China Council #43, July - September, 1991 Who Says China Can't be Democratic? hina's political problems are so immense that current generation. Such perspective correctly point Cmany observers doubt that its government can to the enormous difficulty of changing feudal ways of ever become democratic. Since 1911 governments in thinking, including paternalism, the lack of individu- China have used the language of democracy to legiti- alism, and powerful group loyalties. mize their power, but China is still not a democratic nation. However, although democratizing China is a However such analyses fail to recognize that West- difficult project, it is not an impossible one, even ern culture once posed similar obstacles, yet they when we review some of the obstacles to Chinese were overcome. Consider the political theories of democracy from the perspective of the West's own John Locke, who wrote in the 17th century after the political history. English Revolution. Locke is known today as a theo- rist of the relationship between individuals and a 1. Many hold that the power of the Chinese state state created by a social contract. Yet in Locke's great and Chinese Communist Party are a fundamental work, The Two Treatises on Government, the world of hindrance. In the West, however, the rise of democ- triumphant individualism did not yet exist. Locke racy paralleled a process of increasing state authority wrote expressly to refute the then-popular work of that confronted critical public problems and Sir Robert Filmer, who argued for absolutism on the removed the anarchy of competing power centers. basis of patriarchal authority. In a formula familiar to Scholars talk about the" pacification" of disorderly any twentieth century Chinese, Filmer argued that societies as a precondition for the emergence of West- the family was the model for the state: follow your ern democracy. The West's strong states were father-king's orders and all will be well with the restricted by civil rights protections for their citizens, world. Locke and other early Western democratic by legal systems, by parliaments, or by written and theorists lived in a time when most people held pro- unwritten constitutions. Simply to weaken political foundly undemocratic beliefs, hostile to individual authority in China is unlikely to bring about a more liberty. China today is no worse than Europe three democratic order. However, strengthening the rights centuries ago. European culture changed; there is no of citizens, while retaining the state's political capac- reason to believe that Chinese culture, a marvelously ity to transform an impoverished nation, is a nar- resilient system of values, will not change as well. rower and more feasible task 3. China's poverty is an obvious disadvantage. 2. Traditional Chinese culture is also frequently Although examples such as Nazi Germany and blamed. Many Chinese intellectuals accept the analy- Kuwait remind us that national prosperity does not sis of the popular television documentary, River guarantee democracy, nonetheless it is extremely dif- Elegy: reformist and revolutionary movements batter ficult to develop democracy where people lack ade- in vain against traditional culture, which repeatedly quate food, shelter and education. For China, the rises from the grave to wreak destruction upon the problem is even more serious, as recent strategies for 1 China Council Quarterly industrialization rest upon participation in an inter- reluctant to play an active role (in the 1989 demon- national economic regime in which China sells prod- strations) because he had been saddened by witness- ucts made by a low-wage, disciplined work force. ing the previous short-lived student movements and This strategy may not be easily compatible with realized that most of them were manipulated by the greater democracy. Pressures to increase wages and factions within the Communist Party for their own workers' rights may well undercut China's competi- ends." The fear of manipulation is reasonable. But tive advantage and be resisted by the government, only by running this risk can activists ever manipu- perhaps forcefully. Certainly the 1989 violence fell late factions within the Party. Real democracy is harder on workers than on students as Beijing's lead- never tidy; Chinese activists who wait for a pure ers demonstrated their intolerance of social disorder. democracy, untarnished by involvement with unsa- vory powerholders, will wait a long time. Although China's outward-looking strategy for over- coming its poverty may make the government less 5. Less often mentioned is a naive veneration of tolerant of democratic demands, this strategy none- American political institutions. American politics theless demands systematic bonds to the outside look pretty good to Chinese democrats, but conversa- world, some of which encourage the flow of new tions in China reveal an impressively starry-eyed ideas and information. The most important of these idealization of our system of government. Many outside ties are to Hong Kong and