Whither China’s Democracy? Democratization in China since the Tiananmen Incident
REVIEWS, 13 Oct 2014
René Wadlow – TRANSCEND Media Service
Joseph Y.S. Cheng (Ed.); Whither China’s Democracy? Democratization in China since the Tiananmen Incident (Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong Press, 2011, 414pp.)
This review of an in-depth look at democratization in China was written before the protests in Hong Kong that highlight shifting attitudes toward governing practices.
The subtitle of this important book of essays would be more accurate. Democratization is a bumpy but ongoing process, seen sometimes in changes in economic conditions, in the rise of non-governmental organizations, in private discussions of difficult issues, and in the growth of the use of digital media. But democratization is not necessarily a process that leads to political structures which can be called a “democracy” − even if one admits the idea of “democracy with Chinese characteristics.”
However, the Chinese government uses the word democracy, at least in English. Just 10 years after the Tiananmen ‘incident’, the government issued a White Paper
50 Years of Progress in China’s Human Rights stating “The year 1999 witnessed the 50th anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Republic of China. For the previous half century, the Chinese people, led by the Chinese Government, has unswervingly probed into and fought for the elimination of poverty and backwardness, the building of a rich, strong, democratic and civilized country, and the achievement of the lofty ideal of complete human rights. As a result, the situation has seen tremendous changes. In the old semi-colonial China, the broad masses were impressed by imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism, and had no human rights at all. But after New China was founded in 1949, the Chinese Government and people waged a series of large-scale campaigns rapidly sweeping away the dregs left over from the old society and established a basic political system which could promote and protect human rights, so that the nation and society took on an entirely new look and a new epoch was started for the progress of human rights in China.”
Thus, it is legitimate to ask ‘Whiter China is a democratic and civilized country.’ The White Paper largely contrasts “old” and new” China, with a dark picture of ‘feudal’ old China. This book edited by Professor Joseph Cheng of the City University of Hong Kong looks at the 20 years since the 1989 Tiananmen demonstrations and their violent repression. Since 1989, a “never again” has been the government’s policy. Thus democratization needs to go forward without large scale, highly visible public protest. ‘Stability’ and ‘harmony’ have been the stated government policy aims, colored by the breakup of the Soviet Union and the fundamental changes in Eastern Europe.
So democratization as a trend needs to proceed quietly and gradually. Democratization requires long-term vision and skillful leadership. As Joseph Cheng notes “The Communist Party of China is probably not highly united by ideological commitment and discipline, but the strong common interest and consensus of the maintenance of its monopoly of political power are likely to prevent its split in the foreseeable future.” Willy Lam in his contribution “Intra-Party Democracy with Chinese Characteristics” points out that while it is unlikely that there will be splits and open conflict in the Party, there are different currents of thought. These currents may not lead to ‘intra-party democracy’, but it may lead to different responses to the push of ‘democratization from below.’
I would stress seven current leading to ‘democratization from below’.
- The increasingly large and educated middle class;
- Responses to demands for ecologically-sound development
- Responses to demands of migrant workers;
- Responses to stronger religious and philosophical current of thought;
- Responses to minorities which do not pose secessionist issues;
- The impact of Internet and other forms of communication;
- The impact of foreign companies in China and Chinese working abroad.
Alvin So and Su Xianjia in “New Middle Class Politics in China: The Making of a Quiet Democratization” highlight the concerns of the rising middle class. They make a distinction between ‘the old middle class’ − property owners and entrepreneurs − and the ‘new middle class’ of educated professionals based on knowledge and expertise rather than property. The new middle class is increasingly active in professional associations, in home owners associations, and ecology associations. In general, the new middle class has a moderate, non-confrontational attitude toward the government, but they are demanding more freedom of choice. Already, there have been discussions on the ‘one-child’ policy, with demands that parent have the liberty to choose larger families but with a responsibility for their choices. There are demands for improvements in the university system. Increasingly, the new middle class has done some of its education abroad and many have done foreign travel. The middle class, both ‘old’ and ‘new’ create the style and ‘atmosphere’ of the country, and set the life style and the trends in literature and art. In many ways, the middle class − even if a minority − create the image of the ‘normal’ and the ‘civilized’. This image will be more and more outside the direct control of the government and Communist Party.
The new middle class and their older children are active users of the Internet. Mobo Gao in his “Netizenship and its Implications for Democratization in China” and Kinglum Ngok and Joseph Cheng in their “Public Opinion on the Internet and Authoritarian Politics: The Chinese Authorities’ Control of the Internet” deal with e-media, its use to exchange information and ideas, and the government’s efforts to control and limit the ideas and information exchanged. Potentially, Internet access can be a potent tool for changes in attitudes and values.
The middle class is also at the core of new religious and philosophical movements and personal spiritual search. When a religious body is structured, the government’s policy is to consider it as a political body. Beatrice Leung in “Sino-Vatican Relations in Three Decades of Modernization” highlights the long and changing relations with the Vatican, with the Chinese Catholic Church of some 12 million and also with Catholic Church authorities and activities in Macau and Hong Kong. However, when a religious current of ideas is not structured in buildings, priests, temples and the like, but is a current of thought, an inner practice of meditation, a willingness to help one’s neighbor, it is much more difficult to control. Increasingly, religious and philosophical ideas are part of a life style, not necessarily given a specific name such as Daoist or Buddhist, but rather is a personal synthesis and a continuing personal search.
Democratization is basically linked to individualization, to an ever-larger number of people thinking for themselves, creating their own life styles and “thinking outside the box”. It can be a slow process, but the direction is set, and the currents leading to democratization cannot be reversed.
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René Wadlow, a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and of its Task Force on the Middle East, is president and U.N. representative (Geneva) of the Association of World Citizens and editor of Transnational Perspectives. He is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 13 Oct 2014.
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