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China's Premier Calls Democracy A Distant Goal
The Washington Post ^ | Feb. 27, 2007 | Edward Cody

Posted on 03/01/2007 8:29:00 PM PST by FreeKeys

BEIJING, Feb. 27 -- The Communist Party cautioned China's increasingly impatient reformers and intellectuals Tuesday that political liberalization and democracy are still a long way off despite the rapid pace of economic change over the past two decades.

The warning, in an article attributed to Premier Wen Jiabao in the official People's Daily newspaper, constituted the party's first known response to a bubbling up of political debate as China prepares for an annual session of its legislature and an important Communist Party congress that is scheduled for this fall.

Most of the debate has remained behind closed doors, in keeping with the party's tradition of secrecy. But two recent articles by prominent establishment figures brought into the open suggestions to President Hu Jintao's government that moving faster on political reforms would help smooth the transformation to a market economy.

One, by Zhou Ruijun, a former People's Daily editor known for reformist views, said greater democratic openness is necessary to defuse tensions over a growing gap between rich and poor, which he warned could lead to instability. Another, by former Renmin University vice president Xie Tao, suggested that China should move speedily toward a Scandinavian-like social-welfare democracy.

Wen, who recently was reported to be in charge of preparing a leadership platform for the party congress, reached into familiar Marxist vocabulary to build an argument that China is not yet ready for such a democracy, even though it remains a distant goal for the "socialism with Chinese characteristics" that the party hopes to build.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: beijing; chicoms; china; communistparty; redchina; wenjiabao
Distant goal? More like a permanent carrot hung from a stick.
1 posted on 03/01/2007 8:29:06 PM PST by FreeKeys
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To: FreeKeys

This experiment will fail. The numnuts in the Commie Party will have to kill millions to keep the lid on...


2 posted on 03/01/2007 8:56:31 PM PST by zarf (Her hair was of a dank yellow, and fell over her temples like sauerkraut......)
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To: FreeKeys
"Most of the debate remains behind closed doors,"

And will as long as the fat cats have anything to say
about it. No aristocracy cedes power to the people unless
it is wrested from them.

FK, you hit it dead on the nose about the carrot dangling
from a stick....JJ61
3 posted on 03/01/2007 9:10:07 PM PST by JerseyJohn61 (Better Late Than Never.......sometimes over lapping is worth the effort....)
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To: All
smooth the transformation to a market economy

Keep wishing and keep your fingers crossed, "free traders" and you New Democrat Third Way "progressives."

growing gap between rich and poor

Problems?

What about pandemic corruption?

Pollution that kills hundreds of thousands each year?

Industrial accidents that kills a hundred thousand or so each year?

Second-class citizenship and abuse of rural folks flocking to cities for jobs?

Hundreds of thousands forced out of their homes for projects like dams?

Tens of thousands forced out of their homes to build industrial parks and luxury homes -- corrupt Party officials pocket the payments, peasants get little or nothing?

The tension between Maoists and Dengists?

The remaining worthless government owned and operated enterprises which drain billions in resources but to close more of them would put tens of millions more out of work?

The huge number of nonperforming loans that Chi-com banks have that support the worthless government owned and operated enterprises?

The estimated 100 million+ "floating population" of unemployed?

Are they really serious about "reform"?

The Communist Party of the old Soviet Union officially acknowledged Stalin's crimes and removed his body from its place of honor in a mausoleum in Red Square. During the 20th party congress (1956, three years after Stalin's death) Premier Nikita Khrushchev testified about Stalin's crimes. De-Stalinization reached a climax at the 22d party congress in 1961 with the removal of Stalin's body.

There's been no condemnation of Mao.

There a reluctance among many tradition-minded party members to abandon the long-standing socialist principle that the state owns all land. . . [They fear] wholesale jettisoning of communist doctrine that has occurred in China since Deng's reforms began.

No problem. They've modified that principle to "the state owns all western intellectual property;" it ain't stealing so pound salt WTO and you useful idiots!

"Without sustained rapid growth of the productive forces, it is impossible to finally secure the fairness and social justice that lie at the heart of the socialist system."

A way of saying if we don't create tens of millions of jobs each year there will be civil war -- another Mao revolution? It sure looks a lot like Chiang's Nationalist Government -- except he didn't have the pollution and land seizures.

Wen acknowledged that China's market-oriented economic development must also include more social justice

That's the part that attracts the New Democrat Third Way "progressives." The "free traders'" market-oriented economic development builds the wealth in China then the commies and the New Democrat Third Way "progressives" take it -- I think it has to do with that dialectal materialism thingy.

4 posted on 03/01/2007 9:55:00 PM PST by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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To: WilliamofCarmichael

Democlacy velly distant goal! First we need leunite Taiwan with Mothahland! Then leplace United States as Supahpowah! Then no one alound to nag us about democlacy anyway!


5 posted on 03/01/2007 10:05:31 PM PST by hellbender
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To: FreeKeys
China's Premier Calls Democracy A Distant Goal

It is in their 1,000 years plan.

6 posted on 03/02/2007 1:44:57 AM PST by Moorings
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