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HU'S ON FIRST
Part 1: China restores
pragmatism
Editor's note:
This article is contributed by a source who has been
within the Chinese establishment for a long time. It
therefore reflects views of many cadres on their current
leadership, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.
BEIJING - Since China began its reform and
opening-up in 1978, it has become more and more
materialistic. The saying "money talks" now seems to
dominate some people's minds throughout the country. As
a result, they hold to intangible political theories
that have deteriorated into low-end tricks for fooling
the rulers as well as the ruled. However, such a
viewpoint is shallow and cannot stand, even in today's
China.
From the very beginning, the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) has been a tight-knit regime
dominated by specific political theories. For example,
though the whole country went insane and chaotic in the
Cultural Revolution of 1966-76, the CCP continued to
lead China with its extreme leftist theories. With
strong grassroots support, the CCP was born in Shanghai,
a metropolis and financial hub of the Far East in the
1920s, which certainly provided some advanced thoughts
for the then-fledgling party. What is more, the CCP was
always a follower and good student of the Soviet Union.
With all these combined, CCP has never lacked for
theories.
Last November, the 16th National
Congress of the CCP amended the party constitution,
adding the theory of "Three Represents". But this does
not mean the theory will become a mainstream one of the
CCP in the long term.
"Three
Represents" was formulated
by Jiang Zemin. This theory has it that the CCP
must always represent the development trend of China's
advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's
advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of
the overwhelming majority of the people in the country.
By playing tricks with so-called "advanced productive
forces", the CCP can now represent the interests
of top management of enterprises and private business
owners, as well as the masses.
The theory
is to be written into the national constitution next
year. Yet such a move, as was true with its inclusion in
the party constitution, is only the marriage of
pragmatism politics and power continuance. It is nothing
more than a gesture for the record.
In October,
the third plenary session of 16th Central Committee of
the CCP was held and adopted one communique and a
specific resolution aimed at further perfecting the
market economy with Chinese characteristics. That gives
the public a feeling that the shadow of the 13th
National Congress of the CCP is resurfacing.
The
13th CCP Congress was held in 1987, when Zhao Ziyang was
confirmed the general secretary of the CCP. Zhao put
forward the Theory of the Primary Stage of Socialism.
According to this theory, China was at the primary stage
of socialism and would remain so for a long period. This
was a historical stage that could not be skipped in the
socialist modernization of a China that was backward
economically and culturally. It would last for more than
100 years. In socialist construction, according to
Zhao's theory, we must proceed from our specific
conditions and take the path to socialism with Chinese
characteristics.
This attitude is tricky
but works well for China. Under such a theory, all complex
political, economic and cultural problems can be
regarded as natural and unsurprising. By so doing,
long-lasting debate of key issues can be set aside,
enabling the party to carry out reforms and adjustments
to society on a gradual and step-by-step basis.
Therefore, the 13th Party Congress culminated in
a theory of the primary stage of socialism, a
perfunctory response to dissidence and censure, while
emphasizing avoidance of contention and spurring the
economy. Cursory analyses attribute this brilliant feat
either to Deng Xiaoping or Jiang Zemin. However, the
inaugurator was neither of those two, but Zhao, the
former party chief who was ousted and put under house
arrest for "disintegrating the party nucleus" after his
opposition to violent suppression of the riotous student
movement on June 4, 1989. Doubtlessly Zhao's deposition
passed the fruit of market-oriented economic reform on
to Deng's hands.
Over the past year, the 16th
Party Congress has produced the following policies:
1) Stressing human orientation, insisting on
comprehensive, harmonious and sustainable development.
2) Gradually reforming the urban-rural bipolar
economic framework.
3) Orchestrating "Five
Coordinations" and "Five Adherences".
4) Broadening
market access for non-governmental capital, equalizing
the treatment for all economies, public or non-public.
5) Encouraging mixed proprietorship, elevating joint
stocks as a leading form of the public economy, etc.
