The Star: May 13, 2021

The Star Thursday May 13 2021
Decoding Chinese
Political System
With the rise of China and its
increasing international influences,
the West has put more emphasis on
the ideological differences in recent
years. China’s path of development
is sometimes labelled as a challenge
to the universality of Western
formula, and the Chinese political
system has drawn suspicion and
smear from some Western countries.
As the Communist Party of China
(hereinafter referred to as “CPC”)
is to celebrate its centennial this
year, it is worthwhile to get a better
understanding of the CPC and
China’s governance.
In 1840s, China’s door was kicked
open by western powers during the
Opium War. From 1840 to 1949,
China signed hundreds of unequal
treaties with 23 western powers. All
Chinese ports, waterways, railroads
& coastlines were controlled by
major powers owning all kind of
privileges, even concessions. With
its sovereignty and independence
suffering serious damage, China was
plunged into a semi-colonial and
semi-feudal society.
In order to build a free and
democratic new country, China
had ventured into many political
experiments like the constitutional
monarchy, parliamentary system
and multi-party system, but none
of them worked out. China and its
people were still left in chaos with
rampant corruption and endless
misery. The Japanese aggression
against China in 1931 further
aggravated the sufferings.
Communism was introduced to
China in the early 20th century. The
ideal for creating an equal society
and emancipating the mass from
oppression echoed the aspiration of
the Chinese people. Therefore many
patriotic intellectuals introduced,
adopted and promoted Communism
to find a way to save China from
deep water.
The CPC, since its founding in 1921
with only dozens of members, soon
rallied massive support among
Chinese people. Although faced
with different challenges, the CPC
always took the lead in uniting
and liberating the Chinese people
from imperialism, feudalism and
bureaucrat-capitalism. After 28
years of arduous efforts, under the
leadership of CPC, the People’s
Republic of China was founded in
1949. Ever since then, the Chinese
people stood up again.
The new China wiped out the
vestiges of feudalism and made
remarkable achievements in
all important fields including
economy, education, health,
science, technology and culture
within less than two decades. In
the early days after the founding of
the new republic, China couldn’t
even produce a bicycle on its own.
By 1966, China has established
complete agricultural and modern
industrial systems. China also broke
sanctions and blockades imposed by
certain western countries. By 1976,
among more than 130 independent
countries in the world, 110 of them
established diplomatic relations with
China.
The CPC has served as the leading
force in China’s reform and openingup.
Market economy was introduced
in China more than 40 years ago,
leading China into fast track of
development. A socialist path of
Chinese characteristics has been
established successfully. From 1978
to 2020, the GDP per capita of China
has amounted to more than USD
10,000 from USD 200 and the world’s
largest middle class of more than
400 million people has been created.
More than 800 million people have
been lifted out of poverty. The
average life expectancy has more
than doubled from 35 years old to 77
years old since the founding of the
new China. Chinese people enjoy
higher living standards and more
personal freedom today than any
other time in Chinese history.
Looking back at the history, we can
easily draw the conclusion that the
leadership of CPC in China is the
choice of the Chinese people and the
Chinese history.
While some parties strive for
power and political gains to serve
their own interests, the CPC
always seeks to serve the interests
of the overwhelming majority of
the Chinese people. The CPC has
always adopted a down-to-earth
approach, and sought to apply the
Marxist doctrines to fit China’s
domestic situations. The CPC always
uses merit-based mechanism for
appointing senior officials. Before
taking charge, officials appointed
normally have rich experience and
outstanding performance rather than
professional politicians elected in
western political system. The CPC
has always been committed to selfrenewal
and self-improvement. This
has enabled the CPC to ensure that
the Party will resolutely correct its
own problems.
A survey conducted by Harvard
Kennedy School last year shows
that more than 93 per cent of
Chinese people are satisfied with
the performance of the government
under the CPC leadership at
central and local levels. History has
proved that the Chinese system and
development path fit the country.
There is no fixed mode worldwide
for modernization. Countries should
learn from experiences of each other
rather than simply force one’s shoes
on others’ feet.
(Author: Wang Zhijian, Chinese
Consul General in Christchurch)
This advertisement is paid for by the Chinese Consulate
24
OPINION
Visitors are welcome at
the city council building
I’M WORKING in my
office on Saturday, not
because we have hearings
on this weekend, but
because we have people
coming into the city
council building, Te
Hononga, as part of Open
Christchurch, a new
festival of architecture
organised by Te Pūtahi
Centre for Architecture
and City Making.
Te Hononga is one of
46 open buildings in the
festival.
Most of the buildings
are walk-up opportunities
– the ones that required
bookings including the
guided city walks are fully
booked now (unfortunately
for those who haven’t
booked, but great in terms
of the popularity of the
festival).
I will be welcoming
people to what is called
the Mayor’s Lounge, but
which is really a place
where we hold many of our
all-important workshops
and briefings, as well as
informal meetings. These
are opportunities to canvas
issues before we go into a
formal decision-making
environment, enabling
questions to be asked and
further information provided
if necessary. So they
are an important part of
what we do.
It is also the place where
we host overseas dignitaries
and other visitors to the
city.
Based on the sixth floor,
it has a great view of the
Arts Centre and across the
city to the west. On a clear
day the view of the Southern
Alps is spectacular. It
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Mayor
Lianne Dalziel
IDENTITY: Architecture will be on show on
Saturday at Te Hononga, the city council building.
is great to be able to show
visitors just how special
our location is at the centre
of the South Island.
I hope you take a chance
to visit some of these places
over the weekend and
enjoy seeing and hearing
about the architecture both
modern and historic that
helps create our unique
identity as a city.
Details are on the
website http://openchch.
nz/.
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