Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday smacked all so-called impulsive reformers by chopping off the virtual strings holding them with their half-baked dream of establishing democracy in the country. Wen clearly indicated that the nation would boost ‘economic development but without bold political departures.’ (By Tomohiro Ohsumi — Bloomberg News).
In a rare move, just before the 17th party congress, letting the cat (willingly) out of the bag, close allies of the Communist Party, including Zhou Ruijun, former People’s Daily editor and Xie Tao, former Renmin University VP, stressed for political reforms and liberalization giving way to a market economy.
Wen, insisted on developing it’s own style of democracy, smugly declaring that China is not yet ready for it. His statement, “We are still far away from advancing out of the primary stages of socialism. We must stick with the basic development guideline of that stage for 100 years’, is not a surprise and clearly reflects that the party would never allow to mingle the existing socialist system with true democracy, though the PM denied it.
No doubt, the socialist framework in China is quite mature but it has failed to bridge the widening gap between conservatives and liberals, who, apparently do not favor China’s political system and see a true democratic framework the only way to plug the rising disparity between the rich and the poor. Other government policies, including large-scale privatization of state-owned companies, though targeting fast economic development but only aimed to fill the coffers of the holders has also triggered a healthy debate.
However, we cannot forget that the stubborn Chinese rulers are quite capable of sensing the rising western market forces and liberal institutions and are further more capable of deftly routing all challenges, right or wrong. So, as we know that all forces internal and external, especially west, are trying hard for the democratization of China, the country will continue to play the communist game in its favor and will carry on for long without any (overall) hitch.
Illustration Credit: Edel Rodriguez for Time
Source: Washington Post
