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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-06-07, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 1989. Opinion The dangerous winds of change in China While people around the world were stunned by the violence inflicted in China on the weekend when well-armed Chinese troops began slaughtering defenceless student protesters, there must have been many in China who were not surprised. To be anything but the lowliest, most complacent peasant in China in the past 40 years, has been to risk being on the wrong side of the latest shift in the political winds. China has demonstrated the horrible possibilities of authoritarian government where the leadership is subject to whims while having absolute power. MaoTsetung set one path for his revolution until in his later years he decided the revolution had become corrupted and he set free the terrible forces of the Cultural Revolution. People who had been good party members, thinking they were doing exactly what Mao wished, suddenly found themselves being prosecuted. The attack was mostly on the leaders of professions and communities. Many died. Many were exiled to work on command farms, work they were little suited for. It took years for China to recover. But Mao died and the leadership took a different direction and those who were “in” during the cultural revolution were suddenly “out” and in danger. The thing that is shocking to westerners looking at the slaughter in China is that only a couple of years ago we were looking at China as one Communist country that seemed to be opening up to outside ideas. Deng Xiaoping was promoting more free enterprise, was setting peasants free to sell what they produced as an incentive to produce more, was signing agreements with western capitalists to bring money and technology to China to help serve the huge population. Now it seems it was Deng who approved the ruthless crackdown. There is a difficult point in the kind of demonstrations against authoritarianism that we’ve seen in China, or things like the Solidarity uprisings in Poland some years ago. Westerners can cheer them but we can dolittle to help them. In fact in wishing them well we may encourage the protesters to go farther than they ordinarily might. The problem is that when the government decides to crack down, we can only stand helplessly by and watch people we’ve encouraged die. It’s a world we can’t understand. Even in the rebellious days of the 1%0’s, when students seemed to be protesting everything, the students had the assurance of knowing there were limits on just how far the authorities could go. The shooting of the Kent State students, the closest thing we’ve seen in North America to what has happened in China, was tiny by comparison and most likely accidental. Even after the horrible events of Tiananmen Square, even knowing the vicious and overwhelming power of the army, the students this week have pressed on with their struggle. We westerners can only salute their courage under fire. What's the use? Is the storm over yet? Letter from the editor Many times people work hard to make our communities look nice while others can undo the work in a few thoughtless minutes. For a community that hosts thousands of visitors a year, for instance, Blyth had until recently a very barren, dusty main street. In recent years through the combined efforts of the village council and the Horticultural Society, great steps have been taken in making the street a more pleasant place to be. The latest touch was the planting this year of 10 crabapple trees in planters along the street. Where once there were 10, now there are six, at least six healthy ones. In a matter of weeks four of the trees have been broken off, the latest being in the middle of the afternoon on Monday. Young people usually take the blame for such mindless vandalism but in the middle of the afternoon on a school day it would seem someone older must have been the culprit. This is just typical of the kind of vandalism that spoils the efforts of many people, private citizens and municipalities alike, to make the world a nicer place to be. What pleasure there can be in destructiveness will always be a mystery. All the ordinary citizens can do is to keep a sharp watch out for this kind of stupidity and report any acts of vandalism to police.If we can’t stop it, there’s the danger we won’t be able to get people to even try to make things better. The Citizen P.O Box 429. BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 Charge a threat to your right to know BY KEITH ROULSTON The charges laid by RCMP officers against Global Television reporter Doug Small last week could have repercussions about just how much information you can get about your own government. I’m one of those who did not think Mr. Small did the right thing in revealing the contents of the budget document he was given the day before the budget was suppos­ ed to have been released. To me, his reading the contents of the document on the air was one of those childish things that some­ times takes place in the business of journalism where the competitive spirit of beating your rivals to the news sometimes gets out of hand. It recalls the bad old days when, for instance, Marilyn Bell was virtually kidnapped by one Toronto news­ paper so it could have the exclusive story of her dramatic crossing of Lake Ontario. As Peter Truman, former Global news anchor wrote last week, public opinion toward Mr. Small wasn’t helped any by the smirk­ ing, “aren’t I smart” attitude he had about the whole thing. Yet the fact that he had the document wasn’t to me the crime (or at least the ethical failure on his part). If he had simply stated that he had a copy of the budget document and perhaps showed the outside of it he would have served the public interest. His point should have been that if he could get a copy of the budget, so could someone else and the other person who got it might be in a position to make millions from the knowledge it contained. In that he would have been proven right. Subsequent events have shown that others already had had the budget for some days before he did. But under the logic the police have used, he would have been just as guilty of a breach of the law in doing that. By having the docu­ ment in his possession, he was guilty of possession of stolen property, the police seem to argue. Now in terms of the monetary amounts involved, Mr. Small was probably guilty of stealing less than the kid who steals an apple from the supermarket. A few cents would cover the cost of the docu­ ment. What is really important is Continued on page 5 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario, by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $17 QO/yr ($38 00 Foreign) Advertising isacceptedon the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2pm - Brussels, Monday, 4 p m - Blyth We are not responsible for unsolicited newscriptsor photographs Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. 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