“Photographing China, and later Russia, was always about finding a means to convey the profound depths to which politics shaped ordinary lives, every life, no matter how much freedom was sought”
These photos close the gap of thousands of miles and cultures we've been trained to believe are different and evoke a powerful shared humanity.
Beautiful photographs, everyone of them! Thank you! Tsis is why I love NYT!
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All the wrongs of Chinese government come from rocky roads from extreme poverty to trying to climb out of it. Give them more time; they meant well, just memories of past wars by empires and famine still ran deep. They want to build a solid foundation of security first before opening up politically.
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@Sharon Tsuei
I recommended your comment because I've always thought that a solid foundation of security is a prerequisite for democracy in China. However, in the effort to create this security, it seems they have succumbed to the most familiar pattern of Chinese history, namely the tyranny of one-man rule. Even if this man, Xi Jinping, puts the interests of China above his own (which is arguably not the case), who's to say the next dictator will be so benevolent?
Authoritarian rule and the cult of personality are together an historical cul de sac that has held China back for centuries, and they have yet to escape it. This may be a far greater threat to Middle Kingdom than any perceived enemy abroad.
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“Give them more time.” “As China adopts capitalism, it will naturally become more democratic.”
China policy hands have been saying such since Deng Xiaoping was calling the shots. Now China is one of the most powerful economies in the world, and the strongest power in the Pacific. Has it become any more democratic?
China’s very real economic might makes it virtually impervious to the much more nebulous power of global opinion; the same lets it crack down harder on Hong Kong, which no longer has the financial power to resist Chinese control. Meanwhile, in the Mainland, Xi Jinping builds his cult of personality while democracy advocates “disappear”. What part of this is “opening up politically” to you?