Attacking American criticisms of Chinese policy in Hong Kong, Beijing on Thursday inadvertently mastered the art of irony.
It came via a gem of a quote from the state newspaper, Global Times. “The level of freedom Hong Kong society enjoys is much higher than in Western countries such as the U.S. and the U.K.,” the paper said. “Some people in Hong Kong have been politically stubborn and that has led to the current social unrest.”
In one breath, the Global Times says that Hong Kong has “much higher” levels of freedom than Western nations. In the next, it suggests that the ongoing protests are a result of protesters exercising a “politically stubborn” condition of freedom. The Global Times already masters the art of making itself look stupid as a matter of habit, but this one really takes the prize. Is there a more obvious an example of practiced freedom than refusing to bow to state tyranny?
We shouldn’t laugh at the Chinese Communist Party here but seek to understand its machinations. Its language reflects the Chinese elites’ deeper understanding of the relationship between individual and state.
Where we in democracies consider freedom as entailing the right to petition government and to oppose government authoritarianism, Xi Jinping and his minions see freedom as something that begins and ends with the subjective grant of the state. We need only look at the lives of Chinese citizens on the mainland to see this.
Yes, those in urban areas are able to choose their profession of choice in most cases, even if they have little opportunity for social mobility. They are able to go shopping. They are able to share company with friends. They are able to pursue political careers in the party. They are able to join social groups, assuming they don’t run afoul of the social credit system.
But they are not allowed to be stubborn against state diktats. They are constantly reminded that such stubbornness is not freedom but insanity. And insanity only leads to reeducation camps or repression. The state, you see, knows better.
To challenge this understanding — a failure to recognize that the party knows what’s best for you — is to not simply to show arrogant criminality, but a rotten stubbornness of the mind.
That’s why the Global Times is so upset: Its editors simply cannot understand why Hongkongers aren’t satisfied with the crumbs of freedom that Beijing is willing to offer them. In the end, they simply don’t understand freedom.
