Public Support for Democracy in China

It is clear that public support for democracy is high in China. Public opinion surveys show that more than 90% of Chinese citizens believe that having a democracy is good. But the majority is not yet ready for a major effort towards democratization because they still see economic growth and social stability as more important than freedom of speech, political participation, and other democratic rights. However, more and more people are growing up with the belief that political rights and freedom supersede economic wellbeing or other materialist goals. In 15–20 years, Chinese society will be dominated by people with such beliefs. We can be cautiously optimistic about the prospects for democratic change in China.     

Democrats within the Chinese Communist Party since 1989

The focus of this article is the discourse of democracy among a group of senior retired officials and academics within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1989. The post-totalitarian regime prevents them from forming a formal faction, but does not stop them from establishing a visible network and effectively arguing for the case of democratization. They want nothing less than Western style democracy as a system involving effective competition between political parties for positions of power through regular and fair elections, in which all members of the population enjoy the freedom of expression and the freedom to form and join political groups or associations. They publish chiefly on the Internet, but also through printing media home and abroad, including some high profile journals under their control or influence in China. By taking advantage of their profound thinking, rich experience and particularly their seniority within the communist hierarchy, democrats within the CCP are making increasing impacts on democratization in China, effectively keeping the debate on China's democratic future alive in the state media and among the CCP leadership. The response of the top CCP leadership to the proposals by their democrat colleagues is not entirely negative, especially on reaching a consensus of accepting democracy and human rights as universal values. The process of the conversion of Chinese communists to liberals is well under way, and sufficient intellectual resources have been accumulated for a democratic transition or a historical breakthrough of democratization in China.     

Economic prosperity or democracy: Dilemma of development in Hong Kong and China

After Hong Kong is integrated with mainland China in July 1997, the economic and political environments of the two places will inevitably link up with each other. Economic modernization significantly not only improves the living conditions of the Chinese, but also alters their social structure and political values. As such, economic prosperity and democracy become the two conflicting values in Hong Kong and China during the transition to 2000. The people of Hong Kong and China are presented a choice over two mutually exclusive targets: economic prosperity vs. democracy. On the one hand, the choice for economic prosperity will imply no democracy because a conservative political system will be maintained to preserve the political status quo. On the other hand, the choice for democracy will imply no economic prosperity, because democratization will be suppressed and hence the economy will suffer as a result of political instability. However, neither of these two choices could offer the people of Hong Kong and China a genuine prosperity and stability. Therefore a congruent relationship between the economy and the political system must be established and maintained. As prosperity is contributed by both economic growth and political stability, neglection of either of these two elements will not result in a long‐lasting prosperity. Thus, economic development and democratization are two complementary rather than contradicting forces on the road to development in China.     

The Democratic Concepts Held by Local Elites on Both Sides of the Taiwan Strait: The perception of political participation,economic equality,and conflict reconciliation

The research results given here show that Taiwanese local elites, in terms of breadth of political participation, support the common people's right of participation more than those in Mainland China. In terms of depth, local elites on neither side support having people with special family backgrounds as leaders, but the Taiwanese do not narrowly define the qualifications of leaders or managers, requiring, for example, a certain degree of capability. Mainland Chinese local elites are more conservative in this respect. On the issue of economic equality, the concept of establishing a limit on income varies greatly on the two sides. The percentage of those in favor of such a limit is lower in Taiwan, yet the Taiwanese endorse more the idea of taking care of the poor and correcting unequal income distribution. The overall perspective on conflict resolution is quite the same for both sides' local elites. That is, they all strive to maintain harmony and avoid conflict, even at a price of sacrificing plans for local development. The most probable factor behind these trends is the great difference between the two sides' politico-economic systems, the process of their development and the status quo. Thus, there are differences between the two sides, either on certain perspectives on the three dimensions of the concept of democracy, or on other possible factors, which affect these perspectives. Elites on both sides are especially similar in their efforts to avoid conflict and their tendency to respect experts, showing the effect of a relatively homogeneous culture as we compare such attitudes internationally, but such cultural tastes might hinder future democratization on both sides. Other possible inferences, including the prospects for the development of democracy on both sides, will be dealt with briefly in this paper.     

