Monday, September 21, 2015

A Heart For Freedom

From by A Heart For Freedom  by Chai Ling


Hu Yaobang, who death triggered the Tiananmen movement, wanted China to have three reforms: political, economic and spiritual. Zhao Ziyang, who was dismissed for not approving the massacre, agreed with the first two. But Deng Ziaoping, the leader who ordered the massacre, wanted only one reform - economic reform - and that is what China has had for the past 22 years.

Still, as he nation emerges on the world economic scene, the fruits of prosperity are not widely distributed. Five thousand Chinese families control much of the nation's wealth, political power and military force. There is a growing middle class - certainly more than before 1989 - and their lives may be getting better; but for the have-nots in China, the story only gets worse. An estimated 468 million Chinese live on less than $2 a day.* They are forgotten under the shadow of the wealthy few.

I know believe that transforming China into a Jesus-following nation is the key to open democracy in that country. Spiritual reform will be the foundation for the rest of the reforms.

*The number of 468 million is based on 36.3% of the 1.3 billion population of China living on less than $2 per day, as reported in Human Development Report 2009, 'Human and income poverty.'