Yang Jianli - Oslo Freedom Forum 2011

Chinese pro-democracy activist Yang Jianli debunks the myth that Han China was a "stable" and "homogenous" society, a position upheld by the current Chinese government, which glorifies this oppressive society of the past. Han China was not the peaceful and productive land the PRC claims it was; in reality, it was deeply troubled. Farm land was systematically seized, Christian leaders were arrested and beaten, and the Tibetan people were brutally repressed. In much the same way, modern China is also full of problems. For example, the government refuses to recognize the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, and the one-child policy results in the highest female suicide rate in the world. To legitimize its policies, the government attempts to recreate history and cast Han China as a society worthy of replication. The myth of a prosperous Han China, however, is nothing more than "a self-serving lie of a government in fear of its people and in dread of the truth that its rule has been an unmitigated disaster."

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• Washington Post
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• land reform
• Cultural Revolution
• Tiananmen Square Massacre
• one-child policy
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