The Chinese Empire

Chairman Mao, 2009

2009, Oct 1 China celebrated with pomp and pagentry, the 60th anniversary of Modern China, under communist rule. The massive celebrations, with centre stage in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, were held all across the great nation of 1.3 billion people.

The fireworks (which lasted for more than 30 minutes), the military parade and display of firearms might, the cultural shows , with 300,000 participants and 60 floats, all went well like clock-work and with precision planning and timing. That speaks volume for discipline, dedication, organisation and pride of the most populous nation on earth. They have not only "stood up" since 1949... they have rose above all ..... particularly significance amidst the current economic recession in most of the advanced economies of the world.

When was the beginning of the Chinese Empire?
Mao Tze Tung's declaration of the formation of the People's Republic of China on 1 Oct, 1949?
China's first atomic bomb testing on 16 Oct, 1964? China's first Hygrogen bomb on 14 June, 1967? China's first satellite launch on 24 April, 1970? Deng XiaoPing's reform movement from 1976? China's first manned space flight 15 Oct, 2003?

I would pin it down to 8.08 pm, 8th August, 2008 when President Hu officially opened the Beijing Olympic Games. China announced to the world that she hah put in all the struggles and the people as a whole were ready to lead the world, with the theme song "Beijing Welcomes You" - a Chinese version of Jim Reeves' "Welcome to my world". Part of the lyric says... "With dreams, everyone is a winner.... With courage, there will be miracles.."

At the time when China marched on to become a global economic power, it also marked the beginning of the decline of the present American Empire... experiencing the worst recession since the 1920s depression. The US Federal Reserve has been printing more money to bail out the economy and since the US$ is still the currency used for the oil trade, the global communities are forced to keep the greenback afloat. Particular affected party is China, which currently is the biggest holder of the US Treasury Bonds amounting to about US$800 billion, followed by Japan with US$725 billion. If and when the US recovers from the current shit they are in, China will prosper more and if the US continues to slump... China will be affected short-term but when the world moves away from US$, that will be close to the end of the American Empire.

It is interesting to note the reporting of the Western media on this very special occasion for the awaken giant in the East. The 1.3 billion Chinese in China and the 260 million ethnic Chinese all over the globe would not be discouraged by their attempt to pour "cold water" on this historic event. The western media put in many "buts" in their reports, made with obvious envy and awe. The BBC for example reported... "but the human cost on progress must be very high..." CNN has this to say, "... but China's phenomenal economic growth over the decades has triggered unintended consequences: rising unemployment, growing income gap, endemic corruption, rising criminality, environmental degradation and social malaise.."

China's 5000 years of existence, has not be an invader and unlike other past Empires she has not territorial expansion ambition.... feeding, housing and prospering the life of 1.3b people is in itself a monumental task.

The past empires have collapsed mainly due human factors leading to a situation when the empire was indefensible and unmanageable from external invasion and internal unrest.

The great empires which are now a permanent feature in history:
Roman Empire (44BC - 1453); Ottoman Empire (1299 -1923); German Empire (1871-1922); Russion Empire (1721-1917); USSR (1917-1991) and of course the largest of them all, the British Empire (1583-1977).
The rise and fall of so many great empires in the past should be great lessons for the Chinese rulers of the day... again the elements which can lead to the eventual collapse of the Empire, are even evident now and may become unmanageable when the core group of nation-builders and visionary leaders are gone, replaced by next generations of lost passion and self-interest.

China, being the "Factory of the World" is great for the present time but what makes a nation great is through innovation and invention. Technology advances in sea transportation and supremacy were able to let the British, Dutch, Spanish and Portugese expand their colonialisation during the 15th and 18th centuries. Today, besides being able to stay ahead of competitive food production and basic goods production, speed and efficiency in mass communication is essential.

For the Chinese Communist Party of 75m members , to continue rule the 1.3 billion masses, they need to be relevent and ready to reform to remain the largest single political party in the world. China is big enough to evolve her own style of socialist democracy, at her own phase, without having to be dictated by the inperfect western democracies. And as long as Taiwan is still not an integral part of the Chinese rule, then the Chinese Empire is not complete. Unification of the island state with the Mainland is a matter of time and the PRC Communist Party will eventually call the shot. The longer Taiwan is in the denial state and keeps delaying the process of being part of the Chinese Empire, she will lose out more and more, over time, in her quests for special rights in the final unification.

The sun never used to set on the British Empire..... and today the same sun never sets on the 1.6 billion proud Chinese on this earth (from Mainland China to all corners of the world). The Chinese Empire might just be the last empire on earth before the next coming of the Lord. So let us pray that this empire will be worthy to receive the return of the King of the Universal.