2021.12.08 一党制为何阻碍了国家的发展

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The future of democracy
Cai Xia on why China’s one-party system holds back the country
Dictatorship undermines China’s development. It should move to a constitutional democracy, says a former member of the Chinese Communist Party

Dec 8th 2021

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The By-invitation section publishes commentaries by outside thinkers from a wide range of perspectives. For a view criticising liberal democracy and in favour of China’s governance, read a commentary by Eric Li. On the evil that comes from the absence of liberal democracy, read a commentary by Toomas Hendrik Ilves. More By-invitation pieces are here.

CHINA HAS “completed a process of industrialisation” that produced both economic growth and social stability, boasted the Chinese Communist Party in a “historical resolution” on November 11th. The party trumpeted that it was “pioneering a uniquely Chinese path to modernisation, creating a new model for human advancement”.


Although China’s economy is indeed impressive, people around the world should not be misled by its outward appearance. The reality is that Chinese society is fragile because of the country’s one-party dictatorship, and adopting democratic practices would strengthen it.

The “uniquely Chinese path”, as the party calls it, is nothing more than unfettered economic growth founded on little respect for human rights and lots of pollution. This predatory development has exhausted China’s resources, from its environment to its people. The economic miracle is only temporary, not sustainable. In the long run, the one-party system, by not allowing alternative views to be expressed openly, will be a disaster for China’s development and human society.

The party’s aim in developing the economy is not actually to benefit the people, but to use rapid growth to maintain internal stability. It grants favours and benefits to win over the public while enslaving it, in order to keep its grip on power. At the same time, the party has been beefing up its military capability and readiness for war, to compete with America for global hegemony and realise the ambitions of its leader, Xi Jinping.

The party and government have wantonly plundered private property. There is widespread corruption among party officials. It makes China one of the countries with the biggest gaps between rich and poor. All of this will lead to more tensions between the party and the people that will hold the country back.

Pathologies of one-party rule
After China launched its policy of reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, it received strong support from America, Japan, Europe and the four Asian tiger economies of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea. Many of their companies entered China, bringing advanced technology and sophisticated management practices, thus helping China cultivate the tech and talent it needed to modernise. The World Trade Organisation opened its door to China in 2001, providing easier access to a vast world market.

Future economic development, led by technology, requires China to strengthen friendly exchanges with countries around the world, especially developed ones. But the hegemonic nature of the one-party dictatorial system and its “wolf warrior” diplomacy, coupled with China’s unscrupulous theft of intellectual property, make many countries wary, pushing them to unite to resist the external expansion and bullying. It leaves China in a situation of being relatively isolated in the international community and lacking the external environment it needs for economic growth.


China’s growth itself has come at heavy social costs that democratic practices might have prevented. In order to develop quickly, the party did not hesitate to severely pollute the environment. This has caused “cancer villages” to appear in many parts of the country. The number of patients with serious diseases because of environmental degradation has risen sharply. Many people have become impoverished due to illness.

The party also used its governing powers to deprive Chinese labourers of their bargaining rights, resulting in a low cost of labour. This has been bad for people. Qin Hui, an outspoken Chinese historian, refers to this as a “‘comparative advantage’ [that] is not replicable without iron-fisted rule”. The interests of the vast majority of people in China have been seriously harmed, while the party has gained tremendous benefits.

Farmers go to cities for work leaving their children, resulting in more than 60m poor and helpless “left-behind children” in rural China. Their psychological and personality problems, as well as lack of healthy, normal lifestyles and good educational opportunities, cause huge difficulties. It makes it difficult to improve the young generation’s skills so they can meet the country’s needs.

Then there is innovation, the basis of future growth. An essential precondition for creativity is respect for human dignity, protection of basic human rights, and upholding freedom of thought and speech. For China’s economic development to continue, the country needs to follow the general trend of freedom and democracy in the world. However, the one-party system is fundamentally opposed to freedom and democracy. It is not only a huge obstacle to China’s development, but a catastrophe in terms of civil liberties.

The pillars of China’s one-party dictatorship are violence and terror, lies and deceit, coupled with strict surveillance. Since Mr Xi took office, he has made greater use of digital technologies to strengthen the party’s grip on the country. Officials have carried out a large-scale form of genocide in ethnic regions such as Xinjiang, the Tibetan plateau and Inner Mongolia.

In the rest of China, they have severely repressed citizens who resist totalitarian rule, sentencing them to imprisonment and torturing them. Under such violent terror, human free-will is suppressed and individual creativity is stifled. How can China succeed in the future if it crushes the spirit of its people today?

A need for democracy in China
In order to strengthen its control over society, intellectual life and culture, the party has strengthened the political and ideological standards that are required at every level of education, from elementary school to postgraduate work. As during the Qin dynasty, around 200 BC, today it enacts a modern version of book-burning and burying of scholars.

The party confiscates academic works published abroad, and forbids discussion of foreign academic ideas. Some universities do not even allow foreign-language departments to use foreign-language textbooks. This cutting off from the achievements of human civilisation will undoubtedly block the knowledge and intellectual horizons of Chinese youths, and make it harder to cultivate creative thinking. As a result, China will lack the talent it needs to lead in the future.

The one-party dictatorship is a major obstacle for China. It may even trigger unforeseen social or political disasters. Only by ending this totalitarian system of governance and moving towards a constitutional democracy will the country be on course for good and durable economic and social development.

