Coloured revolutions: The view from moscow and beijing

Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics

Volumn 25, Issue 2-3, 2009, Pages 369-395

  Wilson, Jeanne L ^a  

^a WHEATON COLLEGE   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 76649097806     PISSN: 13523279     EISSN: 17439116     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13523270902861061     Document Type: Article

References (118)

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2. Here I am concerned primarily with the perceptions of Russian and Chinese leaders, rather than their factual validity. This study, moreover, does not provide a detailed account of the events of the coloured revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, which has been undertaken elsewhere. There is a substantial literature on the coloured revolutions which is too voluminous to be surveyed here. A special edition of this journal (Vol.23, No.1 (2007)) was dedicated to the evolution of the Orange revolution in Ukraine.
3. Despite the controls exercised by the state, Russian and Chinese media express a range of political views, depending on the topic and the particular publication. The present study relies to a large extent on direct quotations by governmental officials which are assumed to indicate leadership policy preferences. I further assume that analyses in the mainstream mass media generally reflect the position of the Kremlin or the Hu Jintao leadership, a practice, however, that requires judgment of the extent to which a given source corresponds to official policy.
4. Tang Yong, 'Meishi minzhu haishi Meishi badao?' [Is it American democracy or American highhandedness?], Renmin Ribao, 26 April 2005, p.3.
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6. See, for example, comments by Andrei Kokoshin, chairman of the Duma committee for CIS affairs, 'Russian Lawmaker Says No Prerequisites for "Orange revolution" in Kyrgyzstan', in Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostei WWW-Text, 22 March 2005, via WNC, 22 March 2005.
7. and Federation Council Chairman Sergei Mironov in 'Russian Senate Speaker Says Kyrgyz Events "Not Another Coloured Revolution"', Itar-Tass, 26 March 2005, via WNC, 26 March 2005.
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26. Many Chinese sources also use the term feizhengfu zuzhi, the literal translation into Chinese of 'non-governmental organization'.
27. Of course, GONGOs are a common fixture on the global scene, not restricted to China; in this sense, the US government-supported National Endowment for Democracy is also a GONGO: see Moisés Naím, 'What is a Gongo? How Government Sponsored Groups Masquerade as Civil Society', Foreign Policy, 160 (May 2007), pp.96-8.
28. Spires, China's Un-Official Civil Society, pp.12-13.
29. Ailing Zhuang, 'The Future of Nonprofit Organizations in China: Possible Roles and Needed Capacities', lecture at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 9 May 2008. For further discussion.
30. see Qiusha Ma, Non-Governmental Organizations in Contemporary China: Paving the Way to Civil Society? (New York: Routledge, 2006), and Spires, China's Un-Official Civil Society; Spires contends (pp.15-16) that the number of NGOs operative in China is routinely overestimated by both foreign and Chinese sources.
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35. , accessed 3 March 2008. Spires's research corroborates this point, noting that foreign organizations are oriented towards funding GONGOs and ignore grassroots NGOs: see China's Un-Official Civil Society, Ch.4.
36. For further discussion, see Elizabeth Economy, The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China's Future (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2004), especially Ch.5.
37. David Shambaugh, China's Communist Party: Atrophy and Adaptation (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2008), p.91.
38. Congressional-Executive Commission on China Annual Report 2007, Part III. Development of the Rule of Law. Civil Society, p.264, n.23, available at,, accessed 7 Aug. 2008.
39. See Qiu Xin, 'China Curbs Civil Society Groups', Asia Times, 19 April 2005.
