China's political reform on the right road
- Source: Global Times
- [21:18 December 30 2009]
- Comments
Fang Ning
"We have to consider concrete situations when we make political adjustments. In general, political reform cannot be built on good wishes or public imagination."-Fang Ning
Editor's Note:
2009 saw a growing clamor for political reform, along with efforts to open up government to public scrutiny. Global Times (GT) reporter Wu Huaiting interviewed Fang Ning (Fang), director of the Institute of Political Science at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, on the direction of China's political reform in 2010 and beyond.
GT: Is China's political reform compatible with its economic reform?
Fang: Whether political reform is compatible with economic reform depends on four criteria.
First, the political system should mobilize people's enthusiasm and promote the development of society.
It should also aid the country's development. China's rapid economic growth has proved the effectiveness of our political system.
As well as that, it should effectively ensure social order. Many developing countries are democratic in form, but their disordered societies and anarchic states have actually worked against their democracies.
Finally, it should ensure the unity of the country. If the country disintegrates, people's rights and interests won't be guaranteed. Our political reforms are basically compatible with the economic system. The current problems, like corruption, do not lie in our system, but in the implementation of the systems and culture.
China's reform began with reforming the high-degree party government system during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). It was a Party-led reform from top to bottom.
The first reform was the change of requirements for Chinese officials, who are now required to be more revolutionary, better-educated, more professional, more competent and younger. It abol-ished what was virtually a system of life tenure for leading officials.
The reform of the cadre system was decidedly practical. A large number of young officials, who supported the reform and opening-up and were free-thinkers, took leading positions. China's economic reform was driven by these officials.
The four political reforms were the changes in the cadre system, the abolition of the people's commune system and the restoration of village and town administrations, the streamlining of administration and the instituting of decentralization, and constitutional reform. These were all preconditions of reform and opening-up.
Therefore, it was politics, not economics, which started China's reform period.
The purpose of a political system is to motivate people, protect their rights, and promote the comprehensive development of society. China is now recognized by the world as the most dynamic country.
This is obviously because people's economic and political rights have been protected. It is the evidence of China's political system being democratic and well able to protect people's rights.
It is not the system that causes the current problem that people's rights cannot be fully protected. Our legal system is sound, but even the soundest legal system must have executive deviations. It cannot be solved by political reform itself.
Moreover, China's democratic political reforms are more inclined to adopt political consultation system, which seeks common ground while putting aside differences. This is a question of tactics.
There are two paths to realize democracy. One is competition, namely election, and the other is consultation. I am more in favor of the latter one. History, including European history, has proved that during industrialization age and social transformation, competitive arrangements often lead to increasing social conflicts. This is why many developing countries encounter social disorder once they hold elections.
China is in a period of social transformation, and there are lots of contradictions, thus competitive democracy is not suitable to China.
The second method is democratic consultation, which highly values common ground. It considers both the interests of the majority and minority.
In China, consultation is now the primary means of implementing democracy. Since people do not know exactly what their common interest is, consultation is needed to seek common ground. A democratic consultation system includes a certain participation of direct stakeholders, equal consultation and democratic supervision.
Now, from the multi-party cooperation under the leadership of the Party to the grass-roots democratic conferences, China has a wide range of political consultation at all levels. The basic political consultation system has been widely implemented.
This is the highlight of China's political system. It has resolved a large number of contradictions in Chinese society, and it is one of the major reasons for China's stable development.
As Chinese society further develops, this system will be continually improved.
