Domestic Affairs

China will not be fooled

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-10-23 22:09

Some Westerners have always promoted Western-style democracy, freedom and human rights in China. They make political system reform suggestions advocating a multi-party system and check and balances on powers in China, which challenge the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the country's current socialist political system. These Westerners think the West's check and balances on power, and parliamentary democracy are the best stuff and should be common.

Most of the values they advocated are non-existent which even they themselves are unable to hold on to. Take the "human rights above sovereignty" theories for example, will Western countries open their borders to let immigrants from poor countries enter freely and offer them jobs? The late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping once said that for the two major issues of world peace and development, neither has been settled. Why? One important reason is the non-democracy of the international relations. Have developed countries ever given developing counties democracy and freedom by transferring their discourse power and discussion right? Never.

The Chinese people did try to copy Western countries' political system and democracy on the path to pursue democracy and freedom, but every attempt was shattered by the big powers and feudalists who only wanted to give Chinese people the freedom of being their slaves.

It is the CPC who led Chinese people liberate the nation and overthrow the oppression of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism. Deng Xiaoping pointed out the essence of western democracy, saying that "the democracy of capitalist society is for the bourgeois and the monopoly capital". For disadvantaged countries and their peoples, this rhetoric is nothing but an ideological trap.

Moreover, "separation of powers" is not the universal mode for western capitalist countries. It was the American Constitution that first defined the "check and balance" system. It was surely a progress at that time compared with Europe's despotic monarchy or constitutional monarchy. However, the primary purpose of the system is to confine the powers of the House of Representatives instead of balancing legislative, executive and judicial powers.

The US's ruling parties believe the House of Representatives is the closest to the public with the House's elected representatives. Therefore, the ruling parties set up the Senate above the House of Representatives, and then use the President's administrative power to counteract and suppress the power of the House of Representatives.

Besides, they endow the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court the veto right to the House of Representatives. The Chief Justice who is appointed by the President has a life-long tenure. Senators have a 6-year-long tenure while House representatives have only two. How could such a "check and balance" system which suppresses and confines the power of people's representatives be pursued as a model of democracy?

Preconditions of the formation of Western political models were both shameful and noncopiable.

First, the development of Western countries was based on long-term, large-scale, horrifying grabbing and plundering of wealth in history. According to data provided by Western scholars, 30 million Indians were killed over 500 years; the resources-rich South and North American continents were occupied and 50 million black slaves were trafficked to the American continent as unpaid labor.

Second, within the global production and distribution layout, Western developed countries grab the largest amount of profits and their development is based on the exploitation of third world countries. If you remove this wealth base, the so-called voting system, multi-party system will be difficult to exist.

So far, third world countries which copied Western democratic systems are basically not successful. One important reason is the lack of wealth base. If there are huge interest conflicts in a pluralistic society, voting will be invalid and violence will be the way.

To reduce interest conflicts, expensive welfare systems based on state transfers will be relied upon. However, the basis of these systems is the huge resources and wealth exploited globally. If the basis is removed, so-called Western democracy and the well-functioning civil society will collapse. For example, in 2005, riots emerged in Paris and several other big cities in France. More than 400 cars were smashed overnight. The main reason is that a large number of Arabian immigrants, especially youngsters, found it difficult to land jobs after they moved to France.

And they became disatisfied with the society. The deeper, the most direct reason is wealth, because the French welfare system can not cover all immigrants. Let's look at another example, in August 2005, after a hurricane hit poorer southeastern Louisiana and New Orleans states there appeared large-scale armed robberies and rapes in these areas.

Thus the army for hurricane relief had to drive armored vehicles into these disaster-hit areas, heavily-armed. This scenario will never happen in socialist China. Chinese army soldiers arrived in disaster-hit regions only with disaster-relief tools and basic necessities. When people saw the People's Liberation Army, it seemed that they saw the savior. But the US army arrived in the disaster-hit areas with weapon, and its helicopters were shot.

