China Today Special

Vox Populi on Political Restructuring

A study shows the general public are keen on political reform and aspire to systemic solutions for corruption and the rich-poor gap.

By DAI YUANCHU & WEI LAI

POLITICAL restructuring is inching into the spotlight of Chinese national affairs. What are the public’s attitudes, opinions and suggestions on this issue? To test the waters, the Global Poll Center, an arm of the Beijing-based newspaper Global Times, launched a straw poll in seven representative cities. Between October 28 and 31, 2010, the center called on respondents to express their opinion as to how political reform should proceed and what its objectives should be. The majority were in favor of political restructuring, but emphasized the importance of social stability.

    In view of regional development disparities, the center targeted seven representative cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changsha, Chengdu, Xi’an and Shenyang, respectively representing North, East, South, Central, Southwest, Northwest, and Northeast China. Respondents were randomly sampled from residents above the age of 18, and according to the demographic data released in 2008 by the National Statistics Bureau, weights were given to regional, age and sex differences. By 18:00 on October 31, completed surveys numbered 1,327.

    The results show that 78.4 percent of the respondents said “yes” when answering “Should China proceed with its political restructuring,” and only 5 percent oppose it (see figure 1).

    The results indicated opposition to a Western-style democratic system and belief that the goal of any political reform in China is to establish a democracy with Chinese characteristics that address problems with the existing forms of governance. The majority stressed the immediate objectives should be to eradicate corruption and reduce the gap between rich and poor, establishing social equilibrium.

    When asked to list the objectives of the political restructuring, more than half of the respondents included “build democratic politics with Chinese characteristics” and “explore China’s own way of development” in their answers. In a breakdown, 57.3 percent selected “build democratic politics with Chinese characteristics”; 53.0 percent said it was to explore China’s own development path; 46.5 percent believed it should aim to solve China’s existing problems; and only 15.5 percent said it was to promote Western democratic political system (see Figure 2). Multiple choices were allowed.

    Professor Zhang Weiwei of the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations in Switzerland said that these public reactions are encouraging. He stressed that China must follow its “Seek truth from facts” tradition in proceeding with its political restructuring, since politics is not empty talk and there’s no room for “political romanticism.” On the contrary, it must be pragmatic and specific, featuring a “top-notch talent selecting mechanism, top-notch democratic supervision mechanism, and top-notch social consultation mechanism.” The successful experience of China’s economic reform over the past 30 years, including “gradual advancement, implementation and accumulation,” is clearly applicable to its political restructuring.

    Zhang Shuhua, researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, disapproves of political restructuring without adequate preparation, such as when legal and cultural institutions are not capable of supporting it. The resulting “blind havoc” would only slow down the country’s social progress, he asserts, citing the former Soviet Union as an example of failure. Its political reform led to an “oligarchic democracy” and greater social polarization, to which the Chinese people would definitely object. He said that the results of the poll reflected the political sobriety and rationality of Chinese citizens. In his opinion, political restructuring should principally aim to strengthen China’s competitiveness in international politics and should have a clear theme around which concrete democratic mechanisms can be designed.

    When asked “What existing problems should the political restructuring address,” 79.2 percent of the respondents chose “reducing the gap between the rich and poor to establish social equilibrium” and 73.9 percent pinpointed “eradicating corruption.” Other public priorities include guaranteed exercise of people’s democratic rights, increase in the administrative transparency of the Party and the government, enhanced legal authority, and expansion of grassroots democracy, all items checked by over 60 percent of participants in the survey.

    Prof. Zhang Weiwei believes that all the weaknesses in the Chinese political system flagged by respondents can be addressed gradually, through substantive political restructuring and rule of law. For example, Hong Kong was once marred by heavy corruption, but a decade of effort reduced that markedly. Singapore’s respected and highly functioning legal system was achieved through incremental reform.

    Asked to indicate “the points that should be noted in political restructuring,” the majority of the respondents chose the maintenance of social stability and continuity of the basic state structure of China as their top priority and outright opposed total Westernization (see figure 3).

    Finally, when asked “Whether China had conducted any political restructuring over the past 30 years,” 63.9 percent of the respondents said yes, or partially yes. Zhang Shuhua stressed that China will promote inclusive political development, but this by no means implies total Westernization. Even the Western world has realized that China’s current political model has enriched the world’s choice of governance systems, so China should maintain its confidence in this regard.

[Home]
Address:24 Baiwanzhuang Street, Beijing 100037, China
Tel: 86-10-68326037
Fax: 86-010-68328338
Website: http://www.chinatoday.com.cn
E-mail: chinatoday@chinatoday.com.cn
Copyright (C) China Today, All Rights Reserved.