You Nuo

Chongqing example for real harmony

By You Nuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-19 06:52

Chinese leaders have been calling for building a harmonious society for some time now. But harmonious society should not be just an economic term. A harmonious society cannot automatically be built on higher GDP and export volume, or better technologies applied to make faster trains and bigger airliners. Nor does a bigger paycheck for everyone suffice, although in a nation of 1.3 billion that doesn't come easy.

More importantly, a harmonious society is not synonymous with one in which there are no discontents and conflicts. People will not have any faith in it unless they are duly protected - primarily through an effective fight against corruption. And as seen in the case of Chongqing, China's most populous city, corruption mainly means corrupt officials and their bad friends among businesspeople.

Last Saturday, Bo Xilai and Huang Qifan, top two municipal leaders, had an informal chat with Chongqing's 300 young men and women from 27 colleges. One could tell what message the leaders had for the youths. Chongqing is now in the middle of the nation's largest crackdown on criminal gangs and the officials who provided political umbrella for them.

Many people are facing trial, including gang chiefs who used to run rackets, from 300-plus bus services and meat shops to gambling and public security agencies, and lawyers who shielded them form the law. Some of the gangsters even occupied posts in the local government before thousands of complaints by local people to the newly strengthened municipal leadership exposed their criminal activities.

Officials don't interact with the young people, who generally are full of passion and sharp opinions, if they don't have anything inspiring to share with them. The Chongqing leaders were right in planning their meeting with the youths. If they can win over the hearts of the college students, they can help them carry the message back to their parents and to the public. That's why Bo Xilai focused on the city's anti-triad, anti-corruption campaign at the meeting.

A third-year student from the Southwestern University of Political Science and Law appealed to Chongqing leaders to intensify their efforts to eliminate the "dark and evil forces" and help society regain its sense of security. Many others echoed his demand. Bo was quick to reply that no development could be possible in a place where the basic moral boundary had become blurred.

The anti-gangster campaign is essentially an effort to restore decency and the good life of the people, he said. In a place run by triads, which used to monopolize many sectors - from mining, roads and transportation to grocery supplies - the already difficult life of wage earners would become unbearable. "And to help them out is what a government is there for," Bo said.

But he also had his own complaints. The applause he earned from the college students did not prevent him from saying that at times he has heard "sour remarks", criticizing him for not being nice and perhaps not handling things properly. Incidentally, some overseas reports have suggested that the Chongqing campaign is politically motivated. But Bo said: "We won't listen to this kind of twisted reasoning." That the local government has been able to assure people of their safety and security can be gauged from the number of support messages it got on the Internet on Monday morning. There were hundreds, with the most frequent remark being "When will Chongqing's campaign spread nationwide?"

In fact, for quite some time now, the chase for GDP and quick economic growth has incurred some very bad social cost for China, most saliently the nexus between corrupt government officials and businesspeople. That has greatly damaged the development of small businesses run by individuals, and in some places like Chongqing virtually stopped them in their tracks. The so-called dark and evil forces are the worst threat to China's progress. If officials do not lead a timely crackdown to remove them, it will be impossible to build a harmonious society. A harmonious society can be built through a resolute fight for values, not from being "nice" or just on the basis of larger economic figures and latest technologies. That's why I salute Chongqing's new leadership.

E-mail: younuo@chinadaily.com.cn