Jack I also wish to get the correct read - so I read what the Romans have to say about the Chinese.
asianews.it
20 October, 2005
White paper on democracy: under the rule of the Communist Party
by Bernardo Cervellera
Rome (AsiaNews) – A hearty salutation for “democracy” attained under the leadership of the Communist Party and a fleeting look at possible future improvement, given that enormous successes reaped in recent decades have not been fully implemented “in some areas” of the country. Thus could be summed up a 74-page document, divided into 10 chapters, an introduction and a conclusion, published yesterday by the Information Office of China's State Council, entitled “Building of Political Democracy in China”.
... The first chapter of the document, “A choice suited to China’s conditions”, is an attempt to justify, through the use of slogans, the fact that democracy in China came from the Communist Party: “China's democracy is a people's democracy under the leadership of the Communist Party (CPC). Without the Communist Party there would be no New China. Nor would there be people's democracy.”
Each piece of analysis returns to the following conclusion: “The leadership of the CPC is a fundamental guarantee for the Chinese people to be masters in managing the affairs of their own country.”
The series of chapters III to VIII reveals how good the CPC is for democracy, through the National People’s Assembly (the Chinese parliament which meets once a year): for minor parties (a few million adherents), always “consulted” by the CPC; for the autonomy of ethnic regions like Xinjiang and Tiber, which are subject to de facto military occupation; for experiments of democracy in rural villages, where corrupt village leaders do not accept the outcome of elections and arrest their opponents with the help of police (which is what has just happened in the village of Taishi, for example).
All the chapters are fulsome in their praises of the CPC and the positive directives issued by the government, without however verifying whether these directives have been implemented or not.
The same strategy is adopted in chapter VII which tackles human rights. The chapter recalls that in March 2004 the Chinese Constitution was amended to include the phrase “the State respects and defends human rights”. This assertion is followed by a grand eulogy to the CPC which guarantees the rights to economic livelihood, pensions, and health care of something over 150 million people out of 1.3 billion. The statistics put forward by the document here do not coincide with those offered by international organisations. The Chinese government claims the rural poor amount to 26.1 million; the Asian Development Bank puts the figure at more than 170 million.
Other assertions do not match reality: there is talk of respect for freedom of worship (without mention made of believers who are imprisoned or restricted in their expressions of worship; of property rights (no talk of expropriation and destruction here); of women rights as well as the rights of the elderly, of children and of people with disabilities.
... A fact worthy of note is that the historical analysis of the birth of a New China makes no mention of the names of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping or Jiang Zemin. This is likely the first time that an official document fails to exalt the contribution of the “helmsman”, the “architect” and the “engineer” of reforms, as if the authors wanted to uphold the idea – the CPC generated democracy in China – without raising specific controversial cases, like the bloody dictatorship of Mao, the military rule of Deng and the arrogant regime of Jiang.
The question many analysts are asking themselves is: of what use is a document which persists in affirming the great theoretical successes reached without analysing failures and learning from them? Perhaps the answer is that the document on democracy is for internal use, to reassert the important role played by the CPC precisely at a time when everybody, including its members, are worried about injustice and about the social gap between rich and poor. A few weeks ago, the premier, Wen Jiabao admitted that current social tensions cast doubt on the “the very survival of the CPC”.
Facing such prospects there is only one way ahead: reaffirming the role of absolute leader of the Party, absolving it of any historical failures.
An older article from same Romans.
asianews.it
27 September, 2004
CHINA
China leaders: Corruption threatens our power hold
In unusually self-critical language, a report by the Party Central Committee reflects the leadership's fear that rising anger at rampant corruption could undermine public acceptance of communist rule. The Party monopoly on politics, economy, media and religions is reaffirmed.
Beijing (AsiaNews) - China's Communist Party has warned its members that corruption and incompetence could threaten its hold on power. In a very unusual blunt message, the party's Central Committee said in a policy paper that Communist rule could not be taken for granted. The anti-graft drive was a "life and death struggle" for the party, it said.
The 36-page document - endorsed by the fourth plenum of the party's 16th central committee last Sunday and released by Xinhua last night - delivered a strong and urgent crisis message to the CCP's 68-million members.
The document said the party's leadership and governance was still imperfect, citing among its problems rampant corruption in some departments and loose morals in some grassroots units.
It acknowledged that corruption is "quite serious" despite a multi-year crackdown in which thousands of officials have been punished, and some executed.
"These problems will undermine the party's ruling effectiveness. They must receive high attention from the party and be resolved properly," it warned, while keeping economic development a priority.
In order to ensure the implementation of the party's policies, the party should strengthen its leadership through legal means.
The party also reaffirmed its need to keep a tight grip on the media, pledging to "firmly hold the direction of public opinion and correctly guide public opinion".
"In this regard, the principle that the party controls the media must be upheld, so as to enhance the capability to guide public opinion and gain the initiative of the media work," it said. It also vowed to assume a strong position in creating "positive views" on the internet by stepping up government and self-regulation.
The party would step up the forecasting of economic trends, and map out effective solutions to problems that may arise. It would also continue to pay attention to weaknesses in the economy - especially problems with the agricultural sector, development of the western region and rejuvenation of the northeastern industrial belt - while working to narrow the wealth gap with tough measures.
The party pledged to implement its religious freedom policy, adding, however, that it would continue to "actively guide religious activities into adapting with socialism".
Despite the external threats "by hostile forces" that want "to impose westernisation and disintegration on us", the document said the CCP would uphold the banners of peace, development and co-operation in handling foreign affairs. It would adhere to the independent foreign policy of peace and never declare itself a hegemonic power.
The party said it would continue to oppose foreign intervention in the affairs of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Regarding the issue of Taiwan, the party said its sacred mission was to achieve reunification. It added that it would maintain the principles of "peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems".
Many Chinese scholars and sociologists cite the communist monopoly on power as the root of many of China's entrenched problems of corruption, official incompetence and enduring rural poverty.
Although Sunday's report called for expanded "socialist democracy," it gave no indication the party was relenting in its opposition to multiparty democracy. Millions of Chinese are allowed to vote in nonpartisan elections for local officials, but the government stamps out any attempt to create a political opposition.
In a speech this month, Hu rejected Western-style politics, saying it would lead China into a "dead end."
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