|
|
Change Your Life! |
China watches warily as Yugoslavia heads for change |
|
News
|
|
|
October 7, 2000
BEIJING, OCT 6 (AP) - China's government on Friday silently watched the boisterous popular uprising in Yugoslavia as Chinese people debated whether political change in a fellow socialist state held portents for their own authoritarian system. China's Foreign Ministry issued no comment on the troubles of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, whom Beijing loudly supported in Belgrade's war with NATO over Kosovo. The government's Xinhua News Agency released a brief report on large scale demonstrations in Belgrade without mention of Milosevic. "Letting the citizenry know the true situation in Yugoslavia, is that so frightening?" asked one person, who gave only the pseudonym Liang Hua, on People's Daily's Internet chat site. "China is always so backwards. It will be the last country to realize democracy," said another, who left the name Songzi. The events in Yugoslavia's capital occurred Thursday night Beijing time, too late to make Chinese newspapers, all state-run. People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's flagship newspaper, on its Web site, ran short dispatches about demonstrators taking over Yugoslavia's parliament and state television. But Web surfers augmented the meager state servings, posting pictures from foreign media. The public debate, if tentative, shows how China's society has changed in the past decade. When Eastern Europe dropped communism only months after China crushed democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Chinese people relied on short-wave radio and furtive conversations to learn the news. Since then, free-market reforms have brought prosperity to tens of millions of Chinese, made China a player in international affairs and eroded state controls over private lives. In the process, the government has brought popular pride in China's rising stature, if not the political system. "Events ten years ago are history and there's nothing to say about it," said a worker at a state company, who gave his name as Mr. Ai. "There's no need to protest. People here are basically satisfied with the government. Life is getting better everyday," Ai added, looking up from a table tennis game to gesture at the newly landscaped gardens of a small park near a subway stop. Change in Yugoslavia was not risk-free for China. Beijing ardently backed Yugoslavia against NATO, seeing the war as an attempt to use human rights to intervene in another country. State media praised Milosevic for standing up to the West. Although for a time people joined in, protesting after U.S. warplanes bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, many felt considered government's response weak. "I heard that it was looking like Milosevic was on the way out. That would be a good thing since his country had lots of trouble," said a Mr. Li, deputy manager of a Beijing ceramic tile factory, on a visit to the city's main shopping district. On the Internet, people were more outspoken. They discussed whether the West was again stirring up trouble in Yugoslavia, asked if their government should support Milosevic and wondered what his political troubles meant for China. "Respect for the people of Yugoslavia. Down with dictatorship. Freedom belongs to the people," one poster to the People's Daily's "Strong Country" chat site said using the moniker "Second Dog." "Upholding a people's independence and protecting territorial integrity failed in little Yugoslavia. But that's not to say it will fail in China," said another poster, Ti Shen. More Related News Yugoslav regime appears to collapse after day of revolt Plum brandy, a looted coat hanger - scenes of chaos in a Milosevic stronghold A career of battles for power by Yugoslavia's reviled leader with BC-Yugoslavia Highlights in President Slobodan Milosevic's career Cheney and Lieberman agree Milosevic should go, oppose use of U.S. troops Japan welcomes uprising in Yugoslavia, urges Milosevic to step down Prime minister urges Milosevic to relinquish power Russian nationalists condemn Yugoslav opposition victory as "coup"
|