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47. See for example, 'NGOs Getting More Prominence', China Daily, 22 April 2005.
48. and 'NGOs Have More Room to Develop', China Daily, 25 May 2007.
49. Other donors included the European Union, the Canadian government and the Ford Foundation: Peter Finn, 'Russian Probe Shuts Media Foundation', Washington Post, 29 June 2007.
50. 'Top US NGO in Russia Suspends Work After Raid', Agence France Presse, 20 April 2007, via LexisNexis Academic, accessed 11 July 2007.
51. Lei Da, 'Meiguo chuanmei zhutui "yanse geming"'[American media promote the 'colour revolutions'], Renmin Ribao, 3 April 2005.
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53. Shambaugh, China's Communist Party, p.91.
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64. C.J. Chivers, 'Russia Aims to Cut Vote Observers', International Herald Tribune, 25 Oct. 2007.
65. See Ivan Rodin and Vitaly Lezov, 'Lyudi Madlen Olbrait vse-taki rabotayut s Kas'yanovym' [Madeleine Albright's people are indeed working with Kasyanov], Nezavisimaya gazeta, 20 July 2006; _rfaut Rodin I.Lezov V.
66. Carl Schreck, 'Kasyanov, US NGO Deny Teaming Up for "08" Vote', Moscow Times, 25 July 2006.
67. Vladimir Putin's speech of 21 Nov. 2007, 'Putin Attacks "Jackal" Opponents', available at,, accessed 14 March 2008.
68. Rossiikaya gazeta, however, provided more discreet coverage of Putin's speech on its web site: see Vladimir Kuz'min, 'Ya rasschityvayu na vas' [I am counting on you], 22 Nov. 2007, available at,, accessed 18 Aug. 2008.
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74. Vladislav Surkov, 'Suverenitet - eto politicheskii sinonim konkurentosposobnosti' [Sovereignty - this is the political synonym of competitiveness], available at, , accessed 23 Jan. 2008.
75. A number of these attempts can be accessed on the internet site of United Russia at,.
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77. See, for example, Putin's interview with Time Magazine, 19 Dec. 2007, and the transcript of his Annual Large Press Conference, 14 Feb. 2008, available at, , accessed 19 March 2008.
78. See, for example, 'Strong Civil Society Can Defeat Corruption - Medvedev', Itar-Tass, 19 March 2008, OSC Report, via WNC, 19 March 2008.
79. Oleg Shchedrov, 'Medvedev Says Civil Society Needs Policy Oversight Role', Moscow Times, 20 March 2008, p.2.
80. The Federal Law on the establishment of the Public Chamber is available at,, accessed 27 Feb. 2008.
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82. Further information about the Public Chamber is available at its web site at,
83. In 2006, the Public Chamber selected the recipients for state funding for NGOs; in 2007 procedures were changed somewhat to involve chosen NGO representatives participating in the selection process.
84. 'Nekommercheskie organizatsii nachinayut osvoenie byudzheta' [Noncommerical organzations begin to master the budget], Kommersant, 8 July 2007.
85. See, for example, 'Medvedev Sticks to Civil Society Theme', Moscow Times, 25 Jan. 2008.
86. Annual Large Press Conference, 14 Feb. 2008.
87. For an extended discussion of the CCP's reaction to these events see Shambaugh, China's Communist Party.
88. Deng Xiaoping, Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol. III (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1994), p.302.
89. 'An Open Letter to the 17th Party Congress', Boxun News Network WWW-text, 18 Oct. 2007, via WNC, 18 Oct. 2007. The 'Three Represents' referred to the development of the advanced productive forces, of Chinese culture, and of the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.
90. 'White Paper on China's Political Party System', available at, , accessed 29 Jan. 2008.
91. The role of the CCP as a ruling party has been the topic of considerable debate. In China's Communist Party, Shambaugh argues, contrary to the views of many Western academics, that the CCP has instituted significant political reforms; this belies the commonplace assumption that the party has maintained its position in Chinese society as a consequence of economic growth and appeals to nationalism. For an extended discussion of alternative perspectives, see Shambaugh, Ch.3.
