Op-Ed Contributors

Political orientation crucial

By Zheng Qingyuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-28 08:07

Comrade Deng Xiaoping made it clear that to judge whether a country has a correct political setup and political structure, there are three key criteria: First, whether or not the country enjoys political stability; second, whether or not the setup and structure can promote solidarity and improve people's lives; and the third, whether or not productivity can develop in a sustainable manner. This important thesis profoundly reveals the dialectical relationship between the superstructure and economic base.

Since the founding of New China, especially the years of reform and opening-up, the historical changes in our country's appearance are sufficient proof that the political system we have implemented is in line with China's national conditions and has strong vitality.

The continuously deepening reforms in political arrangements have given new vitality to the socialist system, and further expanded the political advantages of the socialist system. It can both broadly promote democracy and achieve a high degree of centralization. It can not only effectively guarantee that people are the masters of the State, but also concentrate social resources and improve national efficiency to the maximum at crucial moments and on significant occasions, such as the 1998 floods, Wenchuan earthquake, Beijing Olympic Games, Shanghai World Expo, and coping with the impacts of the global financial crisis.

It is the political advantage of the socialist system that gave birth to the synergy of the country's people of all ethnicities, so that we could proudly overcome the challenges of natural risks, the onslaught of the economic crisis and which enabled us to successfully organize and host a variety of major international events.

Even some Western scholars do not deny this. It can be said that the fruit of political development of socialism with Chinese characteristics has provided important experiences for the political development and political civilization of mankind. The idea that more than 30 years of reform and opening-up has made remarkable achievements in economic development, yet political reform has seriously lagged behind is not only contrary to objective laws, but also inconsistent with objective facts.

Of course, socialist democratic politics is a process of continuous development and improvement, and socialist political civilization cannot be achieved overnight. Compared with either the new situation of our country's economic and social development, or the new requirements to guarantee people's status as masters of the State, our country's construction of socialist democratic politics still has pitfalls and drawbacks, and still needs to be reformed and improved continuously to preserve fairness and justice in society.

After more than 30 years of reform and exploration, we have accumulated valuable experiences in reforming our political arrangements. In order to more energetically and effectively push forward reform and opening-up and the socialist modernization process in the period of significant strategic opportunities for our country's development, we need to carefully review and adhere to the successful experiences that came from practice and which are in line with objective laws in the long term.

The most central of these experiences is to stick to the correct political direction. Only by upholding the correct political direction can we effectively ensure the realization of the goals of political reforms, and provide strong political support for the Party's and country's prosperity and long-term peace and stability.

To adhere to the correct political orientation, and to actively, steadily and prudently push forward political reforms, we must unswervingly adhere to the Party's leadership. Deepening political reform must be aimed at enhancing the vitality of the Party and the country, and mobilizing people's enthusiasm.

Political reform will not weaken but strengthen and improve the Party's leadership, it will be conducive to consolidating the Party's leadership, and adhere to the Party's central role commanding the overall situation and coordinating all aspects, so as to synchronize the perfection of the socialist democratic system and that of the Party's ability to govern and its way of governance, and ensure that the Party leads the people to effectively run the country.

To adhere to the correct political orientation, and actively, steadily and prudently push forward political reform, we must adhere to the socialist system. Reform is the self-improvement and development of the socialist system, the ultimate aim is, under the socialist system, to better develop social productive forces, give full play to the superiority of the socialist system, and give full play to our political system's superiority in developing mass democracy, superiority in guaranteeing national unity and security, and superiority in promoting economic and social development. Political reform must be conducted under the premise of adherence to our country's socialist system, and must not deviate from our country's socialist system.

To adhere to the correct political orientation, and actively, steadily and prudently push forward political reform, we must adhere to the socialist road of political development with Chinese characteristics, which has been formulated by the Party and the people in the country's historical and present situations on the basis of the positive and negative experiences in long-term practice. It is a correct choice by the Party and the people featuring respect for both our history and national conditions. To press ahead with political reform, we must go our own way, and must not copy Western models of political setups.

To adhere to the correct political orientation, and actively, steadily and prudently push forward political reform, we must proceed gradually in a steady manner. In our large country of 1.3 billion people, political reform must proceed from reality, conform to the state of production relations and productive forces, the reforms in economic systems, and to China's historical, economic, and cultural conditions. It must proceed in an orderly and step-by-step manner, and must not be divorced from reality, or transcend the stage of development. Flashy, empty slogans can only make things worse.

Go our own way, this is a truth China has recognized through all its trials and vicissitudes, it is also a compass for the Chinese nation to follow as it grows and develops in the future. Firmly taking hold of historical opportunities, upholding the correct political orientation, actively, steadily and prudently pushing forward political reform, and continuously developing vigorous socialist democracy, we have full confidence in, and the ability to build, a prosperous and strong, democratic, civilized and harmonious modern socialist state on the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

The article first appeared on People's Daily on Oct 27.

China Forum

(China Daily 10/28/2010 page8)