Lang Lang Loathes Liberty
A final word about Lang Lang (to whom I have probably devoted as many words, over the last ten years, as I have to any musician): He is a Vice President of the All China Youth Federation. This is an important and longstanding component of the CCP, which has ruled China, dictatorially, for more than 60 years now. (Ten years longer than Castro and his Communists have ruled Cuba!) Here is the federation’s “basic task”: to “uphold patriotism and the banner of socialism, rally and educate young people from every ethnic group, encourage youth to study Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and Jiang Zemin’s Three Represents,” etc.
Next time I see Lang Lang, I might ask him about those three represents — sorry, Three Represents.