Taiwan. Despite Americans are aware of our shortcomings in living the Beijing massacre, trends to reunify China con- up to our own democratic ambitions; for example, tinue. Hong Kong's reunion in 1997 is fixed, for bet- fewer than half the eligible voters participated in the ter or worse. Taiwan has intensified its investment in last presidential election, and other elections are the mainland while slackening its resistance to deal- decided by even smaller minorities. Our powerful ing with the Communist government. Taiwan, Hong lobbies and pressure groups are notoriously biased Kong and the People's Republic now have demo- toward the wealthy. The United States is not alone in cratic movements, each developed in response to falling short. No existing democratic government is local conditions. These movements are in a position without serious blemish. But if an unrealistic perfec- to share information and tactics as they strive to tion is demanded, there is little recourse but cyni- democratize a China which is increasingly unified cism and passivity when the governments of economically even as it remains separated politically. Denmark, Kerala or Wisconsin turn out to practice an imperfect democracy. Democracy is more usefully 4. Many believe that social and economic turmoil regarded not as an end, but as a process. Democracy accompanying rapid change is harmful to demo- may be seen to be under constant challenge in all cratic development. In the West, democracy devel- nations. To insist on a rigid dichotomy between dem- oped over long periods of intense social conflict. ocratic and undemocratic nations encourages smug- When political elites were divided, one faction often ness by citizens of the former and despair by those triumphed temporarily by making concessions to of the latter. previously disenfranchised classes of citizens. China's continuing conflict may provide ordinary cit- I do not want to be a Pollyanna: China's problems izens opportunities to force greater democracy upon are grave, and democratization is a difficult job, their elites in the course of political struggles. achievable only after many years of struggle. Yet it is feasible. Nothing about China, its culture, or its citi- Some of China's democratic activists want to imple- zens makes democracy a hopelessly ambitious goal. ment democracy as a complete and perfect system, avoiding involvement in less pure politics altogether. Richard Kraus This is understandable but somewhat unrealistic. For instance, Hou Xiaotian, wife of jailed dissident Wang Juntao, recently wrote that her husband "was _SP_E_C_IA_L_E_V_E_N_T_S __ ~ China Council Quarterly Get Back Into Chinese: 5 Week Summer Published by the Northwest Regional China Council. Review P.O. Box 751 Portland, Oregon 97207 (503) 725-4567 Class will be repeated in four sessions: Acting Editor: Lois Baker Janzer. Wednesday mornings, July lO-August 7,9-11 AM Published quarterly. Thursday evenings, July ll-August 14(exceptfor August 1), 7-9 PM 2 China Council Quarterly Wednesday mornings, August 28-September 25, 9- government policy, and, if so, should it use MFN or 11 AM some other means? How will ending MFN for China Thurp~ evenings, August 29-September 26, 7-9 affect Oregon and the US? PSU, Smith Center, room 28 Giving brief presentations of their views will be a Cost is $50, members; $75, non-members diverse group of speakers, including Nike,Inc. Presi- dent Richard Donahue, who will have just returned his five week review of Chinese through the from China; Consul Li Wenqun of the Commercial Tintermediate level (roughly equivalent to two section of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco; a years of college level Chinese) is designed for those representative of the Hong Kong Government; Gao who need a quick review to get them back into Hong, Northwest representative of the Independent speaking or reading/ writing Chinese. Meant for Chinese Students and Scholars Fede ation;Richard those who will be reviewing through this level Suttmeier, political scientist, University of Oregon; rather than learning the material for the first time, and Marc Thomas, Amnesty International, who has sessions will be kept small, from 4----8 students. No worked with several Chinese seeking political asy- English will be used in class. lum because of their activities during the 1989 Yang Feng, an enthusiastic and experienced teacher democracy movement. from Wuhan who has won several awards in China We are also inviting the Oregon Congressional dele- for developing innovative teaching methods, will gation, and representatives of the B sh Administra- teach the class. Jonathan Pease, head of the Chinese tion and Hong Kong Government. Mark Sidel of department at PSU, will consult. Lewis & Clark Law School will moderate. The Material from A Guide to Proper Usage of Spoken Chi- forum is co-sponsored with the International Trade nese (Chinese University Press) and Everyday Chinese Institute. (New World Press) will be used, and can be obtained by calling the China Council office (725-4567).