CHINA’S National People’s Congress now under way is not a forum where anything reflecting the government’s drawbacks are debated, but it should increasingly serve as a time for soul searching for the government as times change and it becomes difficult to hold on to the strict one party control over everything inside the borders.
Beijing is no doubt not too far from becoming the centre of the world’s attention as China’s ascent to superpower status draws nearer every time it posts theory defying high growth, but certain mechanisms of the country’s ruling ethics are in crying need of transformation if the rise is to be facilitated, not retarded.
It goes without saying that China has done best among emerging economies on the economic front. Its gains on the income distribution front have been faster and bigger than almost all contemporaries, most of whom are still stuck with the discredited trickle down theory. Rising inflation, now a global phenomenon, is something that amicable policies can arrest before it get truly out of control. Where China really needs to pull its socks up is implementation social and political philosophy from a by-gone era, something that must change for progress to be evenly spread, especially since people are the prime engines of progress in the new world.
They way Chinese authorities attempt to control dissent or even mild difference of opinion is not fitting for a rising power like Beijing. With Olympics coming its way, it will have to live up to some of its human rights specific pledges, making for a fine time to loosen the strong choke hold on the public’s social and political opinion. No doubt authorities need to exercise caution that too sudden a change does not encourage unruly elements up to no good, but that controlled opinion is not going to last much longer is granted. The People’s Congress should live up to its name and accommodate more of people’s opinions.
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