A Billion Dreams Against One
by Sam Medley
In the first week of 2013, the notoriously liberal Southern
Weekly of Guangdong Province planned to publish their annual New Year's
Greeting. Before publishing, the newspaper had to submit a draft to the local
propaganda authorities for approval. In the early hours of January first, the
editors were called in to revise the greeting on the grounds that it was too
inflammatory. The original 2,000 word version was cut to 1,000. The title
“China's Dream, the Dream of Constitutionalism” was changed to the more
appealing “We Are Closer to Our Dream Than Ever Before.” It became obvious that
the dreams of the people are second place to the dream of the government. But
what are these dreams? What exactly do the revisions say about hopes for
China's future?
The original unedited version calls for constitutionalism,
strict observance of the nation's constitution on all levels. No more
favoritism. No more class-ism. No more corruption. The greeting demands
justice. It references the nightmare of the Cultural Revolution, the
embarrassment of British Colonial rule, and the cruelty emanating from every
possible direction:
“At one
time, people were distanced from benevolence, righteousness, and the ways of
heaven. They were distanced from the
commitment to freedom.”
