The Project 2049 Institute is pleased to announce the publication of our latest Occasional Paper, "The Logic of Historical Nihilism: Analyzing the PRC Orthodoxy on the Origins of the Korean War." Dr. Miles M. Yu, professor of East Asia and military and naval history at the United States Naval Academy (USNA), examines the historical orthodoxy of Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) interpretation of the Korean War. Dr. Yu uses historical documents to trace how Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong approved Kim Il-sung's plan to invade the South. He concluded that the CCP's misinterpretation of the Korean War from past to present is a matter of regime survival and is integral to Maoist historical nihilism. Following the recent 67th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War, Dr. Yu's paper provides a timely and significant review of the Korean War's historical legacy, and the ways in which the manipulation of historical narratives is utilized by the CCP.
"Since the start of the Korean War, however, the Chinese communist state propaganda system has carried out a seven-decade campaign of falsehood on the causes of the conflict by blaming the United States and the U.S.-backed South Korean government, established in 1948 under President Syngman Rhee, for "invading" North Korea. From the 1950s to the 1990s in China, this line of historical untruth was the only accepted narrative[...]. The communist government fabricated that orthodoxy in 1950 and it is still the official position of the Chinese Communist Party.
Of all histories written in the People's Republic of China (PRC), none are allowed to deviate from the Marxist-Leninist paradigm of "historical dialectical materialism" in official proclamations. Despite the Communist Party's catastrophic failure in the fulfillment of a socialist, communist paradise, as the late American historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. has aptly termed "the spectacular flop of history as prophecy," has been given many layers of beguiling interpretative frames to cover up the Grand Failure of the Utopian experiment in communism."
Dr. Yu examines the historical and geopolitical context of the two communist leaders' decision to allow Kim Il-sung to invade South Korea. The detailed historical records in this study allow readers to comprehend how Stalin and Mao came to their agreement to condone warfare in Northeast Asia. Dr. Yu's research proves the CCP's creation of a false historical narrative of the Korean War that has endured until today. We hope you enjoy reading this publication and warmly welcome your comments and suggestions.
No comments:
Post a Comment