The Tragedy of Communist China

Editorial of The New York Sun | October 1, 2019

Communist China’s 70th anniversary, with its spectacle of violence against demonstrators for democracy in Hong Kong, is a moment to mark a profound truth: There is no difference between political liberty and economic liberty. They cannot be separated, nor can one be put before the other. It turns out that economic liberty and political liberty are the same thing — warp and woof of the fabric of freedom.

This became evident in Asia in the 1970s, when our defeat in Vietnam ushered in an era in which the so-called non-aligned nations began to assert themselves. Their conceit was that communism and capitalism were both bad. So non-aligned countries set up authoritarian regimes pursuing Western style development by focusing on business. They delayed political freedom until, in theory, they could afford it.

That theory, though, was upended in those Asian lands where democracy managed to emerge — Japan, Free Korea, and the Free Chinese Republic on Taiwan. It wasn’t easy; real democracy almost got defeated in, say, South Korea and took some time to emerge in, say, Taiwan. Eventually, though, the countries that chose multiparty democracy, freedom of religion, and the rule of law emerged as winners............To Read More....