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Leeks will be harvested eventually|Fan Hak

蘋果日報 2021/06/12 09:51


CCP(Chinese Communist Party)’s Ministry of Education proposed last year to transform independent colleges into vocational-technical universities by merging some of them with vocational institutes, which would downgrade undergraduate students to vocational undergraduate students. Not only would it have impact on their job hunting, but also further studies. On June 4, an army of students swarmed Zhijiang college of Zhejiang University of Technology, raising banners to lodge a protest against the decision concerned. Holding umbrellas in hands and shouting out slogans the following day, some students staged a demonstration at Hangzhou Institute of Commerce of Zhejiang Gongshang University. In the end, the school authorities called the police to besiege the students in the campus, and hamper their parents expressing support for them outside from entering the university.
Besides Zhejiang, there were students in neighboring Jiangsu echoing the protest. However, after protests staged on consecutive days, the students were cracked down on by violence. Though the protests were ostensibly successful as the CCP announced withdrawing the plan to transform independent colleges in Zhejiang and Jiangsu at last lest the budding disaster might continue to spread out, it seems that the CCP did not think there was anything wrong with their original decision and the media did not say a word about students’ protests.
The State could not be wrong, which is a philosophy as well as a belief held fast to by multitudinous young cynics and little pinks (young jingoistic Chinese nationalists on the internet). Before the Ministry of Education launched the plan to transform colleges, quite a number of young cynics and little pinks had helped whitewash the autocratic regime, and stigmatized the protest staged in Hong Kong over the past two years as a “color revolution” that overseas forces took part in. Two years on, no evidence has been found to suggest overseas forces having participated in the protest. But there are signs that the iron fist of socialism is about to befall them. The decision made by the Ministry of Education has wakened them up abruptly to the fact that they are actually leeks to be harvested.
Villainous leeks harvested by the State deserve neither sympathy nor commiseration for they chose to help the wicked perpetuate wicked deeds rather than stay reticent under the autocratic regime. One reaps what one sows. Even if the Ministry of Education had not driven transformation of colleges, similar events would just keep occurring, given the system preserved by the State. A calamity has been escaped, but what about the next one?
The CCP is a veteran of reconciling domestic conflicts. Take Wukan incident taking place in Guangdong many years ago as an example. The villagers demanded democracy, then they were granted the right to elections. But the representatives elected were all kicked out once they let their guard down. Afterward? Then nothing followed afterward. For the CCP, getting rid of the ones who raised a problem is tantamount to getting rid the problem. So, nothing will follow “afterward” for the students who have taken part in the protest. The CCP knows pretty well that they can earn a long period of peace and stability with such a maneuver that has proved successful in every test. It is just that the young cynics and little pinks have not yet experienced the power of the iron fist, and do not have a clue about how miserable they will be in the future.

Autocracy needs support among little pinks

As long as the iron fist of socialism does not befall them, every decision the CCP makes is correct for them. Their support is one of the reasons why the CCP has been able to keep the autocracy sustainable for such a long time. Please don’t tell me the CCP will be able to live on if it does not feed on the leeks regularly harvested. In a society where everyone “lies down” (tang ping), who pays for the daily sumptuousness enjoyed by high-ranking officials? Who echoes and seconds the wolf-warrior diplomacy? The most sorrowful mishap in China is that between a wolf and two tigers, the former is always picked. So, the Chinese people can only keep on suffering the hardships as usual.
(Fan Hak, independent writer)
This article is translated from Chinese by Apple Daily.
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