These policies reflect an evolved pragmatism
under a new economic system in a new epoch, with a
perceptible departure from the 13th Party Congress and
keeping a sensible distance from the "Three Represents"
uttered by Jiang in 2001. By contrast, both the 14th and
the 15th CCP Congresses still emphasized the dominance
of the public sector in the national economy.
The highly lauded "Three Represents" theory does
no harm to the new system inaugurated after the 16th
Party Congress, but it is no more than ambiguous,
prevaricating fluff. Certainly it is much better than
the Four Adherences, or Adherence to the Four Cardinal
Principles (to keep to the socialist road; to uphold the
people's democratic dictatorship and leadership by the
Communist Party; Marxism-Leninism; and Mao Zedong
Thought). The problem is that no one, neither left nor
right-wing nor neutral, can read the mind behind the
"Three Represents".
Hu Jintao's administration,
established one year ago at the 16th Party Congress, is
still too young and vulnerable for him to put forward
his own theory. Even if he did, Hu would not dare make
his own voice heard. Therefore, he has wisely chosen to
appear to embrace Jiang's "Three Represents".
Theory of the primary stage of socialism is one
of the pivotal heritages left by Deng, who once said,
"Not a single word of the 13th CCP National Congress
report can be changed," a warning to all party leaders.
Even though the 16th Congress seemed to stray from the
ancient track, Hu's administration is pursuing a
pragmatic course while appearing to hold the old line by
sanctifying the "Three Represents".
Undoubtedly,
Deng's theory on the primary stage of socialism is
neither rigorous nor complete: it only partially
answered some epistemological questions within the
ruling party. However, it successfully cast off the
fundamentalism prevailing in the party. Fundamentalists
always cite morals and tradition to attack reformers.
Deeply understanding that point, Deng adopted the "never
argue" poise, his "big invention".
Why not
argue? Because he would definitely lose. On the other
hand, extreme leftists also had a fatal defect: lack of
practical experience, as Deng jokingly said to Hu
Qiaomu, the pre-eminent leader of leftists: "You cannot
differentiate sauce from vinegar."
So during the
opening-up period, Deng deployed his magic weapon -
preventing rightists from radically criticizing and
swaying the CCP's leadership and the socialistic system,
while at the same time stopping leftists from
overturning the basic opening-up principles in the name
of the Four Adherences. As a result, rightists were set
back by the June 4 Incident of 1989, while the campaign
against leftists was completed after Deng's talks during
the Nanzun or "Inspection Tour to the South" in 1992.
After the 16th Congress, the government led by
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, following
Deng's example, demonstrated strong decisiveness and
boldness in handling severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) - both on the virus itself and the people
involved - but came up short when dealing with criticism
and reviewing of the obsolete health-care system.
Similarly, in the case of a young man named Sun
Zhigang who was detained for failing to show the police
valid identification and beaten to death by his
cellmates in the remand center, the government wielded
an iron hand by efficiently abolishing the old law and
launching a new regulation. But when the voices
increased for a supervision procedure for cases against
the constitution, the government became hushed and blind
again.
The government brought corrupt officials
to justice when Zhu Zhengliang, a farmer whose house was
dismantled without the deserved compensation, attempted
to burn himself in Tiananmen Square, the landmark of the
nation. On the other hand, it passed draconian laws
prohibiting people from suicide in Tiananmen Square,
instead of solving the problem once and for all, when
more and more unsatisfied people chose to complain or
follow Zhu's precedent.
"Research more into
problems, and talk less about isms," Deng quoted Hu Shi,
an eminent scholar in China of the early 20th century,
as his guideline during the opening-up period.
One year has passed since the 16th Party
Congress and people have now realized that Deng's
pragmatism - "no argument" - has been rejuvenated in
politics, culture and other fields. Then all conflicts
will be swept under the carpet.
So far, this
administration style has got most people's recognition
and applause, which somewhat includes people's
understanding, care and tolerance of the new government.
Next: Long road to reform
(Copyright
2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved.
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