My New York Times contribution on Civic Freedom in China

While Singapore and China are obviously two very different societies, they both share a philosophical commitment to the strong centralised leadership.  Fundamentally, my NY Times comment was directed at the instinctive approach most NY Times readers took, which was to evaluate China from the lens of the west.  While not finding excuses for the deeply authoritarian approach taken by leaders of both countries, I think finding tangible political solutions and working towards a more egalitarian and free society for all first requires looking at the world from the Other's point of view.

The gist of my New York Times Comment:

Mark Chia

 Singapore 3 days ago

Well the problem is from a Chinese point of view, or at least what Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew claims it is in his recently published book "One Man's View of the World", it is said that a country can only prosper if there is a strong centralised authority. Mind you "Zhong Guo", the Chinese term for China, actually translates as "Central Kingdom". For centuries, the world was interpreted as a series of concentric circles with the Emperor at the centre. When the Emperor's power is unshaken, only then will there be true stability and prosperity for the nation. China may no longer be a monarchy, but having lived with the only system it ever knew for several thousand years, you can't expect things to change after less than a century since the CCP took power.

Why am I saying all this? I'm not finding excuses for the authoritarian approach of the Chinese leadership. But I think until we begin to understand how the political cosmology works in China, our response to the issue will be little more than a profound feeling of outrage mixed with helpless resignation. If Lee Kuan Yew was right, I wouldn't be surprised that from the Chinese leadership, nipping dissent in the bud comes from a wellspring of 'good' intentions. Well we all know where that leads us.

Click here to read the article.

Screenshot of NY Times article and my comment