I've added a link here to explain what I mean by the Fifth Modernisation for those of you who perhaps are not completely up on Chinese political discourse.
Wei Jingsheng (魏京生） is someone I greatly admire for his courage in standing up for freedom and democracy in China. Sadly he has had to spend rather a long time in jail and subsequently in exile in the USA.
Although steeped in some of the rhethoric of the time his sentiments remain timeless.
Ming and his ghost writer would do well to talk to him about the situation in China.
Showing posts with label the Fifth Modernisation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the Fifth Modernisation. Show all posts
Wednesday, 8 August 2007
The Chinese Communist Party Can't Regulate Itself and Never Could
The Chinese Communist Party somehow have this strange notion that thousands of corrupt officials turning themselves in somehow inspires confidence amongst the Chinese people and the world as a whole. This bizarre article on the Renmin Ribao (人民日报） website somehow is supposed to impress everyone that the CPC is keeping it's house in order.
The reality is though that this is only the tip of a very long iceberg and frankly corruption of this magnitude leaves the CPC open to charges that it is unable to regulate itself. It is yet more evidence that it should begin the process of opening up the political system in China and implementing the "Fifth Modernisation" (民主).
China needs the equivalent of the Guomindang's former leader Zhang Qingguo who had the wisdom to realise that authoritarianism was not sustainable and committed his party to sharing power with others on the island. Sadly Hu Jintao seems to understand this even less than his predecessor Jiang Zemin. He is also likely to surround himself with more "yes men" this year at the 17th Congress of the CPC.
The reality is though that this is only the tip of a very long iceberg and frankly corruption of this magnitude leaves the CPC open to charges that it is unable to regulate itself. It is yet more evidence that it should begin the process of opening up the political system in China and implementing the "Fifth Modernisation" (民主).
China needs the equivalent of the Guomindang's former leader Zhang Qingguo who had the wisdom to realise that authoritarianism was not sustainable and committed his party to sharing power with others on the island. Sadly Hu Jintao seems to understand this even less than his predecessor Jiang Zemin. He is also likely to surround himself with more "yes men" this year at the 17th Congress of the CPC.
Is the Chinese Communist Party Discovering Democracy? Hmm....
I sometimes have a look at the website of the fantastically objective Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece Renmin Ribao (人民日报） to keep an eye on what the wonderful ruling elite are up to.
They seem very pleased with themselves today if this report is anything to go by. Under the banner CPC promotes democracy by open elections the CPC are preening themselves.
Lots of elections it seems and maybe they are starting to discover the merits of OMOV. They've even been letting non-Party members "have a say", whatever that means (not much). However, in case we got the strange idea that China was some kind of utopia the report mentions the following:
"With China's rapid economic development, the Party is facing problems such as corruption, low efficiency and bureaucracy, prompting measure for improvement."
The killer quote for me is:
"Experts point out that developing democracy within the Party is an important part of political restructuring and building of political civilization in China".
This expert suggests that perhaps, Comrades, you should try democracy in China, full stop. Allow properly contested elections with proper independent alternatives to the CPC. Then, at least you might find that corruption is a more manageable affair and you might even get back some of the credibility you so desperately crave.
They seem very pleased with themselves today if this report is anything to go by. Under the banner CPC promotes democracy by open elections the CPC are preening themselves.
Lots of elections it seems and maybe they are starting to discover the merits of OMOV. They've even been letting non-Party members "have a say", whatever that means (not much). However, in case we got the strange idea that China was some kind of utopia the report mentions the following:
"With China's rapid economic development, the Party is facing problems such as corruption, low efficiency and bureaucracy, prompting measure for improvement."
The killer quote for me is:
"Experts point out that developing democracy within the Party is an important part of political restructuring and building of political civilization in China".
This expert suggests that perhaps, Comrades, you should try democracy in China, full stop. Allow properly contested elections with proper independent alternatives to the CPC. Then, at least you might find that corruption is a more manageable affair and you might even get back some of the credibility you so desperately crave.
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