china news 20th june 2022
From Peter the Great to the demise of Tsarist Russia, the Westernization dream of the Russian royal family and the great aristocracy has been torn apart from the local Orthodox tradition. Russians believe that after the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, Russia inherited the Eastern Orthodox legal system of the Eastern Roman Empire. Western European Christendom only originated from the Western Roman Empire that was destroyed by the Germanic barbarians. So – Russia is the true successor of the Roman Empire.
The Russian double-headed eagle national emblem directly inherits the national emblem of the Eastern Roman Empire, representing the characteristics and legal system of the Eurasian Empire. It also represents the internal spiritual conflict of Russia: the oversized oriental body and weak Western culture are mixed and conflicted with each other. The spirit goes to the west, while the body remains in the east. The rulers can only swing back and forth between the Westernization faction and the native faction, and the chauvinism of foreign aggression is the glue between the two factions, resulting in the history of Tsarist Russia being a history of expansion.
Inheriting the chauvinism of Tsarist Russia and disregarding the lives of the people was a major reason for the disintegration of the Soviet Union. These actions violated the basic principles of Marxism for the liberation of the oppressed people. Tsarist Russia’s elite westernization trend and local Orthodox traditions still have a strong heritage in the Soviet Union, and gradually merged in domestic and foreign difficulties, and finally overturned the Soviet Union. (Readers should bear in mind that, the historical background of this comment derives from the later era of the Soviet Union, from 1960s onwards Soviet-China relationship entered an era of confrontation and some military conflicts happened.)
Putin was originally a moderate “Westernizer” and still intended to integrate into the Western world, such as joining the G8 (G8 summit) and trying his best to befriend Merkel’s Germany. Putin has always said that he is “willing to cooperate with any president of the US”. To this end, he does not hesitate to recognize the superpower status of the United States and downgrade himself to a regional power; despite the opposition of the domestic faction, he fully supports the US “war on terror” in Afghanistan. It can be seen from this that Russia has a deep affection for the Western world. The extremely arrogant imperialist characteristics of the United States and the West are undoubtedly revealed. (Reader’s note: Chinese minds would compare the early stage of China’s own Reform and Open-up from 1980s until recently to the fate of post-Soviet Russia.)
Will Russia go to nationalism, chauvinism, or socialism again, or will there be a fusion of ‘Eurasianism’ and Orthodox traditions, in an east-oriented New idea? These are questions for the Russians themselves to answer. Without a firm national concept and ideological system, the country can only decline into chaos and tear. Russia’s Westernization obsession and today’s great enlightenment are worth thinking about by Chinese people.
Source: hk01.com.
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