Editorial

‘The Middle-Income Kingdom’

To attain ‘The Middle-income kingdom’ status hopefully by 2020 while vigorously pursuing market philosophy coupled with the active intervention of the government’s visible hand, not ‘invisible hand’ as it is the case in western model, was the central message of CPC’s 18th Congress. And they call this market socialism or socialism with Chinese characteristics. Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chinese President, in his customary report at the opening ceremony of the 18th CPC National Congress in Beijing on November 8, didn’t take much time to finish his last address as party chief as it was all about the oft-repeated Chinese swan song of growth and growth. In truth he reiterated what he said at the 17th CPC National Congress in 2007 where he stated that ‘the core objective for the party remained, as it had been for the last three decades since reform and opening up started in 1978, to deliver economic growth’. The week-long jamboree was a lack-lustre affair in terms of political and ideological orientation, albeit over 2300 delegates elected by more than 82 million party members attended the CPC’s highest summit that elected new leadership for the next five years. The very figures may send shivers down the spines of China’s enemy! Quite expectedly the Congress got wide international focus as a total of 2,732 Chinese and foreign journalists were there to cover the ‘Chinese miracle’, thanks to Chinese hospitality. The West was not disappointed. Nor was Uncle Sam dissatisfied with the outcome of the future road map for China’s market drive. Hu’s speech was free from any communist jargon. Even harmless hegemonism, not to speak of imperialism and all that was absent. He just mentioned once Marxism-Leninism-Mao tse tung thought as a passing reference. The underlying theme of the Congress was to elaborately highlight China’s growth pattern and glorify ‘the guidelines of the Deng Xiaoping Theory’, ‘the important thought of there represents’ and the ‘scientific outlook of development’. Hu was very much optimistic about the possibility of China becoming a middle-income country in a decade or so.

No doubt China’s capitalist achievement or what is called ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’, in the past 30 years, especially the rapid growth in the last decade, despite global recession and melt-down in America, has stunned the world. The Chinese leaders never forget to derive comfort from the fact that they are now the world’s second longest economy, dilodging Japan from that coveted position, smoothly but silently.

It was truly CPC’s 18th National Congress because nationalism, not internationalism, dominated every branch of the political discourse at the meet of the highest leading body of China’s ruling party. Nobody uttered a word or two about proletarian internationalism and working class solidarity. The word revolution was totally absent in Hu’s report.

As for western brand of multi-party democracy they once again categorically said ‘No’. In other words one party rule, rather dictatorship will continue. What they mentioned about multi-party cooperation and political consultation system under the umbrella of CPC is just an apology of multi-party culture. Apart from CPC, they say, there are eight political groupings, one being China Zhi Gong Party, having a minister in the Chinese cabinet. Maybe, they are more like fellow-travellers of CPM-led Left Front. It’s one area where Chinese reformists differ from their Western and American friends who are too impatient to see China joining the western club of multi-party democracy as early as possible.

If Russia can do it—western model of multi-party parliamentary system—China too will be able to abandon its dogma and join the international main-stream. The process may be delayed but it cannot be delayed for long as the composition of CPC has undergone drastic changes over the years.

Among all the delegates to the 18th CPC National Congress, there were just 169 workers. This time there was a substantial increase of delegates from the business community. 131 delegates came from the Central Government owned big companies while twenty-seven private sector owners were very much present at the session. After all these people went there not to strengthen Marxism-Leninism, even of Chinese kind. It is not known how many billionaires graced the occasion as China now quite often boasts of 200 billionaires as per latest Forbes statistics.

Indian communists who continue to seek solace from their Chinese big brothers in the field of theory and practice, look disinterested still in seeing the ugly side of China’s market socialism! And this ‘market socialism’ means growing social inequality despite 8 percent growth in 2008 and over 10 percent annually from 2009 to 2011 against a gloomy global scenario of recession and sluggish growth in Europe and America. China still has 150 million people living in abject poverty, on less than $2 per day. How to address the imbalance between the rich and the poor was hardly touched by Hu in his secretary report.

Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 25, Dec 30-Jan 5, 2013

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