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China mouthpiece chides Wen on reforms
Michael Wines & Sharon LaFraniere, NYT News Service,
Oct 29, 2010, 06.03am
Party control and dominance is supreme.
BEIJING: China's main Communist Party newspaper bluntly rejected calls for speedier political reform, publishing a front-page commentary that said any changes in China's political system should not emulate Western democracies, but "consolidate the party's leadership so that the party commands the overall situation."
The opinion article in People's Daily, signed with what appeared to be a pseudonym, appeared at least obliquely aimed at Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
He has argued in speeches and media interviews that China's economic progress threatens to stall without systemic reforms, including an independent judiciary, greater oversight of government by the press and improvements in China's sharply limited form of elections.
It also may have been directed at countering recent demands for democratic reforms by Chinese liberal intellectuals and Communist Party elders, spurred in part by Wen's remarks and timed to this month's award of the Nobel Peace Prize to an imprisoned Chinese democracy advocate, Liu Xiaobo.
Wen's comments have fueled a debate among analysts over whether he is advocating Western-style changes in China's governing system or merely calling for more openness inside the ruling Communist Party.
Wednesday's commentary, which closely followed the ruling party's annual planning session, ran to 1,800 words and delved into topics only occasionally discussed in the state media. The article emphatically repeated past declarations that changes modeled on American or European political systems were inappropriate for China . It also appeared to directly reject Wen's warning that economic progress and political reforms were inseparably linked.
"The idea that China's political reform is seriously lagging behind its remarkable economic development is not only contrary to the law of objectivity but also to the objective facts," it stated.
It later added: "In promoting political reform, we shouldn't copy the Western political system model; shouldn't engage in something like multiparty coalition government or separation of powers among the executive , legislative and judicial branches. We should stick to our own way."
A Chinese political historian who asked not to be named in discussing the issue said, "Obviously, this is a criticism of Wen."
Still, the notion of a link is bolstered by a leaked October 19 directive from Communist Party censors that ordered internet sites and news organizations to delete all references to a recent interview of Wen by CNN. In that September 23 interview , Wen said that "the people's wishes for and needs for democracy and freedom are irresistible."
Wen has made similar statements in previous years, and the party's more conservative majority has appeared to bristle. In 2007, after Wen publicly embraced "universal values" like human rights, the statecontrolled press reacted with what seemed nationalistic vigor, and the term has since become taboo.
Some analysts said on Wednesday that the party's brusque reaction this time points to a growing debate over the future direction of China's political system.
Michael Wines & Sharon LaFraniere, NYT News Service,
Oct 29, 2010, 06.03am
Party control and dominance is supreme.
BEIJING: China's main Communist Party newspaper bluntly rejected calls for speedier political reform, publishing a front-page commentary that said any changes in China's political system should not emulate Western democracies, but "consolidate the party's leadership so that the party commands the overall situation."
The opinion article in People's Daily, signed with what appeared to be a pseudonym, appeared at least obliquely aimed at Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.
He has argued in speeches and media interviews that China's economic progress threatens to stall without systemic reforms, including an independent judiciary, greater oversight of government by the press and improvements in China's sharply limited form of elections.
It also may have been directed at countering recent demands for democratic reforms by Chinese liberal intellectuals and Communist Party elders, spurred in part by Wen's remarks and timed to this month's award of the Nobel Peace Prize to an imprisoned Chinese democracy advocate, Liu Xiaobo.
Wen's comments have fueled a debate among analysts over whether he is advocating Western-style changes in China's governing system or merely calling for more openness inside the ruling Communist Party.
Wednesday's commentary, which closely followed the ruling party's annual planning session, ran to 1,800 words and delved into topics only occasionally discussed in the state media. The article emphatically repeated past declarations that changes modeled on American or European political systems were inappropriate for China . It also appeared to directly reject Wen's warning that economic progress and political reforms were inseparably linked.
"The idea that China's political reform is seriously lagging behind its remarkable economic development is not only contrary to the law of objectivity but also to the objective facts," it stated.
It later added: "In promoting political reform, we shouldn't copy the Western political system model; shouldn't engage in something like multiparty coalition government or separation of powers among the executive , legislative and judicial branches. We should stick to our own way."
A Chinese political historian who asked not to be named in discussing the issue said, "Obviously, this is a criticism of Wen."
Still, the notion of a link is bolstered by a leaked October 19 directive from Communist Party censors that ordered internet sites and news organizations to delete all references to a recent interview of Wen by CNN. In that September 23 interview , Wen said that "the people's wishes for and needs for democracy and freedom are irresistible."
Wen has made similar statements in previous years, and the party's more conservative majority has appeared to bristle. In 2007, after Wen publicly embraced "universal values" like human rights, the statecontrolled press reacted with what seemed nationalistic vigor, and the term has since become taboo.
Some analysts said on Wednesday that the party's brusque reaction this time points to a growing debate over the future direction of China's political system.
