HONG
KONG - Chinese President Hu Jintao has opened the
17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) by promising party-led political
reforms to expand citizens' participation in
politics under the leadership of the party.
"In deepening political restructuring, we
must stick to the correct political orientation,"
Hu said in his keynote Political Report to
2,000-plus party deputies.
The 17th Party
Congress is expected to enshrine Hu's doctrines
and
elect a new top party leadership with him as the
"core".
In a show of party unity, Hu's
predecessor Jiang Zemin and other retired senior
officials attended the opening of the meeting in
the Great Hall of the People.
Hu said the
goal of political reforms is "to strengthen the
vitality of the party and state". And he added,
"We must uphold the party's role as the core of
leadership in directing the overall situation …
Citizens' participation in political affairs will
expand in an orderly way."
He said the
party had to pay more attention to taking a
scientific outlook on development, a catchphrase
for redistributing wealth more equally and making
more efficient use of energy.
"A
relatively comfortable standard of living has been
achieved for the people as a whole but the trend
of a growing gap in income distribution has not
been thoroughly reversed," Hu said. "There are
still a considerable number of impoverished and
low-income people in both urban and rural areas,
and it has become more difficult to accommodate
the interests of all sides."
On Sunday,
the spokesman for the 17th Party Congress Li
Dongsheng said political reforms would be
discussed in the congress. Such reforms would be
aimed at strengthening the one-party rule and
would not copy Western democratic models. "We will
never copy the Western model of a political
system," he told a press conference.
Hu
however called for expanding democracy within the
party. "The party's election system must be
improved … Direct election for grassroots party
leaderships must be gradually promoted," Hu said.
Hu purged former Shanghai party chief Chen
Liangyu last year on suspicion of corruption. In
his report on Monday, Hu warned that graft was
still a major threat and would not be tolerated.
"Resolutely punishing and effectively preventing
corruption bears on the popular support for the
party and on its very survival, and is therefore a
major political task the party must attend to at
all times."
Hu, who is also expected to be
elected as chairman of the Central Military
Commission, the de facto commander in chief of
China's armed forces, stressed that the People's
Liberation Army must always obey the "absolute
leadership of the party".
He said the
country would pursue a peaceful path
internationally. He warned Taiwan against further
secessionist activities, but emphasized China's
desire for peaceful reunification.
Broadcast live on national television,
Hu's opening speech was his highest-profile
political address since he replaced Jiang as party
chief at the last party congress five years ago.
The congress is expected to revise the
party constitution to endorse Hu's ideas of a
"harmonious society" and "scientific outlook of
development" that aims to balance growth with
environmental sustainability. This has been seen
as a victory for Hu.
Hu indicated he would
continue to pursue a path of more balanced growth.
He pledged to tackle damage to the environment,
increase rural incomes and ensure product safety
in an economy that's doubled in size since he took
over five years ago.
"We will implement
the responsibility system for conserving energy
and reducing emissions," Hu said. "Our economic
growth is realized at an excessively high cost of
resources and the environment."
Hu also
said China would make a greater contribution to
addressing global climate change. "We will
increase spending on energy and environmental
conservation with the focus on intensifying
prevention and control of water, air and soil
pollution and improving the living environment for
both urban and rural residents," Hu said.
He said China, under fire from abroad over
its record trade surpluses, must reduce the
reliance on exports and investment for economic
growth and rely more on consumer spending.
The president reiterated policies
including "gradually" making the yuan convertible
on the capital account. "We will adopt
comprehensive measures to maintain a basic
equilibrium in the balance of payments," he said.
In foreign trade, China will "stress quality,
adjust the mix of imports and exports," sell more
services overseas and upgrade the assembly of
imported materials.
John Ng is a
freelance journalist based in Hong Kong.
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