LettersThe Chinese Communist Party has done great. Is it the same as doing right?

In the letter “Why the Chinese Communist Party’s rule could be seen as democratic” (December 19), your correspondent makes a solid point. They note that although the Communist Party is classified as a political dictatorship by virtue of being the only governing authority in China, it is nevertheless supported by the majority of the Chinese people.

The Communist Party has been able to win the people’s hearts by achieving not merely great, but tremendous, economic growth. No one could deny this feat of party leadership. The party has been and is brave, decisive and innovative. But democratic?

Your correspondent emphasises that the Communist Party has solved problems in the country by listening to the wants and needs of its people. Certainly, the party has done a great job in addressing many issues, even better than Western countries. But doing great is not the same as doing right. Democracy can never be compensated for by other achievements. Why use successes to excuse deficiencies?

Let’s not forget that on the mainland, Chinese citizens have to use VPN services to visit overseas websites, while sensitive topics are blocked on the Chinese internet. If you search “Peng Shuai” on the Chinese search engine Baidu or the social media platform Weibo, you find absolutely nothing related to the recent events the tennis player has been involved in. Chinese netizens who know and want to talk about this online have resorted to slang and code-words.