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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/13/what-does-china-really-think-about-trump-they-know-about-humiliation-and-wont-take-it-from-him>
"Last week, Mao Ning, head of China’s foreign ministry information department,
posted a blurry black-and-white clip of a moment in history. In 1953, the late
Chairman Mao, in his heavily accented, high-pitched voice, made a defiant
speech of resistance to what he called US aggression in Korea.
Kim Il-sung, the North Korean leader and founder of the Kim dynasty, now in its
third generation, had invaded US-backed South Korea. When Kim’s attempt to
unite Korea by force appeared to be failing, China threw nearly 3 million
“volunteers” into the war and succeeded in fighting to the stalemate that has
prevailed ever since.
There was no mistaking the symbolism of the image. As Donald Trump bragged to
his acolytes in Washington that foreign leaders were queueing up and “kissing
my ass”, Beijing was announcing a “fight to the end”.
Trump may be about to discover that it is unwise to insult Beijing. The harder
he plays it, the harder Beijing will play it back.
This determination to fight to the end is both rooted in China’s recent history
and in concern for its future. Since the Chinese Communist party turned its
guns on protesting students in Tiananmen in 1989, its propaganda has drummed
the idea of a “century of humiliation” into generations of Chinese citizens.
The term is shorthand for the period between the first Opium war (1839-1842)
and 1949, when the Communist party won China’s civil war. It was a period in
which western imperial powers forced the ailing Qing dynasty to make
concessions on trade and extraterritorial rights, followed by the collapse of
the imperial dynasty and the invasion of China by Japan.
Since 1989, the “century of humiliation” has been central to the CCP’s message
of aggrieved nationalism, and the promise to its citizens that the party would
make China so rich and powerful that it would never again be bullied by foreign
powers."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
