[Political Interest]

China is a very nationalistic country. They are very proud of their country. Often I wonder how they reconcile having a Marxist-Leninist official ideology while being fiercely nationalist at the same time.

China is not the only country which has done this, Vietnam is also very nationalist and so is North Korea.

How do these countries reconcile nationalism with Marxism? Does the nationalism in these countries arise simply as a natural feeling, or is it a certain type of nationalism that exists through a Marxist viewpoint?

[Angelamerkel]

They are avant garde communists, a little like corporate robber barons wearing Mao tunics. Taiwan scared them into ditching Marxist orthodoxy, and this seems to be the communist mainstream now.

[benpenguin]

Officially our ideology is Chinese style socialism. When you call it "Chinese style", you can basically turn it into anything. Unofficially, we don't have a very fixed ideology, instead we have political doctrines that changes from generation to generation of party leadership. You can loosely call it authoritarian state capitalism.

In fact, people here are a bit sick of ideologies, whether it is communism or liberalism. We love our country and will support whatever makes it strong, thats all.

[ThirdTerm]

China has never experimented with a parliamentary democracy in its long history and Communism fits in well with Chinese society which has been making a transition to modernity. It was Imperial Japan's biggest mistake to expand the war against China in the late 1930s by refusing to make peace with Chiang Kai-shek, who was the leader of the Nationalist government which retreated to the less-developed western provinces. The war should have been fought to bring about a new era of mutual peace among the countries of East Asia by driving Western imperialism out of the region and Chiang Kai-shek was sympathetic towards the pan-Asian ideals. But Prince Fumimaro Konoe, who had a Communist background, abhorred the establishment of the Nationalist government in China and indirectly supported Mao's army by prolonging the war. As a result, China's nationalism is based on a deep-seated hatred against the Japanese and it's been reported that TV films are being made in China to exaggerate the Japanese army's wartime atrocities and fan the flames of Chinese nationalism further.

China’s government has launched a month-long campaign of anti-Japanese broadcasts with dramas and other shows that promote patriotism ahead of the 83rd anniversary of an incident staged by Japanese forces as a pretext to invade Manchuria. Known as the Mukden Incident, Japanese agents on Sept. 18, 1931, detonated a small amount of dynamite near a railroad owned by Japanese interests. In response to the incident, Japanese forces invaded a part of Manchuria near what is now the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang. According to a report by the South China Morning Post, citing local news source Beijing News, the month-long directive has forced local television stations like Hunan TV, Beijing TV and Zhejiang TV to adjust their programming schedules to accommodate the specific programs which also includes “anti-fascist” content as the anniversary approaches, and is expected to continue through the beginning of October for the country’s National Day.
http://www.ibtimes.com/china-adds-anti- ... ry-1672806

[benpenguin]

Japan's wartime atrocities are well documented but not presented that much on TV drama. (Because those would be unsuitable for TV) - if anything the Japanese troops are dumbed down to cartoon villians. What's being exaggerated here was the communist troops' fighting prowness, for example:
- Ripping Japanese soldiers apart with bare hands!
- Throwing granades into fighter jets in the air!
- Firing pistols casually and hitting like sniper rifles!
- Dodging bullets fired from 20 machine guns 5 meters away!
Much more than whipping up nationalism, our communist kung fu heroes serve as an endless source of comedy relief at home and abroad. Makes one wonder how the Japs managed to survive their 8 years war!

[The Immortal Goon]

Typically speaking, Marxist-Leninism is the formal name of Stalinism. Incidentally, Trotskyism is Bolshevik-Leninism.

Regardless, Marxist-Leninism has never had trouble with nationalism, it's part of the DNA of, "Socialism in One Country." Granted, this whole concept is something that Marx, Engels, and Lenin all explicitly said was horseshit.

But many "Marxists," do buy into Socialism in One Country.

[ThirdTerm]

South Korea is not a Communist country but the comfort women issue is being exploited to whip up hatred against Imperial Japan and the Japanese in general. The National Mobilization Law that was passed in 1938 under the Konoe government enabled the country to conscript Korean labourers and up to 2 million Korean workers ended up in mainland Japan in the 1940s, while over 50% of them came to Japan voluntarily to look for work. Tens of thousands of Korean women, including those who were still in education, were also taken to wartime factories in the final years of war and most Koreans misleadingly believe that some of those slave labourers were forced to work at comfort stations even though no historical or anecdotal evidence of such atrocious abuse of power can be found. There is also a myth perpetuated by Seiji Yoshida, who claimed that he kidnapped hundreds of comfort women from South Korea’s Jeju Island, and the manufactured story based on his novel is taught at Korean schools as a part of the national curriculum. China is understandably very sympathetic towards South Korea when it comes to these thorny issues and a memorial was built in China to commemorate a Korean independence activist who assassinated a Japanese governor in 1909 and China said that Ahn Jung-geun was a "famous anti-Japanese person" and described the assassination as a "courageous act".