民主化视角下的俄罗斯政治发展模式

政治发展模式是研究俄罗斯政治转型的核心问题.苏联解体后,俄罗斯处于政治转型进程中,其政治发展模式随之经历了激进民主、可控民主、主权民主及延续发展阶段,呈现出权威主义的基本特点.在民主化视阀下探讨俄罗斯的政治发展模式,有助于明晰俄罗斯政治发展的轨迹.     

Consultative Leninism: China's new political framework

This paper puts forward the concept of consultative Leninism to describe the political system that has taken shape in China after the death of Deng Xiaoping. It argues that the Communist Party has made its essentially Leninist political machinery more resilient in confronting the huge social and political challenges that the current global financial crisis may unleash in China by incorporating consultative elements. Consultative Leninism has five defining characteristics: an obsessive focus upon staying in power; continuous governance reform designed to pre-empt public demands for democratization; sustained efforts to enhance the Party's capacity to elicit, respond to and direct changing public opinion; pragmatism in economic and financial management; and the promotion of nationalism in place of Communism.     

协商民主的内在关联性及其定位——基于中西方协商民主发展的环境视角分析

协商民主是实现人民民主,发展社会主义民主政治的一种新型的民主范式。比较分析西方协商民主发展的背景和中国协商民主推进的动因,可以发现在中国民主化进程中,协商与民主"分"的可能性和"合"的现实性以及两者间不必然的关系,在此基础上明确协商民主在中国民主化进程中的定位。     

The Tibet Problem in the Milieu of a Rising China: findings from a survey on Americans' attitudes toward China

The Lhasa riots in 2008 re-captured the world's attention on the Tibet problem. As China continues to grow as a rising power, it raises a concern over whether the perception of a rising China will affect how American people think about the Tibet problem. In this article, the authors apply public opinion data to evaluate this question. The results show that the perception of China's hard power or soft power has little influence on Americans' view of the Tibet problem, while factors of political values and China's policy stance matter greatly. Our findings suggest that the huge difference in political values between the PRC and the US makes it tough for both sides to agree on a resolution to the Tibet problem. In the long term, China needs to improve its human rights record and present itself as a responsible great power to win over the hearts of foreign publics rather than conduct a public relations campaign according to its own imagination.     

简论乌克兰民主与民族主义的互动博弈

近年来,乌克兰政治危机频发,与其民主政治转型密切相关——快速民主化进程带来治理困难的"弱民主",历史原因累积又造成两大主体民族俄罗斯族与乌克兰族的尖锐对立,族裔民族主义隐疾严重侵蚀民主政治的根基。那么,民主与民族主义的孪生关系究竟该如何界定,二者在现代国家构建的过程中又以何种方式进行互动运作,彼此之间的博弈冲突可否化解?鉴此,从乌克兰国家及民族历史背景出发,分析其作为多民族国家典型在现代化进程中民主与民族主义的关系,无疑是求解的有效途径。     

The China challenge: Theoretical perspectives and policy implications

Over the past few years there has been a heated debate in the West over the potential challenge of an increasingly strong and assertive China to the Asia‐Pacific region and to the world in general. This article offers a systematic analysis of the debate on China's emerging role in the international system and its security implications from the theoretical perspectives of realism and liberalism. While both international relations theories have provided valuable insights, neither of them alone is able to unravel the puzzle of whether a prosperous and powerful China will be a major force of stability or a threat to international peace. Drawing on the theory of trade expectations, this article shows the conditions under which high interdependence between China and its trading partners will lead to pacific or belligerent Chinese behavior. If Chinese decision‐makers’ expectations for future trade are high, they will be less likely to use force to deal with unresolved disputes with neighboring countries. If, however, they have a negative view of their future trading environment, they will be likely to take measures, including military actions, to remove any obstacles that might forestall the pursuit of great‐power status. For the moment, China's expectations of future trade are by and large optimistic, but there is evidence of growing Chinese suspicion of a Western ‘conspiracy’ to contain China which may alter Beijing's future perceptions. To ensure that the rise of China will not cause regional and global instability, the outside world should seek to integrate China into the international community by pursuing policies that will have a positive influence on China's expected value of trade. In the meantime, some elements of the balance of power strategy need to be introduced in order to curtail China's expected value of war.     

