Tea at Trianon: China, Communism and American Schools

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

China, Communism and American Schools

From The National Pulse:

A 2011 Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA) filing with the Department of Justice reveals CUSEF’s American lobbyist – BLJ Worldwide – working on behalf of the Chinese government-linked organization to influence American textbooks.
Concerning Tibet, which has been occupied by repressive Chinese Communist Party forces for over 70 years, CUSEF sought to counter this by “introducing” a “strong, factual counter-narrative to defend and promote the actions of China within the Tibet Autonomous Region.”
“By creating a factual account of the Chinese impact on Tibet and producing a report that eliminates the emotion from the situation, we believe we will have a strong platform from which to address critics of China,” the report continued.
To do so, BLJ promised to liaise with “editors and publishers” of American textbooks:
“BLJ had conducted the first stage of a textbook analysis, and will proceed with contacting editors and publishers once the CUSEF sponsored study is published and there is material with which to approach the relevant parties.”
Other aspects of the campaign included:
Initiate a short-medium term US campaign to influence key constituencies (politicians, academics & experts) as well as general public opinion regarding China’s true efforts and intentions in Tibet
Change the debate about Tibet in the US to one that reduces the purely emotional arguments and promote accurate, factual evidence
Develop and promote a positive and cohesive narrative description of China’s engagement and history with Tibet, noting the many educational, infrastructure, and other investments in the region
Begin implementing a long-term strategy for better informing the next generation of US thought leaders about China-Tibet.
(Read more.)