The producer of the Korean musical "Hero," which charts the life of independence fighter Ahn Jung-geun (1879-1910), has been invited to stage the show in Harbin, China. It will be put on stage beginning in December, after the 105th anniversary of the independence activist's death, which fell on Oct. 26. Acom International, the production company of the musical, said "Hero" will be staged four times at the Children's Palace Art Center Theatre in Harbin on Dec. 20 and 21. The company revealed that discussions on the Chinese performance began back in January, which eventually led the Harbin city government to officially send out an invitation last month. "We thought of touring Harbin with Korean actors for a short-term, but Harbin city wants to perform ‘Hero' regularly with Chinese actors and tour China nationwide. The offer was much better than we expected," Yun said. Harbin opened a memorial for Ahn Jung-geun earlier this year, in response to President Park Geun-hye's request to commemorate Ahn's assassination in Harbin Railway Station. "We were invited to celebrate the opening of Ahn's memorial, but we seek long-term relations with Harbin. A new 1,600-seat theater opens in Harbin next year and we are in talks for performing at the opening of the theater. A Chinese version of the musical is also in discussion."
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/cu ... 67818.html

[Gary John]

The Chinese are National Socialists, not communists.

They are racially aware, and don't mind eugenics.

The USA today is far more communist than China.

[Political Interest]

The Chinese are National Socialists, not communists.

I doubt Deng Xiaoping got his inspiration from Mein Kampf. Please do not use political terms like National Socialism when they already have a definition tied to the Nazi regime.

[HoniSoit]

China has never experimented with a parliamentary democracy in its long history…

It did briefly in the Republican period, but failed fairly quickly.

From the very start, Marxism-Leninism was merely the political tool which the Communist Party of China adapted to achieve national independence and development. The goal has always been nationalist, but the tools varied from anarchism (many of the early socialists in China were anarchists, or heavily influenced by it), liberalism (as advocated by many foreign-educated Chinese), authoritarianism (of the Nationalist Party variety) and communism (of the Marxist-Leninist vanguard variety with Chinese characteristics of peasant-based armed struggle). All other tools failed except Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. So there has never been any contradiction with nationalism.

[Atlantis]

How do these countries reconcile nationalism with Marxism? Does the nationalism in these countries arise simply as a natural feeling, or is it a certain type of nationalism that exists through a Marxist viewpoint?

I don't see your problem.

Firstly, while China is nominally still Marxist, it is really more like state-directed capitalism. Marxism is only maintained as an official ideology of state in order to justify the monopoly on power of the CCP.

Secondly, the Chinese have often introduced foreign ideologies, like Buddhism, by making it Chinese.

Finally, even if the Chinese are very nationalistic, they are also very pragmatic. They will adapt Marxism or any other ideology to their practical needs.

[Rancid]

We love our country and will support whatever makes it strong, thats all.

Even if it means murdering people?

[benpenguin]

Even if it means murdering people?

Depends on who you are murdering Which country on earth has a problem with murdering people anyway?

[Rancid]

Most countries have a problem with it.

[benpenguin]

Most countries have a problem with it.

I am talking enemies and traitors. You have a point about China murdering citizens or something?

[Rancid]

One man's enemy is another man's freedom fighter or innocent civilian.

[benpenguin]

Exactly my point. I don't see China being particularly good or bad about it. Why use the term "murder"?

[Potemkin]

Most countries have a problem with it.

Actually, they don't. How many Iraqi civilians died as a direct result of the sanctions against that country in the 1990s? How many German civilians died in the firebombing of German cities in WWII? And I'm not even going to mention Hiroshima or Nagasaki....

Most countries are perfectly happy to commit mass murder whenever it suits them.

[Rancid]

Exactly my point. I don't see China being particularly good or bad about it. Why use the term "murder"?

Maybe murder was the wrong word.

Actually, they don't. How many Iraqi civilians died as a direct result of the sanctions against that country in the 1990s? How many German civilians died in the firebombing of German cities in WWII? And I'm not even going to mention Hiroshima or Nagasaki...

Stop fucking around with my trolling attempts.

[Potemkin]

Stop fucking around with my trolling attempts.

Please accept my apologies Rancid. It won't happen again.