Economic change and political development in China: findings from a public opinion survey

More than 20 years of economic reforms and opening up to the outside world have produced meaningful social, economic and political transformations in China. Have there been corresponding changes in the political–cultural orientations1 ‘Orientations’ here and thereafter refer to a broad range of beliefs, values, and assumptions that people hold about social and political life. Such orientations may be cognitive, affective, or evaluative. They are general in the sense that they may structure more specific attitudes or opinions. *?Yanlai Wang is a research associate at the Euro–Asia Centre; Nicholas Rees is Jean Monnet Professor of European Institutions and External Relations; and Bernadette Andreosso‐O'Callaghan is Jean Monnet Professor of Economics and Director, Euro–Asia Centre, all at the University of Limerick, Ireland. We would like to thank the University of Limerick for funding the 2000 survey. We would also like to thank Professor Andrew J. Nathan and Professor Tianjian Shi for the use of their survey questionnaire, Gary O'Brien and the two anonymous referees for their comments on the paper. View all notes of the Chinese public? This article examines some changes in orientations, based on the preliminary findings of an opinion survey conducted in China in 2000. The 2000 survey used an adapted form of a questionnaire used in a survey conducted in 1990 by Nathan and Shi. The evidence of the 2000 survey data suggests that the political–cultural orientations of the Chinese public are becoming more liberal and pro‐democratic as China's economy continues to grow, possibly providing the basis for a transition to some form of popular democracy.     

Hong Kong in United States‐China relations: The international politics of Hong Kong's reversion to Chinese sovereignty

This article examines the implications of the political transition of Hong Kong on US‐China relations in strategic, political and economic dimensions. It evaluates the impact of Hong Kong's changing status in the context of the engagement‐containment debate on China policy in the US. It suggests that US concerns over questions such as democracy and human rights and China's rejection of foreign interference’ in Hong Kong would turn the territory into a source of political conflict between the US and China. Finally it points out that any major trade confrontation between the two countries would have serious implications for the territory. The article concludes by arguing that if Hong Kong could continue to be a prosperous and free society with a global outlook, it would facilitate China's integration with the global community, but if a reversion to authoritarian rule occurred in Hong Kong, US‐China relations will be aversely affected.     

Democratization without decentralization: Local government in Hong Kong

The literature on democratization tends to neglect the question of decentralization. The case of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China shows that there can be partial democratization without decentralization. Democratization in Hong Kong took place in the mid‐1980s and 1990s, when more directly elected seats were introduced to political institutions at the territorial, municipal and district levels. However, democratization has not been accompanied by an attempt to decentralize administrative and political power to the institutions at the local level. These political institutions, including the Urban Council (UrbCo), Regional Council (RegCo) and District Boards remain relatively weak vis‐à‐vis the executive branch of the government. The recent attempt by the HKSAR government to abolish the UrbCo and RegCo represents a move toward centralization of administrative and political power. Moreover, District Boards remain consultative and politically powerless. It is the dynamic relationship between democratization and decentralization at which future research should be directed.     

Domestic Openness in post-WTO China: central and local perspectives

This article seeks answers to three basic questions about the WTO's impact on domestic openness in China: is China a more open society as a result of its WTO membership; in what way has the WTO affected reform and openness; and, is WTO membership leading to political liberalization or translating into a demand for democracy as democracy advocates predicted? To this end, it identifies and analyzes the WTO-related reforms at central and local levels which have had the strongest impact thus far on openness to Chinese citizens. The analysis focuses on the reduction of the Party-state's control of economic activity as manifested in decreasing state monopoly and bureaucratic intervention in the sphere of economic activity, improved legal regulation, and increasing transparency of trade-related rules and rule-making. It argues that the varied depth and scope of the WTO's impact are attributable to differences in the congruence between the WTO principles and China's domestic political logic and the varying levels of effectiveness of external and internal pressure for change.     

Hong Kong redux

There are surprises ahead for both Hong Kong and the China of which it will become a part. This article focuses on how the reversion of Hong Kong will affect the future of politics in both societies. Even though rule by Beijing will change Hong Kong's commercial and political life, China will also be changed by having to deal with the emerging elite of Hong Kong and those persons from the mainland who have been educated in the West. This will not produce democracy in either Hong Kong or China but it will reduce the likelihood that China will become a hegemonic power in East Asia.     

