Recently, I read an article regarding a new that the CCP has enacted. The law bans the critique of “heroes” of the past that were in some way connected to the CCP’s history, like Dong Cunrui. A woman compared toxic masculinity to him, and she was put into jail for seven months. To me, that is absolutely insane. It really makes me think of free speech and its importance in democratic countries. If this was law in the United States, I would assume every American would be facing a long prison sentence. It is interesting that the CCP has given themselves the power to dictate what is said about historical figures. It is a tactic that will surely boost their support in future years. Honestly, it reminds me of 1984, where there is a quote that roughly says, “the people who control the present, also control the past, and subsequently, controls the future.”
I also read the Wikipedia pages of some of the figures they mentioned in the article. I never knew that Mao Zedong had children, and his favorite one died from an airstrike carried out by the United States during the Korean War. It was odd to me that when I look at the pictures of the two together, it just seems like a regular father and son relationship, but it contains a brutal dictator. It just reinforces the idea that even these historical monsters are just like me and you, human.