The
Chinese translation of comrade is
tongzhi, written with two
characters (同志) meaning literally 'same will/intent'.
China has moved along way from the years when politics ruled all ('better Red than expert' during the Cultural Revolution, one's class status determining the shape of one's life etc.) and comrade was a common greeting, but nonetheless a piece of linguistic subversion by the Chinese gay community still has some bite: 'tongzhi' is now used by gay people to refer to themselves and their nascent rights and conciousness raising movement.
I always found the Party's political theatrics pretty camp and it seems I wasn't the only one.