no. Moreover, there are too many cultural differences between our countries. The essential one is that Russia is already 30 years ahead of China. It is too hard to turn back and go back to what China has right now. To reach the level of control the Chinese government has, the country should spend at least 20 years preparing and changing. It means that even if the Russian government wants to switch the policy, they will not be capable of making such global changes.