92. For a discussion of the Chinese conception of civil society and its variant translations, see Ma, Non-Governmental Organizations in Contemporary China, pp.18-22.
93. For an example of Chinese endorsement of civil society as a construct, see 'Full Text of Joint Statement of 10th China-EU Summit', Xinhua, 3 Dec. 2007, BBC Worldwide Monitoring, via LexisNexis Academic, accessed 2 Feb. 2008.
94. Tony Saich, 'Negotiating the State: The Development of Social Organizations in China', China Quarterly, No.161 (March 2000), pp.124-41 (p.128).
95. By 2007, however, only three international foundations - the World Economic Forum, the Gates Foundation, and the Clinton Foundation - had succeed in registering: see 'Full Steam Ahead for "Charity" Even as Brakes Are Applied to NGOs', China Development Brief, 20 October 2007, available at, , accessed 21 March 2008.
96. '"Gongos" are Here to Stay, But Need to Reform and Open Up', China Brief, Vol. XI, No.3 (2007), pp.4-6.
97. Congressional-Executive Commission on China Annual Report 2007, p.143.
98. 'Full Text: Report on the Work of the Government', 19 March 2008, available at,
99. Russia ranked 33rd with a globalization index of 69.82 compared with China's ranking of 43 with a globalization index of 64.56 on the 2008 KOF Index of Globalization. See KOF Swiss Economic Institute, press release, 8 Jan. 2008, available at, , accessed 2 April 2008.
100. Although Francis Fukuyama considers Russia and China to be engaged in common experiments in authoritarian development, he none the less has labelled Russia a 'managed democracy': see 'The Russian Model', The American Interest Online, 20 July 2007, available at, ., accessed 18 Dec. 2008.
101. 'Meiguo wei zhiku diaocha - fei baoli zhengquan gengdiede muhou heishou' [Investigation of American think tanks - the black hands behind the scene of non-violent regime change], Huanqiu, 12 Dec. 2007, pp.39-43.
102. an English translation is available at,, accessed 4 March 2008.
103. See also 'Who Pulls the Strings Behind World Unrest?', available at,, accessed 4 March 2008.
104. 'Russian film "Technology of Modern Coup" Blames USA for CIS Revolutions', BBC Monitoring International Reports, 7 March 2008, via LexisNexis Academic, accessed 10 June 2008. 'Flower revolutions' is an alternative term for 'coloured revolutions'.
105. The pervasiveness of US financial aid for Chinese academic institutions underlines the Politburo's concern, discussed above, that US agencies are setting Chinese research agendas.
106. The three GONGOs were the China Youth Development Foundation, the China Automotive Technology and Research Centre, and the China Law Society: see Spires, China's Un-Official Society, pp.141-2.
107. Economy, The River Runs Black, p.189.
108. Zhao Liqing, 'Ruhe kandai zai zhongguode waiguo feizhengfu zuzhi' [How to regard foreign NGOs in China], Xuexi shibao, 23 Aug. 2006, available at, , accessed 16 Aug. 2007.
109. See for example, 'Russia Welcomes US Ties with NGOs, Not Interference in Its Affairs - Diplomat', Itar-Tass, 14 May 2007, BBC Worldwide Monitoring, via LexisNexis Academic, accessed 17 June 2007.
110. 'Russian Human Rights Official Notes Increased Domestic Funding of NGOs', BBC Worldwide Monitoring, 12 Feb. 2008, via LexisNexis Academic, accessed 18 April 2008.
111. 'The MacArthur Foundation in Russia: Report on Activities', November 2007, p.2, available at, , accessed 19 Dec. 2008.
112. Wen Wei Po, 29 May 2005.
113. 'Rossiyane zhdut "tsvetnuyu revolyutsiyu"'[Russians await a coloured revolution], available at, , accessed 7 March 2007.
114. Peter Rutland presents a similar argument in 'Misha One Percent', Moscow Times, 1 Feb. 2008.
115. Surkov, 'Suverenitet'.
116. Francis Fukuyama, 'The End of History', The National Interest, Summer 1989, pp.3-18.
117. Bruce Dickson, Red Capitalists in China: The Party, Private Entrepreneurs, and Prospects for Political Change (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p.17.
118. 'Demokratiya dlya Medvedeva' [Democracy for Medvedev], Vedomosti, 2 July 2008.