QINGDAO, Oct. 17
Two new terms -- "harmonious society" and "scientific approach to development" -- are being written into the Chinese Communist Party's constitution during the 17th Party Congress this week in Beijing. These are actually extensions of the old path, "socialism with Chinese characteristics." China, imprisoned in its red memory, has never been able to liberate its thoughts. The banner it carries forces it to walk that path.
At the CCP's 15th Congress 10 years ago, President Jiang Zemin pointed out that the banner carried by the Party is extremely important; the banner is its direction and image. Jiang proposed holding firm to the banner of Deng Xiaoping's theory. Later, at the 16th Party Congress in 2002, Jiang came up with the "ten firm persistences," which President Hu Jintao has simplified to the "four firm persistences."
After the 17th Party Congress, the CCP will begin taking small steps toward political reform in line with the thinking of Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao. However, this is based on the inheritance from Jiang. It is impossible that Hu's so-called "liberating thoughts" can deny Jiang Zemin, as the outside world speculates.
The relationship between Deng and Jiang and Hu and Wen is first of all one of inheritance. Secondly it is a creative renewal, or even a slight correction, of the old ideas. For example, compared with Deng and Jiang, Hu and Wen are emphasizing a harmonious society and certain values, which can be considered progress.
Nevertheless, since Hu and Wen proposed this objective, it has been proving difficult to achieve a harmonious society. On the contrary, social polarization and conflicts have worsened. And after the 17th Congress, "liberating thoughts" will not go beyond the current managerial mindset. It is therefore unlikely that a harmonious society can be achieved under the leadership of Hu and Wen.
Whether we speak of "socialism with Chinese characteristics" or "the preliminary stage of socialism," both were aimed at saving China through a capitalist market economy under the signboard of socialism. But these economic reforms did not come with political reforms, so they have allowed capitalists to exploit workers, who are not allowed to have unions. The result is an unsolvable theoretical self-contradiction.
A healthy society needs competition to maintain its vigor and fairness. Only when workers have the right to form unions can the greed of the capitalists be controlled, and can the benefits of both employers and employees be realized through negotiations.
The dialectic theory of social development points out that the progress of history is not simply decided by some power. Limited reforms are merely the thinking of the CCP. In the end, the direction, depth and rate of reform will be determined by the competition between all forces in society. No single person or group can control it.
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(Mu Chuanheng is a freelance writer and a former lawyer. He has published a number of books on trade negotiations and democratic politics. He is included in the book "World Celebrities (China Vol. 2) published in Hong Kong for his new theory of culture. This article is edited and translated from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the original can be found at www.ncn.org. ©Copyright Mu Chuanheng.)
http://www.upiasiaonline.com/politics/2007/10/17/commentary_political_trend_of_the_communist_party_congress_part_ii/
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