China Tells Bush To Mind His Own Business

by Antoaneta Bezlova

(IPS) BEIJING -- Hosting President George W. Bush on the weekend, Chinese leaders went along with his democracy rhetoric and even agreed to embark on a dialogue on human rights, but analysts say they have other ideas too.

Beijing's overall aim, the analysts caution, remains the modernization of the communist party and the upholding of its monopoly on political power, rather than the completion of a "journey towards greater freedom,' as suggested by Bush.

Chinese leaders believe that maintaining strong economic growth, while improving the efficiency of the communist party, will retain the loyalty of the population in the face of tens of thousands of protests that have taken place across the country in recent months, many sparked by complaints about corruption and local abuse.

Beijing commissioned researchers from several academic bodies to study what communist ideologues here have termed as "democracy recession" or the ways political liberalization and democracy undermine economic developments in a country.

"Drawing on examples from developments in Russia and the Philippines, for instance, their (the researchers') aim is to strengthen Beijing's hand in maintaining the one-party political rule by proving political liberalization erodes economic achievements," said Bates Gill, a China scholar from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in Washington.

The research was undertaken after Bush unveiled his "democracy agenda," in his inauguration speech for his second term in office, in January. Then, he vowed to expand freedom and end tyranny around the world and declared that a country's adherence to basic democratic principles would define Washington's relationship with it.

"These idealistic pledges, however, run counter to the pragmatic policy that Washington now adopts toward China," argues Zhang Lijun, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Chinese analysts typically insist that with China's robust economic development and its emergence as a global world player, U.S.-China relationship has become so intertwined and complex that not a single issue, like democracy or human rights, can come to dominate or determine its overall course.

Chinese President Hu Jintao was quick to fend off Bush's demands for more rapid democratic reforms. During a speech made on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (APEC) in Pusan, South Korea, last week, he described his country as one that is still struggling to become a developed economy and also one that needs to observe its own pace and ways of liberalization.

"Despite great progress in its economic development, China remains the biggest developing country in the world with a large population, weak economic foundation and uneven development," Hu told APEC leaders. "There is a long way to go before we realise modernization and common prosperity."

He added: "We should respect the right of all countries to independently choose their own development paths."

His comment came a day after a tour-defining speech on the spread of freedom and democracy, made by Bush in the Japanese city of Kyoto. Bush pointedly held up Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, as an example of an open society that has made significant economic progress in Asia and called on Chinese leaders to emulate it.

The spate of words between the two presidents continued in Beijing where Bush told Hu that China must grant its citizens broader freedom. "It is important that social, political and religious freedoms grow in China. And we encourage China to continue making the historic transition to greater freedom," he said.

Hu brushed off criticism, saying: "It is inevitable for China and the U.S. to have different views on some issues. The two countries have different history, culture and domestic situation."

In the months since Bush unveiled the 'democracy agenda,' Chinese communist leaders have made clear their intention not to pursue political changes that might reduce the power of the ruling communist party.

In a white paper titled "The Building of Political Democracy in China," released in October, the government defended the accomplishments of communist rule in bringing unity, stability and prosperity to the world's most populous nation.

But it also firmly rejected the idea that China might ever adopt the sort of multi-party democracy, now practiced in many developed countries, including the ones from the former Soviet bloc.

China can "learn from the experiences and the achievements of the political civilizations of other countries. But it must not copy any model of other countries," the white paper said.

In recent months, Beijing has staunchly pursued means of bringing independent thinking and reporting under control.

Chinese censors have tightened restrictions on Internet and local media. A brake has also been put on a proposal to allow foreign newspapers to print copies in the country because of the role the press played in revolutions in the former Soviet bloc.

Last week, Shi Zongyuan, head of the General Administration of Press and Publication, pointed to the toppling of governments in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan as a reason for abandoning the plan.

"The 'color revolutions' were a reminder not to let saboteurs into the house and that the door must be closed, so we have closed it temporarily," Shi told the Financial Times, one of the newspapers that would have been printing in China.

To avoid its own 'color revolution,' Beijing has also cracked down on non-governmental organizations (NGOs), believed instrumental in carrying out popular uprisings in the former republics.

A new regulation offering more freedom to Chinese NGOs, that was initially expected by the end of this year, has now been put on the backburner. Instead, the ministry of civil affairs has stopped processing registration applications for the launch of new civil groups, effectively putting a lid on expansion of civil society.

A decision by Hu to rehabilitate Hu Yaobang (the two are not related), a one-time reformist leader whose liberal polices resulted in his removal from office in 1987, was also used as a carefully controlled occasion to increase the party's popularity.

Commemorations for the birth of the late party leader, who remains popular and whose death in 1989 helped precipitate the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, were carried out Nov.18.

The memorial was choreographed to associate the current party leaders with the late popular party figure, while carefully drawing the line of not advocating his liberal policies.

In attendance, notably, were Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice-President Zeng Qinghong--the number two and number three leaders in China's communist party hierarchy, but not the party chief Hu himself.