Next week, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao in New York. The international context is intriguing. Under US pressure, Israel is distancing itself from China. Simultaneously, Pakistan is getting close to Israel. Meanwhile, India's engagement with China is deepening. Before proceeding further, the PM might consider the following.
China was liberated by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) led by Mao Zedong. China's Communist Party existed earlier. It accomplished little. Zhou Enlai joined it before Mao. Early government leaders under Mao were participants in his Long March. Mao's ideological heir was Lin Piao. He outlined a strategy for world conquest. He said the countryside must surround the cities. In other words, the Third World could be used against the West. But Lin died in a plane crash suspected to be sabotage. His party rivals accused him of conspiring against Mao. The truth was never known.
After Lin's death, the Red Guard movement ravaged China for a decade. Mao was old. His young fourth wife led the movement. The Red Guards displayed the ruthless PLA mindset similar to Cambodia's Pol Pot regime controlled by the PLA. Pol Pot slaughtered over a million Cambodians.
In 1976, Mao died. The Red Guards were subdued. Deng Xiaoping took over. He introduced reforms. Deng himself was in the Long March. He appointed Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao to succeed him. Neither ever joined the army. Deng also headed China's powerful Central Military Commission (CMC). Deng's deputy in the cmc was General Liu Huaquing who led the PLA.
After Deng's tenure, Jiang Zemin succeeded him. He also became chairman of the CMC. After Deng's death in 1997, Liu ceased being vice-chairman of the CMC. He was succeeded by General Chi Haotian. At 89, Liu is senior in the revolution to both Jiang and Hu.
President Jiang ordered the PLA to discard business activities. The PLA, which owns over 15,000 commercial firms doing thriving business in America, ignored Jiang.
On 9/11 day itself, the PLA met with Osama bin Laden in Kabul. Six days after 9/11, China was slated to enter the WTO. The attack failed to prevent China's entry.
SARS erupted in a PLA hospital. Premier Wen Jiabao firmly extinguished it. Had he failed, foreign investment would have stopped.
In 1999, the PLA published Unrestricted Warfare by two colonels advocating destruction of America by all possible means. Recently, General Zhu Chenghui threatened America with a nuclear strike. The PM should seriously ponder: who rules China—Hu or the PLA?
(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)
