The new Chinese year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most prominent celebration for Han culture countries, or 20% of the world’s population. This ethnic group includes 92% of the People’s Republic of China, 98% of Taiwan and 75% of Singapore. Coinciding with this Chinese celebration she has shown another side of the world, away from the great leading strength in technology or as the great colonizer of Africa. There is one China that advances unstoppable in its conquest of the world, but there is another China that differs greatly from being a world-class power.
Wuhan:
On December 30, ophthalmologist Li Wenliang, 34, wrote an alarming message in his group of friends at the Faculty. Seven patients had entered his hospital, all related to a fish market with symptoms very similar to SARS, the epidemic caused by another coronavirus that killed nearly 800 people in 2003. He had no intention of expanding the information beyond his circle of friendships. He asked his friends to warn their families
and be careful. But the message went viral. Four days later, police accused him of spreading rumors, a charge that carries seven years in prison in China. Seven other doctors received the same indictment and possible conviction. The following chapters are all known: more than 24,000 cases in 28 countries.
Xinjiang:
Chinenes western Xinjiang region is home to about 10 million Uighurs. The Muslim group representing about 45% of Xinjianges population, this Muslim minority has long been discriminated against by the Chinese majority Han. Tensions between the two ethnic groups have led to riots and attacks. In the name of the fight against separatism and terrorism, the Chinese authorities have made many religious practices illegal. Beards are prohibited and the Uighur language is prohibited in schools. In 2016, Uighur repression increased markedly with the establishment of an Orwellian surveillance apparatus. Thousands of Uighurs began to disappear without a trace, detained by the police and secretly sent to large internment camps established by the Chinese state to be subjected to indoctrination: learning Chinese laws and observing President Xi Jinping’s speeches on a daily basis. A “Chinese cables” filtration document reveals the existence of a scoring system used to assess the ideological transformation of inmates and their respect for discipline. The document states that “students” must be interned until they assimilate Chinese regulations.
Hong Kong:
Protests against the Hong Kong government began more than seven months ago by the decision to pushforward a law that would have allowed the extradition of suspects to mainland China but then led to a broader movement for democracy and against Beijing’s dominance. Demonstrations have also affected the Hong Kong economy, marked by the U.S.-China trade war. Neither The Chinese New Year nor the global alarm for the Coronavirus manages to appease this movement.
The beginning of each decade is a positive omen for the eastern signs, a new Chinese era, that is, the year of the rat marks the premiere of new energies and leaves behind the era of negative energy. Let us hope that this time will correct all evil including the “crown”.
