Page 2 of 2 China's democracy debate: The
end is nigh By Kent Ewing
US
weekly, also runs a cover story promoting new
ideas for democracy. The magazine includes an
interview with the author of another highly
controversial Yanhuang Chunqiu article, published
in February, advocating Sweden's Social Democratic
Party as a model for China.
That article -
written by Xie Tao, retired vice president of
Renmin University in Beijing - provided the
groundwork for Wu's piece by
also
questioning the Communist Party's progress on
democratization and admonishing that, without
change, it could go the way of the Kuomintang.
Of course, Xie also rankled conservatives,
prompting the party's primary mouthpiece, the
People's Daily, to dismiss European versions of
democracy as unworkable in China. European
democratic models have also been criticized in
university symposiums specially arranged to attack
Xie's views.
It is generally agreed that
the prolonged debate over political reform was
sparked by a comparatively mild
pro-democratization article published last October
in another party newspaper, the Beijing Daily.
While the article's author, party researcher Yu
Keping, clearly supports further democratization,
he does not recommend European models for China or
issue dire warnings of collapse and ruin. He is
careful to keep his argument within the permitted
party parameters for discussion.
Despite
the restraint shown by Yu, however, the debate has
taken on new dimensions. Hu Jintao himself gave
hope to reformers during his trip to the United
States last spring when he was asked at a White
House press conference about democracy in China.
"I don't know, what do you mean by a
democracy?" the president replied. "But what I can
tell you is that we always believe in China that
if there is no democracy, there will be no
modernization."
Although Hu's response
indicated his wariness toward Western models, it
also clearly encouraged more democratic reform.
The president's ideas are probably better
represented by a remarkably detailed proposal that
appeared recently in the Review of Economic
Research, a journal published under the aegis of
the Ministry of Finance. This article - written by
officials at the Central Party School (CPC), a
think-tank for government elites - makes a number
startling recommendations but also goes out of its
way to support the one-party state.
The
writers call for a streamlining the cumbersome
Chinese bureaucracy, suggesting the elimination of
two of the five tiers of government - the township
level at the bottom and the prefectures in the
middle. Since the party has already begun this
process, this idea seems a safe bet, as does the
recommendation that party members no longer be
required to profess atheism.
Increasingly,
Taoism, Buddhism and even Christianity - as long
as they do not threaten the party's monopoly on
power - are being encouraged as part of Hu's
vision for a more "harmonious society".
It
is yet to be seen, however, how amenable Hu and
Premier Wen Jiabao will be to some of the research
team's more innovative proposals - for example,
holding elections for the National People's
Congress and barring officials, who currently hold
nearly half the seats in the national legislature,
from serving as delegates.
The writers
also recommend faster development of
non-governmental organizations - groups that the
party has traditionally viewed as a threat to its
power.
If Hu's June 25 address to the CPC,
widely seen as the short version of the keynote
speech he will deliver to this autumn's pivotal
party congress, is any indication of his thinking,
don't expect great leaps in political reform. The
speech was full of the usual mumbo-jumbo about
"scientific development" and "social harmony" but
offered nothing specific about progress on
democracy.
"To develop socialist democracy
is our long-term goal," the president said. "The
government should expand political-participation
channels for ordinary people, enrich the forms of
participation, and promote a scientific and
democratic decision-making process."
Of
course, anyone reading these remarks could respond
in the same way the president did to the
reporter's question at the White House: "I don't
know, what do you mean by a democracy?"
We
will not really know what China's leader thinks
until he has cemented his power at the party
congress and selected his preferred successor.
Meanwhile, the different schools of thought
continue to jockey for influence and the great
democracy debate goes on. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Kent Ewing is a teacher and
writer at Hong Kong International School. He can
be reached at kewing@hkis.edu.hk.
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