The Constitutive Rhetoric of Democratic Centralism: a thematic analysis of Mao's discourse on democracy

Employing the theoretical framework of constitutive rhetoric, this paper explores Chinese conceptions of democracy by examining Mao Zedong's speeches and writings. This rhetorical examination seeks to show how democracy is understood, defined, and conceptualized in China. Several themes from Mao's most famous speeches and writings are discussed in the light of his concept of democratic centralism. The rhetorical analysis supports the notion that Chinese communism includes democracy, as purported by Mao; however, this culturally unique form of democracy (i.e. democratic centralism) does not match the representative form of democracy employed in the West. Understanding that democracy is conceptualized distinctly by Chinese communist followers of Mao may provide insight for future international studies and relations.     

China's good neighbor policy and its implications for Taiwan

Chinese leaders in recent years have been following a coherent policy toward Asia that emphasizes moderation and accommodation while preserving core PRC interests. China's prevailing ‘good neighbor’ policy approach—backed by improvement in US–China relations—provides important opportunities and challenges for Taiwan. It clearly inclines the PRC leaders to avoid more aggressive or harder‐line tactics in the mix of carrots and sticks that makes up China's recent approach toward Taiwan. To follow a more disruptive course would undermine the influence and advantage Beijing has been seeking with its ongoing moderate approach toward the United States and other Asian powers. The main challenge for Taiwan is how to deal with the current balance of carrots and sticks in China's policy. Much depends on the ability of Taiwan's leaders and populace to turn the prevailing balance in PRC policy to Taiwan's advantage. This presumably will involve reviving their economy, promoting effective governance and prudent defense, while consolidating relations with the United States and managing tensions in cross‐Strait relations to the advantage of Taiwan's future security and development. Unfortunately, there is no political consensus on Taiwan to mobilize domestic resources and opinion in a concerted effort to protect Taiwan's future as an entity independent of PRC control. Those outsiders who have followed with positive interest Taiwan's remarkable development over the past decades hope that Taiwan makes good use of the opportunities posed by China's good neighbor policy to adopt prudent and concrete measures beneficial to Taiwan's long range prospects.     

The Legitimacy Problem and Democratic Reform in Hong Kong

On 1 July 2003, over half a million Hong Kong people staged a mass protest against the poor governance of the post-handover Hong Kong government. The grievances of the marchers quickly snowballed into a widely backed movement for democracy. The subsequent record-breaking support for pro-democratic candidates during the local elections held on 23 November 2003 unnerved Beijing over its possible loss of control over Hong Kong. Beijing swiftly shifted to a hard-line approach, attempting to dampen the local democracy movement. This paper will expound the five fundamental causes of Hong Kong's broad-based demand for full democracy, analyse its type of democratic transition to illuminate its political dynamics, and highlight the parameters impacting its democratic development.     

The Rule of Law as Transition to Democracy in China

This paper assesses Pan Wei's proposal for a 'consultative rule of law system' for China, finding it a potentially important step along the path of political reform. China urgently needs political reform to deal with the rapidly mounting problems of corruption, abuse of power, financial scandals, rising crime and inequality, and declining legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party. A rule of law, with an independent judiciary and other autonomous institutions of horizontal accountability, is vital if China is to rein in these problems and deliver better, fairer, more transparent and effective governance. However, Pan Wei's proposed system goes only part of the way toward addressing the deficiencies of governance in China, and is therefore best viewed as a transitional framework. To work, horizontal accountability must be supplemented with and reinforced by vertical account ability, through competitive elections, which give local officials an incentive to serve the public good and enable bad officials to be removed by the people. Ultimately, I argue, China can only achieve adequate and enduring political accountability by moving toward democracy. Among the other issues addressed in the paper are the architecture and appointment of a system of horizontal accountability for China; the role of the Communist Party (or its successor hegemon) in a 'rule of law' system; and the timing and phasing of the transition to a rule of law.     

地方立法民主化的不足及完善

地方立法的民主化,是指地方立法主体和立法程序从较低程度的民主不断走向较高程度民主的一种动态过程。我国地方立法的民主化程度还较低,主要表现为地方立法主体和地方立法程序的民主性不足。推进我国地方立法的民主化,应不断加强地方立法主体的民主化建设,不断完善地方立法的公众参与机制。