Revolutionary advice helps guide China through rocks of reform

Source:Global Times Published: 2012-12-24 20:14:00

Illustration: Liu Rui
Illustration: Liu Rui

Wang Qishan, a newly-elected member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, recently recommended officials read the political classic The Old Regime and the Revolution by Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59), best known for his Democracy in America. Tocqueville was born in an aristocratic family and served as foreign minister of the Second Republic of France. Widely traveled, his background gave him a unique perspective on the French Revolution (1787-99).

Tocqueville didn't use abstract principles to judge the revolution, but examined the lack of economic prosperity and social freedom under the old regime. He also believed that not all legacies left by the revolution were positive although it overthrew the old regime and took France into a new era of equality and democracy. After overthrowing the autocratic monarchy by violent means, socials ill reappeared after undergoing a makeover.

The referential and practical significance of this book to China is that this book does not have an ideological bias. It provides with a realistic way of thinking to analyze the current situation in China and resolve problems. Wang's recommending of the book reflects the Chinese leadership's sense of crisis.

Revolutions often break out in reformist eras. Almost every revolution happens in reform period or in periods when the dominant forces are weak. During the reform period, increasing social freedom and economic prosperity can easily make people have more desires and demands for freedom and wealth. These desires and requirements may exceed the realistic interests that reform can provide.

Also, during the reform period, the government's power will be relatively weak because government cannot get the support from traditional forces and a new political structure has not been established at this time. In this transition period, governments' authority, credibility and management capabilities can have difficulty in coping with the growing popular forces due to a leadership vacuum.

Therefore, if officials believe that economic prosperity can resolve all social problems, huge disasters may break out. The principles of preparing for danger in times of peace and taking precaution have long been advocated by Chinese politics. Modern China is in a transition period and reform is deepening. At this time, Chinese officials should have a sense of crisis.

However, we cannot simply interpret this sense of crisis as that without reform, a revolution will break out in China. Reform has long been the basic consensus of the Party since 1979. However, the current problems in China cannot be resolved just by slogan of reform. Tocqueville mentioned the concept of literary politics, by which he meant that some unrealistic scholars were enthusiastic in planning blueprints for a future society. This literary politics brought many negative effects to the later revolution in France.

Tocqueville emphatically criticized the empty talk before the revolution. Luckily, China has long insisted on the principles of empiricism and "crossing the river by touching stones." The Chinese political elite abandoned the utopian complex long ago and they are more rational than the intellectual elite.

In next 20 to 30 years, China's development and reform will be synchronized and symbiotic. Without reform, China cannot develop. And the reason why we need so much time to carry out reform is that social transition needs a long time. China's reform should be a step-by-step process.

Currently there's an argument that gradual reform will accumulate too many problems and increase the risks of the reform. Proponents believe that we should carry out stormy reform so people's dissatisfaction will not accumulate and the risks of reform will be avoided. This is an overly idealistic argument, a typical product of literary politics. 

Gradual reform is the key reason why China can achieve success. As to the urgency of China's reform, we have to resolve the problems according to China's own reality, instead of finding answers in a book which focuses on an event that happened 200 years ago.

China faces different problems from the French Revolution. The most important problem in the old regime was the kinship hierarchy, while the most urgent problems China's reform faces are officials' corruption and the growing gap between rich and poor.

Without resolving these two problems, China's reform cannot be deepened and Chinese society cannot healthily develop.

There's no completely incorruptible and fair society in the world. However, the general public can only bear the corruption and the gap between rich and poor within a certain range.

Viewed from the actions that top officials have taken to combat corruption and reform the income distribution, things are on the up. Hopefully, after the 18th Party Congress, the new leadership of China has courage and wisdom to resolve these two problems.

This article was compiled by Global Times reporter Shu Meng based on an interview with Han Zhu, a researcher with the Equinox Institute in Shanghai. shumeng@globaltimes.com.cn



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