White paper on political democracy (full text) (china.org.cn) Updated: 2005-10-19 11:01
Conclusion
China's socialist political democracy has enabled the
Chinese people, who account for one fifth of the world's population, to become
masters of their own country and society, and enjoy extensive democratic rights.
This is a great contribution to the development of the political civilization of
mankind.
China's socialist political democracy accords with the
national conditions, ensures that the people give full play to their enthusiasm,
initiative and creativity in building and managing the state as masters of the
country and society, and promotes China's economic development and social
progress in an all-round way. Despite the tremendous achievements scored in
building a socialist political democracy, the CPC and the Chinese people are
clearly aware of the many problems yet to be overcome. The major ones include:
The democratic system is not yet perfect; the people's right to manage state and
social affairs, economic and cultural undertakings as masters of the country in
a socialist market economy are not yet fully realized; laws that have already
been enacted are sometimes not fully observed or enforced, and violations of the
law sometimes go unpunished; bureaucracy and corruption still exist and spread
in some departments and localities; the mechanism of restraint and supervision
over the use of power needs further improvement; the concept of democracy and
legal awareness of the whole society needs to be further enhanced; and the
political participation of citizens in an orderly way should be expanded. There
is still a long way to go in China's building of political democracy, which will
be a historical process of continuous improvement and development.
The history and reality of human political civilization
have proved that there is no one single and absolute democratic mode in the
world that is universall y applicable. To say whether a political system is
democratic or not, the key is to see whether the will of the overwhelming
majority of the people is fully reflected, whether their rights as masters of
the country are fully realized, and whether their legitimate rights and
interests are fully guaranteed.
The arduous explorations and struggles made by the
Chinese people over the past 100 years and more in order to realize democracy,
and especially China's success in building a socialist political democracy, have
made the CPC and the Chinese people realize that China must base the building of
political democracy on its reality, review its own experience gained in
practice, treasure its own achievements, and learn from the experience and
achievements of the political civilization of other countries. But, it must not
copy any model of other countries.
China's building of political democracy will abide by
the following principles:
- Upholding the unity of the leadership of the CPC, the
people being the masters of the country and ruling the country by law. This is
the most important and fundamental principle for developing socialist political
democracy in China. Leadership by the CPC is the fundamental guarantee for the
people to be the masters of the country and the country to be ruled by law. The
people being masters of the country is the essential requirement of socialist
political democracy. Ruling the country by law is the basic principle the CPC
pursues while it leads the people in running the country. Only by upholding the
unity of these three in China's building of political democracy is it possible
to ensure that it is on the right track, and that socialist political democracy
is institutionalized and standardized, and in good order.
- Giving play to the characteristics and advantages of
the socialist system. The biggest characteristic and advantage of China's
socialist system is as follows: Under the leadership of the CPC, the people of
all ethnic groups, being masters of the country, give full scope to their
enthusiasm, initiative and creativity in building a socialist country, and are
united in striving to realize socialist modernization and the great cause of
rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Sticking to this characteristic and this
advantage is the fundamental guarantee for the Chinese people to grasp their own
destiny in their own hands, create a better and happier life, and build a
prosperous, democratic and civilized modern country.
- Being conducive to social stability, economic
development and continuous improvement of the people's life. Social stability,
economic development and the continuous improvement of people's life are both
important goals and necessary conditions for the people to be masters of the
country. The political development, economic development and cultural
development of a country interact and precondition one another. Without social
stability, smooth economic development cannot be expected, while the goal of
development is to let the people enjoy the fruits of development together. The
CPC and the Chinese government will firmly concentrate on economic construction,
and make every effort to solidify the material and cultural foundations for
continuously raising the level of socialist political democracy.
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