In Defense of China’s System of Government

In an editorial today, the Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party’s international news source, criticizes the Western media for over-simplifying in its coverage of Chinese ethnic unrest and other problems.  It represents an interesting inside view of how Chinese elites see themselves. 

They have a point about Western coverage.  The belief in the superiority of multi-party democracies is so ingrained in Western thought that it is taken for granted that the Chinese one-party state is a totalitarian dictatorship.  Clearly, the Chinese system has its problems and human rights are often disregarded.  But I am struck with how much political turmoil exists in China.  This ferment does suggest something other than totalitarianism exists in China.

Here are some excerpts from the editorial, which is worth reading in its entirety:

Once something bad happens in China, they simply blame China’s political system. In their eyes, it is inevitable for such a “backward and flawed” political system to have problems. With no change in the system, China and its government can never solve these problems….

….Actually, China’s current political system, in the past decades, has made remarkable achievements in developing the economy, improving the well-being of the Chinese people of all 56 ethnic groups, and promoting the country’s role in the international community. China’s governmental system was the practical choice of the Chinese people and revolutionaries after a long search and struggle….

….Any country, including Western countries, cannot be free of social and ethnic problems in its development. Serious social problems such as racial issues and the high rate of crime are rife in the US and other Western countries…

…It is time for the Western media to take an objective approach toward understanding and explaining China’s problems and changes, one which is less simplistic and more open-minded.