農暦三月晦日。曇。陽暦五月四日で1919年の五四運動から百年。土曜なので早朝、FCCに週末の新聞読みに出かけたらFCC横の階段に若者の長蛇の列。香港ばかりか大陸旅客もをり五四運動とは関係なくアディダスの運動靴か何か限定版の発売か。
岡田屋（Aeon）でタイ王国のワチラロンコン国王戴冠式祝賀ではないのだらうが泰国食品節開催中で大量の榴槤（ドリアン）販売に長蛇の列で之に並ぶ。
晩はこゝ数日の気温低下で大根おろしと韮の鍋で豚肉のしゃぶしゃぶ。
食後今年初の榴槤頬張る。
五四運動百周年。大公報は對標五四精神 讓青春與家國共振なんて記事大きく掲げ若者のエネルギーと国家が共振し新しい時代を、なんて謳つてみせる。
清朝倒したものゝ民国は袁世凱の帝政となり1916年に袁世凱逝去のあと軍閥割拠で第一次世界大戦で日本は対華21ヶ条突きつけドイツの山東省権益の譲渡、関東州租借と満鉄権益の期限延長を求め、かうした動きに反発した若者らによる蜂起が五四運動。この運動は蔡元培、胡適、傅斯年ら西欧の社会民主主義思想に感化された知識青年らによるもので、これにソ連の共産主義革命でコミンテルン主導で獨秀や李大釗ら共産主義運動に拍車かける。結果、後者が勢ひ帯び、最後は毛澤東の共産革命となるわけで中共にとつても五四運動は輝かしい革命前史。だが中共にとつては五四運動は1979年の70周年が胡耀邦逝去契機にした民主化運動で六四に至る象徴的な日であつたことも喉の棘の如し。陶傑氏が今日の蘋果日報連載の随筆で「五四」這個悶話題が興味深い指摘。
「五四」這個悶話題 - 陶傑 | 蘋果日報 | 果籽 | 名采 | 20190504
五四運動では「科学と民主」が謳はれ、その科学はテクノロジーに非ず理性、民主は民主。これが百年後、中共は世界第二位のGDP誇る経済大国となり中共一党独裁での政治安定も誇り、そこで上述のやうな「對標五四精神 讓青春與家國共振」宣ふ。陶傑氏は五四運動に対して日本の明治維新から近代化の成果を評す。中共の五四運動百年での欺瞞的な成果誇張に対して日本は維新百五十年で安倍首相は談話もなく（これは凍結氏の誤解、政府主催の明治150年記念式典で晋三は誇らしげに式辞述べる（こちら）、天皇はこれに参加せず）天皇退位と新天皇即位でも「憲法を守り国民のために」と述べる日本。明治維新も農民蜂起も京都・奈良の焼き討ちもない（これも正確ではない）。
如果紀念「五四」，中國人有起碼的誠意，不忘初心，應該繼續「五四」先賢之「打到孔家店」、廢除儒學；為何又到處宣揚「中華儒家偉大文化」、開「孔子學院」？一到這種骨節眼，你就知道，他又手癢，又想搬龍門了。
中国では「科学」思想により儒教など攻撃受けたが中共が伝統的封建思想否定するはずの今、世界中に「孔子学院」開く矛盾。科学的に先進国になつたはずが米国に何十万人の若者が留学する現実。確かに大いなる矛盾が何も解決されてをらず。昨年、FCCで香港独立宣ふ香港民族党の代表をスピーチに招聘したことで香港での取材活動拒まれたFT紙のVictor Mallet記者の記事“Hong Kong: business must pay heed to the erosion of freedoms”は一読に値する。
- The popular myth about boiling a frog — that the animal will jump out of the pot if placed in boiling water but die when plonked in cold water and gradually cooked — should be recalled by anyone involved in politics, business or the law in Asia today. In most cases, freedom and the rule of law are being eroded only gradually, but the erosion is real and the cumulative effect substantial.
Business is not exempt from this lesson. In Hong Kong and other financial centres, a surprising number of investors and entrepreneurs believe themselves protected from the depredations of authoritarian governments — and their arbitrary, extralegal decisions — on the grounds that they are purely economic players and steer clear of that terribly disruptive and inconvenient thing called “politics”. They may be right for the time being. In the long run, they are deceiving themselves.
The dangers are, of course, more immediate in authoritarian states such as China. Many observers thought President Xi Jinping would accelerate political and economic reforms and preside over a more liberal society, but he has done the opposite, concentrating power in himself and the ruling Communist party and crushing dissenters.- The reality is that abuses of freedom, transparency and the rule of law can never be fully confined to the “political” sphere.
There is not merely the problem of business people, lawyers and journalists trying to go about their daily business without risking arbitrary arrest. Economic and financial news and data, essential for bankers and industrialists, are an increasingly contested area. This is true even in a democracy such as India, but it is particularly so in authoritarian China.
As the Chinese economy slowed last year, propaganda officials ordered editors and journalists to refrain from publishing bad news about such matters as inefficient state companies and local government debt. “The economy is now political,” one editor told the FT anonymously at the time.
In too many countries — from Turkey to China, and even the US — respect for the truth and rule of law is now under sustained attack. That is why work by law firms to improve protection for journalists, whistleblowers and activists is so important — even if it turns out not to be enough.
The assault is not always alarming or visible, because our freedoms are usually eroded one small step at a time. But the frog is slowly being boiled, and soon it may be too late to jump out of the pot.
