Democratic shoes that fit
SHOES SHOULD NOT NECESSARILY BE THE same as those of others, but they must fit one's feet. Likewise the way to govern should not necessarily be the same, but it must bring real benefits to the people. President Xi Jinping made such remarks on Sunday in his speech delivered at the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
No remark more vividly explains why China cannot copy the political institutions of the West. No rhetoric more explicitly conveys why democracy may take different forms, but its core is to have people's will represented in state affairs and policies.
Xi said that democracy is not decoration and it should be used to solve problems for the people. He also said that we do need to borrow what is good from Western political institutions, but that should never mean that we should give up our own fundamental political system.
