China IS Discussing Egypt: Reactions from the Chinese Blogosphere

China Elections and Governance has translated and summarized a number of blog posts in Chinese about events in Egypt. From a post by journalist and commentator Zhang Wen:

Mubarak has already stated that he wants to expand democracy [in Egypt] and that he also wants to make sure that this democratic remedy is suitable for the Egyptian digestion and is not too hasty. This type of statement is, of course, “true,” [but at the same time] proves extremely confusing, as this is often the type of excuse rulers offer in order to delay a transfer of power. People’s ability to adapt to democracy must be tested through democratic practices, and cannot remain the decision of the any one person—certainly not that of the ruler.

For example, in China, those peasants who are “low-quality” and “most unsuited to carrying out democratic procedures” were the first to experiment with democratic elections through direct elections of village heads. After 20 years of these direct elections, the cool breeze of democracy still blows only in China’s rural areas, not in the urban areas most suited for democracy. Even now, there are still people who will claim that the low quality of Chinese people is not suited for democracy, echoing faint words that a Chinese democracy would bring about chaos.

Democracy is a good thing—this isn’t even any longer a matter of debate, as the majority of Chinese people have already reached a consensus. But how to implement this good thing in China, and to what extent to implement it remain questions that still need to be resolved. Judging from the statements of the ruling authorities, one could conclude that China is not fully ideologically prepared for democracy. This can be seen from the organized public criticism of the concept of “universal values.”

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