"China, tear down this gate!" - a Dan Bloom essay

China, tear down this gate!

by Dan Bloom, in Taiwan
reporter.bloom@gmail.com

Longtime observers of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have said, "The China question is open as long as the CCP rules China." And as long as the gate of freedom in China remains closed, as long as this scar of a gate is permitted to stand, it is not the China question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all humankind. Yet, today there is a message of hope inside China, a message of triumph, where slowly people are trying to take matters into their own hands and set up a democratic movement inside the country that can finally replace the CCP. It can happen and it will happen.

Leaders of democratic countries around the world understood the practical importance of liberty -- that just as truth can flourish only when the journalist is given freedom of speech, so prosperity can come about only when the farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom. China will learn that soon enough.

In fact, even now, in a limited way, the current leaders of China may be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Beijing about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts and
Internet sites are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.

Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the CCP? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Chinese system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Chinese communists can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.

President Hu Jintao, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for China and Hong Kong and Macao and Taiwan, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate of tyranny, and replace it with a gate of freedom! Mr. Hu, replace this gate! Mr. Hu, let freedom ring!

I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict the leaders of China today -- and I know that my country will use all its efforts to help overcome these burdens. When freedom finally comes to the Chinese people, they and their leaders will be surprised how
wonderful it feels.

Today represents a moment of hope. We in the West stand ready to cooperate with China to promote true openness, to break down barriers that separate people, to create a safe, freer world. The totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship. The totalitarian world finds even symbols of love and of worship an affront.

As one looks at China today, from across the sea, one can perhaps catch a glimpse of some words crudely spray-painted upon the gate, perhaps by a young Bejinger: "This gate will fall. Beliefs become reality." Yes, across China, this gate will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The gate cannot withstand freedom.