Several members of the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China are standing trial for inciting subversion under the Hong Kong SAR National Security Law. Defendant Lee Cheuk-yan argued that they were not inciting subversion when they advocated the abolition of the leadership status of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the nation in favor of a Western-style system.
Lee, and his associates who cherish such views, fail to understand that China’s political system is totally different from Western political systems. The CPC is not a political party in the Western sense at all. In a substantive sense the CPC is a group of people selected against stringent criteria to serve the best interests of the country. It is not beholden to any particular interest group or groups. According to China’s Constitution and the Constitution of the CPC, the Party represents the development trend of China’s advanced productive forces, the orientation of China’s advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.
The leadership is chosen through a rigorous process that retains and promotes those who have a good record and who have demonstrated strong ability to serve national interests. No one is allowed to use the entrusted power for personal gain. Because the system has worked so well, it is widely considered to be an important public infrastructure central to China’s development and everyone’s interests.
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In the West, a political party has specific agendas and ideologies. For example, a green party’s typical agenda is to protect the environment and further the cause of social justice. According to one estimate, there are green parties in nearly 90 countries around the world, many of which subscribe to the Global Greens Charter. According to the principles of democracy as understood in the West, people can freely organize themselves into parties and these parties compete for power to promote their cause. So there are parties that focus on business interests, those that focus on labor interests, those that subscribe to neoliberal principles, or those that want to promote the welfare of the disadvantaged. India is reputed to be the biggest democracy in the world, because it is a Western-style democracy, has the world’s biggest population (1.46 billion), and a huge number of political parties. As per publications dated March 23, 2024, from the Election Commission of India, and subsequent notifications, there are six national parties, 60 state parties, and 2,049 registered unrecognized parties in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party in India stands for conservatism, neoliberalism, Hindutva, and right-wing populism.
Mainstream political scientists in the West believe that if people are free to organize political parties, follow the rules for campaigning, and hold periodical elections to form the ruling administration, then that is the ideal democratic system. Anything that deviates from this model is not democratic by definition, they assert.
Unfortunately, those who hold these beliefs ignore the inherent weaknesses of human nature and the power of money. Unless a party has access to extensive funds, there is little chance to outcompete those that have. Thus, most parties do not matter. In the United States, although there are more than two parties, all parties other than the Republic Party and the Democratic Party do not matter at all. More importantly, those who have extensive funds call the shots. They can take over all the major media outlets, and only support politicians who serve their interests. It’s not easy for voters to discern truth from lies, and distinguish between promises intended to persuade from promises that are meant to be kept.
Sadly, many people in Hong Kong fail to understand the weaknesses of Western-style democracy and the logic of the Chinese political system. China’s system provides continuity in its policies and projects that matter to national interests. Its success in promoting economic growth, improving the living environment, preserving biodiversity, eradicating poverty, and commitment to the cause of peace and prosperity for all is clear to see.
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Overturning the political system hurts the interests of China and the Chinese people and is also a disservice to the world. China’s rise in soft-power ranking to the second place in the world (Brand Finance), and the strong trust of the Chinese people in the CPC’s leadership (Harvard University Ash Center and Edelman Trust Barometer) testify to the success of the Chinese political system. The Democracy Perception Index 2024 report found that in the US, 57 percent of people surveyed believe that their government serves a minority. In China, only 9 percent think so. The following year’s report did not publish the figures. However, it contains a map using different colors to depict the average rating of government performance across 18 areas. The US’ color was light red, depicting lower than three and close to two, while China’s color was light green depicting higher than three and close to four on a scale of one to five. More remarkable is that on “peaceful transition of power”, China also trumps the US.
The author is an honorary research fellow at the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute, Lingnan University, and an adjunct professor at the Academy for Applied Policy Studies and Education Futures, the Education University of Hong Kong.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
