China and political reform

China is a big, sprawling country with a vast array of problems and challenges ahead of it. By any measure, it has done pretty well over the past two decades in improving the lives of its citizenry. Hundreds of millions of people have been lifted from poverty.

They have greater choice than ever in how and where they live, and where they find jobs.

The spread of economic and personal freedoms far outpace political changes, though, and it is common for Chinese intellectuals to take a position on whether the country stands ready for greater political change.

Those of us who live in China often hear arguments on why China is not ready for democracy, as we know it in the West. Here is a compendium of eight reasons often bandied about on why democracy is not suitable for China. The person who compiled the list and put it on the internet in Chinese obviously doesn’t agree. But when I stumbled across this translation, I thought it was useful grist for the mill.

1. Chinese culture is just not suitable for democracy.
2. People talk of western democracy and U.S. democracy as if they were moon cakes that come in Suzhou variety, Guangdong variety, etc. But democracy is a social science that takes no account of different nature just as science is international.
3. Democracy is just the road to chaos and division. What happened in the Soviet Union is a good example.
4. Just compare China and India. People who do this think that India is far poorer than China and use it to prove that democracy is not suitable for China.
5. Chinese people are just too vulgar.
6. China is already reforming and is already moving towards democracy. Some privileged people use this theory to block criticism and protect their own interests. In fact the people of the world know that Chinese reform only means economic reform.
7.  The democratic inside but dictator outside theory. These people say, U.S. democracy is fine but it is only for the U.S. and it isn't ours. Saying that U.S. democracy is good can't help China any.
8.  Democracy is the moral equivalent of betraying China. That is because democracy activists often receive international support.