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China news tagged with: notable quotes (31)

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Top 10 Darnedest Things Officials Said in 2009
Another top ten list worth reading: China Daily’s list of Top 10 darnedest things officials said in 2009. From the Editor’s Notes:
Officials in China are a special breed. They tend to be restrained when facing the press and stick to the scripted lines. But occasionally they can be caught off guard and make some of the most unusual remarks one can expect from public servants, including those that are funny, annoying, ironic or simply heartless. You can laud them for speaking their minds, or you can criticize them for their big mouth, but you cannot deny that these retorts, rebuttals and asides add much needed color to an otherwise drab portrait of Chinese officialdom.
1. “We are of high-level positions. So don’t bother to call the police.”
2. “Why doesn’t the public reveal their assets first?”
3. “I will have your website shut down if you (journalist) dare to report it.”
4. “Go straight to the fifth floor. Don’t choose the first or second floor.”
5. “You are doomed to be punished if you fight against the government. Any action against the government is illegal.”
6. “You are a mouthpiece for the party (CPC) or the people?”
7. “Build, baby, build! We will make up for your loss.”
8. “I say 99 percent of repeat petitioners are mentally ill.”
9. “Which media organization do you work for?”
10. “Are you a member of the Communist Party (CPC)?”
Read all of China Daily’s Top Ten Lists of 2009.
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- January 2, 2010 9:49 PM
Kaifu Lee (李开复) on Circumventing the Great Firewall
Kaifu Lee (李开复) was the founding president of Google China, serving from July 2005 until September 4, 2009. He is currently the CEO of Innovation Works. His Twitter account had 733,906 followers at the time this blog post is written, a large number of whom are from China.
Here are two of his recent tweets:
“Top dreams at a Chinese high school (went w/3 American reporters): 1) very rich businessman, 2) study in the US, 3) to be loved after I die.” 8:21 PM Dec 11, 2009.
“拜托，不要总是讨论翻墙的问题，好吗？这个问题，你们才是专家。” (CDT translation: “Please, don’t always discuss the question of circumventing the Great Firewall [with me], OK? On this question, YOU are the experts.”) 5:23 PM Dec 11, 2009.
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- December 13, 2009 4:09 PM
Meng Jianzhu (孟建柱): Internet Provides New Challenges for Public Security Agencies
Meng Jianzhu (孟建柱), the Minister of Public Security, recently published a long article in the Party publication “Qiushi”《求是》. The title of the article is “Intensify the Construction of Five Capacities, Comprehensively Raise the Level of Stability Maintenance”《着力强化五个能力建设　全面提升维护稳定水平》. The following paragraph is from the article (via news.163.com), translated by CDT:
Currently, the social and economic development of China shows a series of new transitional characteristics. In the domain of social stability, there are heightened conflicts among the people, a higher crime rate, and a complex situation in the struggle against enemies. The Internet has become a primary method for the anti-China forces to infiltrate us and amplify destructive energy. This provides new challenges in maintaining state security and social stability for the Public Security agencies. The interconnectivity, complexity and sensitivity of different kinds of social conflicts has apparently increased, bringing new challenges for public security agencies in controlling the complex situation. All kids of criminal activities and social order issues are growing in scale. This also presents new problems for Public Security agencies managing social order. People’s consciousness of the law and consciousness of rights have obviously increased, and the level of public opinion and social supervision has increased to an unprecedented scale. This requires new standards for Public Security agencies’ law enforcement activities.
当前，中国经济社会发展呈现出一系列新的阶段性特征，社会稳定领域呈现出人民内部矛盾凸显、刑事犯罪高发、对敌斗争复杂的基本态势。互联网已成为反华势力对我进行渗透破坏、放大破坏能量的重要手段，给公安机关维护国家安全和社会稳定带来了新挑战；各种社会矛盾的关联性、复杂性、敏感性明显增强，给公安机关驾驭复杂局势带来了新考验；各类违法犯罪和社会治安问题大量增多，给公安机关社会管理带来了新课题；人民群众法律意识、权利意识明显增强，舆论监督、社会监督力度空前加大，给公安机关执法活动提出了新要求。”
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- December 2, 2009 10:50 PM
Li Yuanchao (李源潮): Party Cadres Not Allowed to Enter Vulgar Places
From China News Net (中国新闻网) on October 22, via sina.com.cn, translated by CDT:
Li Yuanchao, the Minister of the Organizational Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, pointed out recently, party cadres must be able to resist seduction, control the gate of desire. [The Party] must make one restriction explicit: Party member cadres are not allowed to enter vulgar places, not allowed to have “sanpei” mistresses [paid hostesses who accompany men at entertainment venues] at banquets, otherwise it will give a negative mark for daily moral behavior on the cadre’s assessment record.
　　中新网10月22日电中组部部长李源潮近日指出，党员干部要抗得住诱惑，把好欲望关。必须明确一条约束，党员领导干部不许涉足低俗场所，不许找“三陪”小姐陪酒陪唱，否则干部考核时就要在日常品行方面记上污点。
Li Yuanchao gave this speech during the Fall 2009 opening ceremony for the Pudong, Jinggangshan and Yanan Cadre Institute.
　　李源潮是在浦东、井冈山、延安干部学院2009年秋季开学典礼上说这番话的。
Read also a report from AP’s Christopher Bodeen.
