Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The change that is not to be

If Westerners hoped for democratization to come with market reforms in China, some Chinese officials are convinced that it won't.

Official in China Says Western-Style Democracy Won’t Take Root There

A Chinese legislative official has said that China will not adopt Western-style democracy, marking a rare instance in which a member of the government here openly rejects Western-style liberal political reforms.

The official, Li Fei, said in an interview published Saturday on the Web site of China Daily that “different countries have different election rules and a socialist China won’t follow Western election campaigns.”…

Mr. Li told China Daily, an official English-language newspaper, that while some people wanted to expand direct elections, he believed that the priority was to improve on the so-called election system now in place...

[T]here are times when an official states outright that people should not expect Western-style reforms in China. In March 2009, Wu Bangguo, chairman of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, said China would never “copy” the systems of Western nations by adopting multiparty democracy.

Mr. Li’s interview with China Daily was the latest instance of such blunt talk…

In criticizing Western democracy, Mr. Li asserted that the Western system of elections simply benefited the wealthy and was warped by capitalism.

“Western-style elections, however, are a game for the rich,” he said. “They are affected by the resources and funding that a candidate can utilize. Those who manage to win elections are easily in the shoes of their parties or sponsors and become spokespersons for the minority.”...

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Labels: change, China, democratization, political culture