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12/5/12

China: Dark side of the Great Renewal: Chinese nationalism

China’s new leader, Xi Jinping, has issued a call for action to realize “the cause of national rejuvenation,” which he describes as “the greatest dream for the Chinese nation in modern history.”

Mr. Xi held up two goals: the achievement of a moderately prosperous society by about 2020 (when Mr. Xi will in all likelihood still be the country’s leader) and the construction of a strong, civilized and harmonious socialist country by the middle of the century.

Certainly, since before the time of Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China, Chinese intellectuals have cried, “Zhenxing zhonghua!” (“Revitalize China!”) Mr. Xi’s call, therefore, is likely to resonate with many.

But this is not 1949, when idealistic Chinese from around the world returned to a poverty-stricken country to help build New China. Countless numbers were subsequently persecuted in political campaigns launched by Mao Zedong.

This is 2012 and, while the Chinese people no doubt appreciate the advances their country has made over the past three decades, they also remember the human tragedies that almost every family experienced at the hands of the Communist Party.

Read more: Dark side of the Great Renewal: Chinese nationalism - The Globe and Mail

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