There have been only more than ten Western developed countries since the 18th century. With a population of no more than one billion, this bloc comprises just one eighth to one seventh of the world's total. However, this number has hit the Earth's tolerance limit because of the rapacious lifestyle in the "rich club", a lifestyle that should not be popularized. For instance, the US' per capita petroleum consumption is more than ten times that of China. In the US, every 1.2-1.3 people own a car on average. If it is the same case in China, the number of the country's cars would top 1.6 billion and would definitely devastate the environment. It is very hypocritical for the Western world to hysterically preach the so-called freedom, democracy, human rights and constitutionalism while extravagantly consuming the world's resources and point the finger at the Chinese government.

Late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's comment on this issue is thought-provoking. Deng pointed out that the essence of these problems is that the Western world wants to topple the People's Republic of China and the Communist Party and build a puppet capitalist country. Truth speaks louder than words. If China copies their idealism, such as constitutionalism and values, the country will face social unrest and even the danger of ethnic separatism. Just take a look at what the "peace activists" have done. The Dalai clique aboratively planned t serious violent crimes involving beating, smashing, looting and arson in Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region on March 14, 2008.

Incited and supported by the "World Uyghur Congress" headed by Rebiya Kadeer, a group of separatists masterminded and carried out serious violence which left 197 dead and more than 1,700 injured in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region July 5, 2009. These gruesome facts tell us that China will be in chaos if it implements multi-party or federal systems. The "democracy, freedom and human rights" the Western world is asking for are by no means to emancipate working people from oppression and exploitation. Some countries are trapped in social unrest and political disasters after copying the Western democratic model. There was an old Chinese saying: Replanting the orange tree in an unsuitable area will lead to the deterioration of the orange species. This is the same case with a country if it copies an unsuitable political model.

Undoubtedly, we recognize and will learn from all the civilized accomplishments of human kind including those helpful Western experiences. However, in no way should we copy the Western model from nose to toe. Given the current unstable international situation and deteriorating financial crisis, the socialist system has shown its advantages of pooling efforts for major undertakings. If we simply follow Western models, we will lose the shared ideological base and the strong core of leadership. And in this case the whole country would fall apart and the Chinese nation's rejuvenization would become a mission impossible.

We have seen countless heroes and model workers from all walks of life such as Ren Changxia, Wang Ying, Tan Dong and Guo Mingyi. There are also many soldiers from the People's Liberation Army who risk their own lives in floods relief and earthquake rescue operations. What belief is behind them? The answer is the spirit of serving the people. This is just the soul of the socialist democratic politics and the values our Chinese people follow.

It is certainly very hard for people like "Runner Fan" and Liu Xiaobo to understand the true values. With such values, China has defeated various invaders, produced the A-bomb and H-bomb and launched its first satellite. With this spirit, China can also get over plagues, floods, earthquakes and ice and snow disasters.

Chinese people have their own choices on political roads and do not need any finger-pointing from abroad. It's easy to understand that China would not have seen liberation and development without the Chinese democracy and the common national spirit. Peaceful and friendly Chinese people are making contribution for the world in their own ways. China wouldn't export revolution, hunger or poverty. China wouldn't interfere with internal affairs of other countries. China is the real force defending world peace. However, foes of the Chinese people tend to turn their blind eyes to all these facts.

Chinese people would say no to any nonsense such as "China needs to be colonized for another 300 years". As the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping said, "It is just to strengthen the people's regime through using the power of the people's democratic dictatorship" and that is the common aspirations of our Chinese people."

China's road was a new road of independence, hard work, and self-esteem build up by millions of its own people with blood and lives. Liu Xiaobo, who is self-obsessed with the idea of becoming a so-called new political power by selling abstract and meaningless theories and political jargons with western assistance, will eventually be cast aside by the people.

History has proved that: the political road chosen by the Chinese people is the way -- which can bring long-term happiness and well-being, which can prevent China from being split and frequent wars. China led by the Communist Party of China, is a country in which people having become their own master.

Anyone who loves China, has deep sympathy for its public and concerns about its future should take on the responsibility and realize that China must stick to its socialist democratic politics with Chinese characteristics, instead of taking the Western mode. This has been proved most suitable for China's democratic development.