Australian Polity, Volume 10 Number 1 & 2
March 2022 issue of Australian Polity
March 2022 issue of Australian Polity
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Even the religious institutions that are permitted to operate
under state licence are instructed to display photos of
Xi, sing patriotic songs and pray for the ‘martyrs of the
Red Army’ in temples and churches.
Some observers are now suggesting that Xi’s crackdown
on all aspects of society, including global private
enterprises, is the imposition of a ‘Cultural Revolution
2.1’. The circumstances of Mao Zedong’s Great Proletarian
Cultural Revolution which he launched in 1966, leading to
the deaths of at least a million people, and Xi’s ‘profound
revolution’ differ greatly, but there is one common feature.
The programs of both Mao and Xi are centred on the
accretion of personal power. There is a ‘Xi Jinping Thought’
on almost every aspect of Chinese life, including the
construction of public toilets! If the CCP is becoming
nervous about the growing rejection of its policies, it
can blame Xi for his aggression.
Which brings us to the welcome announcement of a
new agreement between the US, UK and Australia. We
can only hope it is neither too late nor subverted by
vested interests. If Australia’s sovereignty and security
is seriously threatened in the future, a great deal of the
blame can be directed at parochial provincial politics
that distorted Australia’s national interest for more than
a decade. The government should seriously consider
leasing Los Angeles or Virginia Class submarines, the
secondment of Australian submariners and technicians
to the US fleet and a hybrid build to reduce the time frame
and costs to deliver the new vessels as soon as possible.
This article was first published in the Spectator Australia.
“If the CCP is becoming
nervous about the
growing rejection of its
policies, it can blame Xi
for his aggression.”
Australian Polity 17