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People to get larger role in overseeing govt: Wen

By Zhang Haizhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-29 07:43

LONDON - "Firmly advancing" political reform is a fundamental solution to China's problems, Premier Wen Jiabao said here on Monday.

He also said in his speech at the Royal Society titled The Path to China's Future that "conditions" will be created for Chinese people to "oversee and criticize" the government in order to prevent corruption.

"The future China will be one that fully achieves democracy, the rule of law, fairness and justice," Wen said, while noting "frankly" that problems, including corruption, uneven distribution of income and "other sorts of ills that harm people's rights and interests" still exist in the nation.

"The fundamental solution to these problems is firmly advancing political reform and building socialist democracy under the rule of law," Wen said to applause from an audience of more than 200.

"We are committed to respecting and protecting human rights. Pursuant to the law, we protect the rights of all members of society to equal participation and development. We will improve mechanisms for checking and supervising government powers so as to ensure that these powers entrusted by the people are exercised in people's interests," he said.

But Wen admitted that it remains a "long and arduous" task to promote democracy, improve the legal system and strengthen the oversight of power.

Former Chinese ambassador to the UK Ma Zhenggang said Wen's speech was very clear and comprehensive in laying out how the Chinese government thinks about people's political demands.

Ma emphasized that human rights are a complicated issue and have developed differently in different countries.

He said the Western world, which often criticizes China on human rights, has also undergone a long process in enhancing its human rights record and has still not been able to reach all the standards it advocates.

Wen told the audience he has had an online dialogue with the public in each of the last three years before delivering his annual Report on the Work of the Government.

"During this year's dialogue with the public in the spring on the website of Xinhua News Agency, I received more than 400,000 posts and at least 110,000 text messages and the web page was visited nearly 300 million times," he said, calling it a "heart-to-heart" communication with the people.

"The more the people participate in social management and public affairs, the greater the momentum will be to sustain social progress," Wen said.

Ma noted that the premier's speech provided another opportunity for the world to better understand what is happening in China.

The premier made the speech just before leaving the UK for Berlin, Germany, on the final leg of his five-day European visit.

The Royal Society, a fellowship of the world's most eminent scientists and the oldest scientific academy in existence, awarded Wen a King Charles II Medal before his speech. The medal is awarded to foreign heads of state or government who have made an outstanding contribution to furthering scientific research in England.

The award is only given in exceptional circumstances and is normally presented during a formal state visit. The first award was given to Japan's Emperor Akihito in 1998.

Wen has a professional background in geology and engineering and holds a postgraduate degree from the Beijing Institute of Geology, from which he graduated in 1968. He was subsequently sent to Gansu province to conduct geological work.

The institute was the predecessor of the China University of Geosciences.

The medal was awarded to German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2010 and to the former president of India, Abdul Kalam, in 2007.

"Under your leadership, Premier Wen Jiabao, China has fully embraced science as a major driver for national development. That is why the award to you today of the Royal Society's King Charles II Medal is so fitting," said President Sir Paul Nurse of the Royal Society.

In response, Wen said he sees the medal "not only as a personal honor but also as recognition of China's advances in science and technology".

Apart from calling for "a better political environment", Wen said China should also create "a freer academic atmosphere".

Wang Chenyan contributed to this story.