CHINA’S JOURNEY FROM MONARCHY TO REPUBLIC

The Chinese National Day is celebrated every year on 1st October during which an
annual public holiday is declared in the People’s Republic of China. The day
commemorates the end of the dynastic rule in China and the beginning of their
journey towards democracy. It is undoubtedly considered as one of the most
significant milestone in the history of the People’s Republic of China. The
monarchical system was brought to an end when the Chinese Revolution began in
the year 1911. The democratic wave in China was also brought forth, resulting from
the efforts put in by the nationalist forces. The Chinese National Day honors the
beginning of the Wuchang Uprising that eventually led to the end of the Qing
Dynasty and later saw the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Mao
Zedong, the leader of the Red Arm declared the founding of the People’s Republic
of China in Tiananmen Square on 1st October 1949 in front of a crowd of 300,000
people while waving the new Chinese flag. The nationalist government was later
upturned by the communist forces. The celebration lasts for a week in China
beginning from October 1st till October 7th . It is celebrated throughout mainland
China, Hong Kong and Macau. The government leads and hosts a variety of
festivities and cultural events. It is ironic how the Chinese national day somehow
celebrates the core of democracy but China as of now follows a rather
contradictory stand since the rise of communism. Beijing in turn has tried to sell its
own version of democracy, China’s “consultative democracy” but it has only seen a
downslide since President Xi came into power. In December 2021, the President of
the United States, Joe Biden invited leaders of the free world to the virtual summit
for Democracy. China was not in support of that and Beijing held its own “Advanced
Democracy Summit” among scholars from China and some from other countries. A
paper published then by the State Council titled as “Democracy in China” put forth
the arguments that all the aspects of China’s political process has the essence of
democracy infused in them. The paper also seemed to lay down the argument that
the Chinese Communist Party’s political system is more democratic compared to
the western democracy which was also accused of being morally bankrupt. It Is
indeed a laughable notion and the sheer audacity of the Chinese government to
even make such claims shows their negligence of the truth and their greed for
ultimate power over the rest of the world. The Chinese Communist Party under
President Xi’s rule has only shown an intensified assault on civil right activists,
religious believers and ethnic minorities. President Xi’s quest to implement a one
nation, one race in China has raised the intensity of the sufferings of the ethnic
minorities in the country who were already facing discrimination and a severe
violation of human rights. Tibet and its people have been under the Chinese illegal
grasp for more than six decades and still continue to face the communist regime’s
brutality and oppression. The Uyghur (Muslim) are also ethnic minorities who are
being tortured and detained in camps in China, an issue that has only gotten worse
over time. The Chinese government allowing the participation of ethnic minorities
in local governmental departments is a show for the rest of the world to see and to
set out the belief that China is being fair and just. However, the ethnic
discrimination in the official policies is clear and people belonging to these are
always oppressed and treated with hostility. According to a report by International
Forum for Right and Security (IIFRAS), Han chauvinism is still very much prevalent
in the Chinese mainland which at all times disrespects the minority ethnic customs
and traditions and aims only to wipe them out for good. The Chinese-occupied
Mongolian region saw a huge protest from locals when a new policy aimed at
reducing the use of Mongolian language in the region was imposed. The ultimate
and complete Sinicization process is taking place with full force in all regions where
the ethnic minorities are present. Similar to the case in the Mongolian region, china
is resorting to the same measures in the Tibetan Autonomous Region and Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region to erase their ethnic identity without leaving any hints
or traces of it. The Chinese government is also seemingly focusing upon family
separations as a part of this process to eradicate the culture and language of the
ethnic minorities. China has and is still moving on with systematic abuse where
arbitrary detentions are carried out on offences and this can be seen from the fates
of the members of the predominantly Muslim minority groups like the Uyghurs.
Many western counties including the US have declared this as genocide and as
crimes against humanity but China has never been held accountable and have
always gotten away with their acts of inhumanness and sheer brutality. Tibetans
are also on the top of the list of the ones targeted by the Communist party in the
act of the complete sinicization. The communist governments has always made
claims of Tibet being a part of their own and are now trying to turn Tibet into a
Chinese province and also to turn Tibetans into Chinese. Tibet was a free nation
before the illegal occupation but has sadly been under the systematic abuse for
decades now. The fact that China celebrates their National Day and in turn
celebrates the notion of democracy is indeed preposterous. A nation known for its
oppressive rule against the minorities should really ponder over their wrong doings
and be held accountable for it.