China's history of feudalism feeds corruption and undermines law, editor says
Deputy chief at Communist Party mouthpiece says major graft cases point to odious tradition
An article penned by a deputy editor of Communist Party mouthpiece blames a "feudal tradition" for breeding corruption and undermining the implementation of "rule of law".
Citing the graft cases of four senior officials, the online commentary by Xie Guoming said the downfalls underscored the "odious feudal tradition that political power can supersede law". Those fallen officials were former security tsar Zhou Yongkang, former Central Military Commission vice-chairman Xu Caihou, former United Front Department chief Ling Jihua and former Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference vice-chairman Su Rong.
The online commentary was published by the , a magazine affiliated with
Xie's commentary echoes many historians' view that China - with its long history of feudal rule by emperors - lacks a tradition that respects the rule of law.
He wrote that in China, "party leaders' oral instructions are superior to their written instructions, and their written instructions are superior to party and government documents, and party and government documents are superior to the law and regulations".
The National People's Congress Standing Committee could flagrantly change laws passed by the congress even though doing so violated law-making procedures, Xie wrote. "If even the legislature can take the lead in [violating laws] and making reckless changes to the laws, then how about the other judicial and law-enforcement bodies?"
At the fourth party plenum in November, the party leadership pledged to promote rule by law in China and said all party and government organs should abide by the constitution and law.
Xie criticised the advocation of Chinese "legalism" as a way to promote rule by law. "Legalism" and "Confucianism" are two main schools of governance that have long dominated China's history.
"Legalism just means using the law to govern the people, not to restrict power," Xie wrote.
Experts said China's version of legalism emphasised harsh punishments to keep officials under control and dominate citizens.
Legalists saw the law as a tool for despots to hold on to power, whereas the Western concept of "rule of law" underscored the protection of citizens' rights and individual liberty.
Xie said Chinese legalism had not yet developed into a modern day "legal system and rule of law tradition".
"In China's several-thousand-year history of feudalist dictatorship, there has been rule by man but not rule of law; there have been laws but not rule of law; there has been emphasis on power but not on rights; and there has been legal theory but not the spirit of rule of law," Xie wrote.
