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Beijing’s confidence in its political model is growing. Photo: Xinhua

Communist Party No 3 hails superiority of ‘Chinese democracy’ and warns against Western influences

  • Comments by Li Zhanshu, head of the country’s top legislative body, are seen as a sign of Beijing’s growing confidence in its political model
  • It is the first time a senior party leader has called for members to ‘tell the story of China’s democracy’ and signals a rhetorical shift
Xi Jinping
China should resolutely resist “erosive” political Western influences such as multi-party elections and an independent judiciary and “tell the story of China’s democracy” well, the chairman of the country’s top legislative body said on Saturday.
“We need to learn from the beneficial achievements of foreign political civilisations, but we must not abandon the fundamentals of China’s political system,Li Zhanshu, chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, said during a parliamentary meeting in Beijing.

“We should resolutely oppose, resist and prevent the erosive influence of so-called ‘constitutionalism’, multi-party elections, the tripartite system, the bicameral system and the independence of the judiciary in the West,” said Li, the number three in the Communist Party’s hierarchy.

Li Zhanshu (left) made the comments at a meeting of the NPC’s Standing Committee in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

“We should strengthen theoretical research and the propaganda interpretation of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics and the People’s Congress system, and tell good stories about China’s democracy.”

Analysts said that this is the first time a senior leader has used the phrase “telling the story of China’s democracy”, showing China’s confidence in the intensifying ideological confrontation with the United States.

Beijing has showed increasing confidence in the superiority of its political system after it contained the Covid-19 pandemic, revived the economy and declared that it had eradicated extreme poverty.

The contrast with the slow pandemic response and political chaos in the West has promoted talks among government officials and state media about how “the East is rising and the West declining” to describe Beijing’s view of a post-pandemic world.

Xie Maosong, a political scientist at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said top leaders had made similar remarks in the past, such as referring to “the story of Chinese-style democracy”.

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Xie said this “looks much the same, but in fact, there are subtle differences, now they will just say ‘telling the story of China’s democracy’, which is more precise and straightforward, and more confident”.

“What all this means is that China’s leaders believe that democracy in China is real democracy, whole-process democracy, that fulfils commitments.

“It is not a fake democracy where Western politicians make high-profile promises during election campaigns and then don’t deliver afterward. China is now confident that its democracy is real compared to the fake democracy of the West,” Xie said.

05:27

‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’ explained

‘Socialism with Chinese characteristics’ explained

He also demanded that those present “create a more distinctive presentation of the Chinese story and the ideological and spiritual power behind it”.

China’s top leaders will hold a key meeting in Beijing early next month to adopt a resolution on the Communist Party’s “major achievements and historical experience” in the 100 years since the party was founded.

It will be important for Xi to reinforce the official narrative of the party’s rule and his leadership status ahead of the major power reshuffle next year.

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“As President Xi Jinping said, democracy is a value shared by all humanity, not just the Western countries. China will tell more stories of its own democracy,” Xie added.

“But this project is not so fast, it will not be done with great fanfare in the short term, because for now the biggest focus is the upcoming sixth plenary session, and everything has to make way for it.”

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Senior party leader praises China’s ‘real democracy’
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