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Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
Time to celebrate and to ponder
By John Gong |
September 30, 2009, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Economist's coverage of China's 60th founding anniversary in the September 5th issue starts with, "In the West many people retire at 60. China's Communist Party is still going strong."
Its writer forgot another popular saying current in the West: Life begins at 60. The People's Republic of China has gone a long way to transforming a backward, impoverished, politically disintegrated and economically colonial China before 1949 into a powerhouse commanding today's status among the world of nations.
The list of economic achievements and the speed at which citizens' living standard is elevated defies textbook growth economics theories so much that a new branch of the field called the "China phenomenon" has been created for further research.
Tomorrow, the whole nation will be in a joyous mood to throw a lavish party. However, in moments of jollity and fanfare, it is also time to ponder the challenges lying ahead. The young republic still faces many problems. At a strategic level, two issues stand out.
First comes environmental protection. Thomas Friedman, the renowned columnist and writer, likens, in his Sunday's New York Times op-ed article, the Chinese government's strategic decision to go green to the Soviet Union's 1957 launch of Sputnik, which stunned America and consequently spurred the Kennedy and Johnson administrations to make massive investments in science, education, and infrastructure projects.
The response to the Sputnik launch ultimately led to the successful landing of American astronauts on the moon.
Of course, China has no intention to stun anyone in her determination to go green. "Going green" is nature's call upon all nations, a call that must be answered now if mankind is to survive. China must embrace a low-carbon life. It's simply undesirable for the Chinese to follow the "American dream" of having everyone own a gas-guzzler.
China's great emphasis on an environmentally conscious growth strategy is laudable. But as the saying goes, the devil is in the details, and how to go about implementing this strategy remains a great challenge. Environmental protection authorities may need to have a greater veto power on potentially highly polluting projects.
Next on the list is corruption. The Communist Party of China promises to promote people's democracy by improving inner-Party democracy - guaranteeing all Party members' democratic rights to know, to participate in, to vote on and to supervise all Party internal affairs.
The National People's Congress is reportedly drafting legislation about personal property disclosure requirements by government officials. Both are solid steps in the right direction.
Confucius said that good politics was about having right-minded persons as leaders. Baron Acton said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. China should and can absorb the best of Chinese and Western political wisdom to build up a check-and-balance system led by right-minded persons who have only the people's interests in mind.
(The author is associate professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics. His email: johngong@gmail.com)
Its writer forgot another popular saying current in the West: Life begins at 60. The People's Republic of China has gone a long way to transforming a backward, impoverished, politically disintegrated and economically colonial China before 1949 into a powerhouse commanding today's status among the world of nations.
The list of economic achievements and the speed at which citizens' living standard is elevated defies textbook growth economics theories so much that a new branch of the field called the "China phenomenon" has been created for further research.
Tomorrow, the whole nation will be in a joyous mood to throw a lavish party. However, in moments of jollity and fanfare, it is also time to ponder the challenges lying ahead. The young republic still faces many problems. At a strategic level, two issues stand out.
First comes environmental protection. Thomas Friedman, the renowned columnist and writer, likens, in his Sunday's New York Times op-ed article, the Chinese government's strategic decision to go green to the Soviet Union's 1957 launch of Sputnik, which stunned America and consequently spurred the Kennedy and Johnson administrations to make massive investments in science, education, and infrastructure projects.
The response to the Sputnik launch ultimately led to the successful landing of American astronauts on the moon.
Of course, China has no intention to stun anyone in her determination to go green. "Going green" is nature's call upon all nations, a call that must be answered now if mankind is to survive. China must embrace a low-carbon life. It's simply undesirable for the Chinese to follow the "American dream" of having everyone own a gas-guzzler.
China's great emphasis on an environmentally conscious growth strategy is laudable. But as the saying goes, the devil is in the details, and how to go about implementing this strategy remains a great challenge. Environmental protection authorities may need to have a greater veto power on potentially highly polluting projects.
Next on the list is corruption. The Communist Party of China promises to promote people's democracy by improving inner-Party democracy - guaranteeing all Party members' democratic rights to know, to participate in, to vote on and to supervise all Party internal affairs.
The National People's Congress is reportedly drafting legislation about personal property disclosure requirements by government officials. Both are solid steps in the right direction.
Confucius said that good politics was about having right-minded persons as leaders. Baron Acton said that absolute power corrupts absolutely. China should and can absorb the best of Chinese and Western political wisdom to build up a check-and-balance system led by right-minded persons who have only the people's interests in mind.
(The author is associate professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics. His email: johngong@gmail.com)
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