During the recent U.S. presidential election, Republican candidate Sen. John McCain accused his rival then Sen. Barack Obama of being a socialist on the central issue of the campaign -- economic policies. It was the first time that I followed a presidential election in the United States. I learned quite a lot. But I have to say that I found this particular episode a little bit amusing.
My amusement came from a reflexive comparison between the economic debate in U.S. and the economic approach in China, where ideology had long been replaced by an innate sense of pragmatism. This economic pragmatism is best highlighted by a Chinese proverb made famous by its late leader Deng Xiaoping: “No matter if it is a white cat or a black cat; as long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat.” This good cat has an official moniker. It’s called socialist market economy. Despite initial warnings by demagogues Left and Right that such an unorthodox approach could not possibly work, China has managed to achieve phenomenal GDP growth since the beginning of transformation to a socialist market economy thirty years ago. Overall, pragmatism worked wonders in China’s economic arena.
Historic as the transformation in economic policies is, the fundamental reason for China’s economic miracle, however, lies in its economic characteristics, the most important of which is its people. Rather than to strengthen those characteristics, some officials in parts of China have exhibited a foolish inclination to abandon them for want of something more glamorous. What this revealed is that some people in the ruling CCP appeared to have lost touch with reality.
This is not surprising, considering that, due to the authoritarian nature of Chinese government, the group of people who benefited most from thirty years’ economic expansion are those closest to the ruling CCP and the majority of people have not been able to share the economic benefits they deserved. The name of the communist party might give the appearance of a far left party. In reality, it has morphed into something far more right-wing than the central-left character of the overall population. That’s why, despite the official moniker of socialist market economy, the ruling CCP has not lived up to its promise of a just and equitable society -- the essence of socialism. The contradiction between slogan and reality is perhaps best captured by a Chinese saying: “Advertise with a goat head and sell dog meat.”
The evidence is everywhere. Growing income gap between rich and poor. Growing development gap between urban and rural areas. Environmental degradation. Rampant corruption. Mass demonstrations and social unrests. Just by looking at the miserable state of supply of public goods such as health insurance and social security, one might say China is a more capitalist society than, say, Canada. No wonder China has not unleashed the full potential of its domestic consumption.
The root problem is, of course, that the political superstructure has not kept up with pace of change in the economic fundamentals. In particular, it is very difficult to look after the interest of vast majority of working men and women in the current political system. Democratization, properly planned and implemented, should be viewed as the solution to many of China’s problems.
I believe a genuine democracy calls for a multi-party system. Besides, from what I can see, there are ideological and other fractions inside CCP already. Therefore, I see that CPP be broken into three separate parties for China’s democratization.
The first one I shall call the People’s Party. This is a central-left party representing the interest of peasants and vast majority of salaried workers, including white collar and other knowledge workers. The second one is a central-right party representing the interest of entrepreneurs, business managers and other professionals. I am leaving the name of the second party open because I feel, if and when China starts its democratization, peaceful unification with Taiwan will become a much more distinct possibility. It may not be far-fetched then for KMT to come back to mainland as a political entity.
The above two will be the main parties in China’s democratic future, with the People’s Party being the dominant one as it attracts the majority of people. CCP as a fringe party will still be there because I believe it may still be attractive to certain people who either believe in its ideology or want to guard its legacy. As for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of Taiwan, because of its stated ideology, it will be extremely difficult for them to expand to mainland. Taiwan, in a unified China, will be similar to Quebec in Canada.
Democratization will be a long process. There will be some of the ideas we can learn from liberalism, such as individual responsibility and equality of opportunity. But we should firmly reject its narrow individualist focus and instead regard people as relational and moral beings in society. We need to strengthen and modernize the rule of law. We need to develop the media into an integral part of the democratic discourse. Most of all, we need to find democratic inspiration from our own cultural traditions and educate the mass on what it means to be democratic citizens. Just like economic pragmatism unleashed China’s economic potential, I believe political pragmatism - unearthed mostly from our own cultural resources - would unleash China’s democratic potential as well.
Party ideologies will be there. Yet from a pragmatist’s point of view, different ideologies such as socialism and capitalism, merely provide different sets of tools to address societal problems. The key for government is to reject extreme measures and achieve the right balance in formulating public policies. Pragmatism emphasizes facts, practical experiences and real results. Pragmatists are open to all ideas as long as they are useful to the situation at hand. When future Chinese democracy takes on its distinct pragmatist character, we will have a more accountable, more transparent, yet less confrontational, less polarized politics. Because the central-left People’s Party is the dominant party, an overall socialist approach should be expected from the resulting public policies.
That’s my hope for China’s democratic future -- a Chinese-style, socialist democracy.
