April 4, 2013 China’s 5000-year-old civilization deserves the respect of the entire world. This talk is about governance and violence committed by its current party-state since 1949 on those deemed its opponents, which has most recently resulted in large scale pillaging of organs from Falun Gong practitioners for commercial transplantation purposes. No Falun Gong “donors” survive transplantation operations anywhere in China because both kidneys and all other vital organs are invariably seized and their bodies are then cremated.
David Matas and I located 52
kinds of direct and circumstantial proof about this commerce occurring since
2001. For the period 2000-2005 alone, we concluded that for 41,500 transplants
the only plausible explanation for sourcing was Falun Gong. We arrived at this
figure by deducting from the government figure of 60,000 transplantations over
the six-year period, which appears accurate, the best estimate available about
executed convicts (18,550) for the same years. ….To Read More…..
As for deserving respect....what part of this "civilization" are we supposed to be respecting? Perhaps the massive murders committed by Mao Test Tung and Chou En Lai are considered worthy of respect. Perhaps the untold thousands that died building the Great Wall and its extensions is the part of this "civilization" that deserves respect. How about the millions of abortions forced on Chinese families and now this business about taking organs from politically undesirable groups. Perhaps it was the years when the Mongols ruled China - oops - I would call that the end of the existing culture. Oh - I know - the first thing you’re going to say is the Mongols adopted Chinese culture. Sure, just because they ate the same food and dressed in the same clothes and lived in the same houses doesn’t make it the same civilization anymore than it was when the Vikings, the Franks, and others destroyed Rome and adopted Roman culture. That wasn’t Roman civilization.
At one point in China’s history they were 500 years ahead of the rest of the world technologically, and their fleets traversed all the way to Africa to generate trade relations (that’s confirmed) and some speculate they went around Cape Horn into the Atlantic and to the Americas, and may have traversed the Pacific to California. That ceased to exist because the new emperor decided it was dangerous. That civilization ended.
What constitutes a civilization? The same people, same culture, same rulers, same laws, same life style, or that people - of all kinds - have occupied the same area for that many years? None of that exists in China today, nor has it been consistent any more than any other area of the world…..except that over the millennia lots of people lived there. But that doesn’t make China a 5000 year old civilization any more than Iran or Iraq is a 5000 year old civilization just because Mesopotamia had people living there 5000 years ago.
My Take - You know, I keep seeing variations of this
phrase - "China’s 5000-year-old civilization deserves the respect" -
and I keep wondering why. Their civilization isn't 5000 years old.
Are the same emperors
controlling China? No, and that’s why
there are ‘dynasties’ in Chinese history.
The first emperor of China was a guy named Qin Shi Huang and completed the conquest of China in 221 BC. Now, I know math isn’t my strong suit, but
seems to me to be substantially short of 5000 years. Have the same ethnic groups in charge? No. Did any other cultures control China than the
one that exists now? Yes. Is there is consistent culture in China now,
or for that matter has there ever been? No. The dominant culture changed radically
after the European powers carved out economic zones in the 1830’s until 1930 and
the communists changed China in ways the Chinese could have never imagined. Was that still the same ‘civilization’?
As for deserving respect....what part of this "civilization" are we supposed to be respecting? Perhaps the massive murders committed by Mao Test Tung and Chou En Lai are considered worthy of respect. Perhaps the untold thousands that died building the Great Wall and its extensions is the part of this "civilization" that deserves respect. How about the millions of abortions forced on Chinese families and now this business about taking organs from politically undesirable groups. Perhaps it was the years when the Mongols ruled China - oops - I would call that the end of the existing culture. Oh - I know - the first thing you’re going to say is the Mongols adopted Chinese culture. Sure, just because they ate the same food and dressed in the same clothes and lived in the same houses doesn’t make it the same civilization anymore than it was when the Vikings, the Franks, and others destroyed Rome and adopted Roman culture. That wasn’t Roman civilization.
At one point in China’s history they were 500 years ahead of the rest of the world technologically, and their fleets traversed all the way to Africa to generate trade relations (that’s confirmed) and some speculate they went around Cape Horn into the Atlantic and to the Americas, and may have traversed the Pacific to California. That ceased to exist because the new emperor decided it was dangerous. That civilization ended.
What constitutes a civilization? The same people, same culture, same rulers, same laws, same life style, or that people - of all kinds - have occupied the same area for that many years? None of that exists in China today, nor has it been consistent any more than any other area of the world…..except that over the millennia lots of people lived there. But that doesn’t make China a 5000 year old civilization any more than Iran or Iraq is a 5000 year old civilization just because Mesopotamia had people living there 5000 years ago.
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