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Cai Xia was a professor of political theory at the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing from 1998 to 2012. Since 2019 she has lived as in exile in America.




民主的未来
蔡霞谈中国的一党制为何阻碍了国家的发展
专制制度破坏了中国的发展。一位前中国共产党党员说，中国应该转向宪政民主。

2021年12月8日


副刊栏目刊登了外部思想家从不同角度发表的评论文章。关于批评自由民主、支持中国治理的观点，请阅读李克强的评论。关于缺乏自由民主所带来的罪恶，请阅读托马斯-亨德里克-伊尔维斯的评论文章。更多副刊文章请见这里。

中国共产党在11月11日的 "历史性决议 "中吹嘘说，中国已经 "完成了一个工业化进程"，产生了经济增长和社会稳定。该党吹嘘说，它正在 "开辟一条独特的中国现代化道路，为人类进步创造一个新的模式"。


虽然中国的经济确实令人印象深刻，但世界各地的人们不应该被它的外在形象所误导。现实情况是，由于中国的一党专政，中国社会是脆弱的，采用民主做法会加强它。

该党所称的 "独特的中国道路"，只不过是建立在不尊重人权和大量污染基础上的不受约束的经济增长。这种掠夺性的发展已经耗尽了中国的资源，从环境到人民。经济奇迹只是暂时的，不能持续。从长远来看，一党制不允许公开表达其他观点，将成为中国发展和人类社会的灾难。

党发展经济的目的实际上不是为了造福人民，而是利用快速增长来维持内部稳定。它在奴役民众的同时，给予民众好处和利益，以保持对权力的控制。同时，党一直在加强军事能力和战争准备，以便与美国争夺全球霸权，实现其领导人习近平的野心。

党和政府肆意掠夺私人财产。党的官员中普遍存在着腐败。这使中国成为贫富差距最大的国家之一。所有这些都将导致党和人民之间的关系更加紧张，从而拖国家的后腿。

一党执政的病态
中国在1970年代末推出改革开放政策后，得到了美国、日本、欧洲以及香港、台湾、新加坡和韩国等亚洲四小龙经济体的大力支持。他们的许多公司进入中国，带来了先进的技术和复杂的管理方法，从而帮助中国培养了现代化所需的技术和人才。2001年，世界贸易组织向中国敞开大门，为进入广阔的世界市场提供了便利。

以技术为主导的未来经济发展要求中国加强与世界各国，特别是发达国家的友好交流。但是，一党专政体制的霸权性质和 "狼性外交"，加上中国肆无忌惮地窃取知识产权，使许多国家心生警惕，促使它们联合起来抵制对外扩张和欺凌行为。这使得中国在国际社会中处于相对孤立的境地，缺乏经济增长所需的外部环境。


中国的增长本身也付出了沉重的社会代价，而这些代价也许是民主实践所能避免的。为了快速发展，党毫不犹豫地严重污染了环境。这导致了 "癌症村 "在中国的许多地方出现。由于环境恶化，患有严重疾病的病人数量急剧上升。许多人因疾病而变得贫穷。

党还利用其执政权力剥夺了中国劳工的谈判权，导致劳动力成本低廉。这对人民来说是不利的。直言不讳的中国历史学家秦晖将此称为 "没有铁腕统治就无法复制的'比较优势'"。中国绝大多数人的利益受到了严重损害，而党却获得了巨大的利益。

农民进城打工留下了他们的孩子，导致中国农村出现了6000多万贫穷无助的 "留守儿童"。他们的心理和人格问题，以及缺乏健康、正常的生活方式和良好的教育机会，造成巨大的困难。这使得提高年轻一代的技能，使他们能够满足国家的需求变得困难。

然后是创新，这是未来增长的基础。创造力的一个基本前提是尊重人的尊严，保护基本人权，维护思想和言论自由。为了使中国的经济发展继续下去，中国需要跟随世界上自由和民主的大趋势。然而，一党制与自由和民主从根本上是对立的。它不仅是中国发展的巨大障碍，而且是公民自由方面的一场大灾难。

中国一党专政的支柱是暴力和恐怖、谎言和欺骗，再加上严格的监控。自习近平先生上台以来，他更多地利用数字技术来加强党对国家的控制。官员们在新疆、西藏高原和内蒙古等民族地区进行了大规模的种族灭绝。

在中国其他地区，他们严厉镇压反抗极权主义统治的公民，将他们判处监禁并施以酷刑。在这种暴力恐怖下，人的自由意志被压制，个人创造力被扼杀。如果中国今天压制了其人民的精神，未来如何能成功？

中国对民主的需求
为了加强对社会、知识生活和文化的控制，党加强了从小学到研究生的每一级教育所要求的政治和意识形态标准。如同公元前200年左右的秦朝，今天它颁布了现代版的焚书坑儒。

该党没收了在国外出版的学术著作，并禁止讨论外国学术思想。一些大学甚至不允许外语系使用外语教科书。这种与人类文明成果的隔绝，无疑会阻断中国青年的知识和智力视野，使其更难培养创造性思维。因此，中国将缺乏未来所需的领导人才。

一党专政是中国的一个主要障碍。它甚至可能引发无法预料的社会或政治灾难。只有结束这种极权主义的管理制度，走向宪政民主，国家才能走上良好和持久的经济和社会发展道路。

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蔡霞于1998年至2012年在北京的中共中央党校担任政治理论教授。自2019年起，她以流亡者身份生活在美国。