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China: Is Democracy Possible? Part Two
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10635 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
7 / 1993 |
2,864 Words |
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Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research
Center, a press-watch institute based in Alexandria, Virginia. |
The following is the second half of a forum begun in June at THE WORLD & I to discuss mainland China. The participants, all experts on China, focus on similarities and differences between China and Russia and consider the possibility of democracy in China's future.
Moderated by Dr. Lee Edwards, senior editor in the Current Issues section, the participants were: Mr. Gang Ke, a political science instructor at the University of Maryland in College Park; Mr. Lijun Gu, a doctoral student in political philosophy at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.; Ms. Dimon Liu, a Washington, D.C.-based human rights activist since the Tiananmen Square massacre; and Mr. Haipei Xue, a spokesman for Green China in Washington, D.C.
THE WORLD & I: What parallels would you draw between what is happening in Russia and what is happening in China?
Lijun Gu: China takes a different path toward reform, which is: Open up the economic field first while at the same time keeping a firm control on politics. This forces people to shift their attention from politics to economic activities. Also, everybody benefits from the reforms. Ordinary people have more chances to make money.
In Russia, you don't see any social group that is benefiting from the changes: The living standard of the people has been dropping; the military is losing power; and, at the very top, the politics is not very stable. Whereas in China, almost everybody benefits from the economic reforms.
W&I: You said that everybody is benefiting from the economic reform to some degree. Does that apply just to cities and towns, or also to peasants and rural communities?
Gu: If you compare the rural areas now to the rural areas before 1978, you see vast changes. To some extent, the changes in the rural areas are bigger than they are in the cities. You go to southern China and you see these beautiful houses built by peasants, and they have TVs, cars, and some even have Mercedes.
Dimon Liu: In fact, the changes started in the villages.
Gu: Also, the people's commune system was abolished and peasants can do now virtually whatever they want.
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