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- October 22, 2009 9:44 PM
Wang Changjiang (王长江)：The Source of Discontent in Ordinary People Toward Cadres
The following excerpts are from an article on Xinhua Net, published on July 1, 2009, and translated by CDT:
At 10 am on July 1st, 2009, Professor Wang Changjiang, who is also the director of the Party Building Teaching and Research Department of the Central Party School and director of the Center for the Comparative Study of World Political Parties of the Central Party School, came to Xinhua Net as a guest, interacting with netizens on the topic of the accomplishments of institution-building by the Party over the last 30 years of reform and opening.
2009年7月1日上午10时，中央党校党建教研部主任、中央党校世界政党比较研究中心主任、教授、博导王长江做客新华网，就改革开放30年来党的制度建设成就与网友在线交流。
Wang Changjiang: Therefore I want to emphasize here: Democracy is very important. In what way do we say that democracy is important? We have just discussed the problem of cadres at length. On the issue of the problem of cadres, we must expand our democracy. Think about it, why are ordinary people sometimes discontented with our cadres? Why sometimes even when cadres get something done they are evaluated very differently [in the eyes of ordinary people]?
From a cadre’s perspective, we can say we are really doing things for the people. But ordinary people may think our work is just a show. It is a show for superiors in order to get promoted. This creates a dilemma: To do something is wrong, and not to do anything is also wrong. Why?
To put it blatantly, this is because the way you got your power puts you in a position where you cannot speak. [From the people's perspective,] since I did not give you power, therefore you can not represent me. He does not genuinely identify with your power.
In this situation, no matter how hard you worked and how much you accomplished, the ordinary people still do not identify with you. For people who study political science, this is called low political legitimacy.
Then how can we increase our political legitimacy? The most important thing is to let them (ordinary people) to be in charge.
[王长江] 所以我这里要强调：民主是非常重要的。那么这个民主重要在什么地方呢？刚才我们讨论了半天的干部问题，干部问题上民主必须不断地扩大。你想想，老百姓为什么有时候对我们的干部不满意？为什么甚至有的时候这个干部做了一件事情有各种不同的评价。我从自己的角度去跟你说，我确实是在给老百姓做事，但是老百姓可能觉得你是在做秀，你搞政绩工程，就使得你做也不是、不做也不是。为什么呢？说穿了就是因为你的权力的获得没有发言权，反正不是我给你的权，你代表不了我。他从心里上有一种不认同的感觉，在这样一种不认同的情况下，你工作做得再多、再辛苦，他（老百姓）的认同性还是很低的。就是我们研究政治学的人常说的政治合法性是低的。那么怎么加强我们的政治合法性？最重要的就是让他们（老百姓）来作主。
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- August 19, 2009 7:51 PM
Dai Bingguo (戴秉国): The Core Interests of the People’s Republic of China
Dai Bingguo (戴秉国), State Councilor, was one of the leading officials to participate in the recent high-level talks between the United States and China. The following quote is from China News Agency’s report on July 28, 2009, via Chinanews.com.cn, translated by CDT:
To ensure the US-China relationship develops forward in a stable, healthy and long-term way, it is very important to mutually understand, respect and support the other side, and defend our own core interests.” Dai Bingguo continues on to say that China’s number one core interest is to maintain its fundamental system and state security; next is state sovereignty and territorial integrity; and third is the continued stable development of the economy and society.
“确保中美关系长期健康稳定地向前发展，很重要一条是相互理解、尊重支持对方，维护自己的核心利益。”戴秉国接着说，中国的核心利益第一是维护基本制度和国家安全，其次是国家主权和领土完整，第三是经济社会的持续稳定发展。
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- August 7, 2009 11:15 PM
Qin Gang: “Stand Your Ground Firmly. Your Bottom Decides Where Your Brain Is”
New quotes from Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Qin Gang to add to the collection. From the July 27, 2009 Beijing Daily, via netease.cn.com, translated by CDT:
Yesterday morning, it was very crowded and festive at the gates of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More than 150 ordinary people from different walks of life came here with curiosity and excitement to participate in the public day activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs right before the sixtieth anniversary of the PRC and the ministry itself.
Before everyone left, Foreign Spokesman Qin Gang let everyone act as journalists to ask him questions. Professor of Beijing United University Chen Delin got the mic first: “What principles do you follow when you answer questions from Chinese and foreign reporters?”
“Stand your ground firmly. Your bottom decides where your brain is,” (“站稳立场屁股决定脑袋”) Qin Gang answered with humor. He said, a spokesman first must be loyal to the motherland and people, and second he needs to grasp policies comprehensively and with familiarity. With these two skills, there are “no difficult questions that cannot be answered.”
Update: more quotes of Qin Gang from the Under the Jacaranda Tree blog.
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- July 26, 2009 10:08 PM
C.A. Yeung: Memorable Quotations from Qin Gang (秦刚)
From Under the Jacaranda Tree blog:
Qin Gang is the public face of China. Everybody reckons he is a significant improvement from his predecessor Jiang Yu, whose looks and mannerism often call to mind the good old days when Chairman Mao’s concubine Madam Jiang Qing ruled the world. Qin Gang, on the contrary, is a split image of Chairman President Hu Jintao, a new generation of Chinese leadership whose presence acts as a constant reminder of how and why China shakes the world.
Many people are not aware that Qin Gang has both the wit and the superb communication skills to match his good looks. I’m not kidding. The following incidents will help illustrate my point:
On 9 June 2009, a BBC reporter interrogated Qin Gang about the justification for the compulsory installation of the Green Dam Youth Escort filtering software. Qin Gang replied:
Do you have children? If you have children or if you plan to have children, you will be able to understand why Green Dam Youth Escort is essential for protecting the children of China against harmful information on the Internet. Let me repeat this: the Internet in China is fully open and the Chinese Government plays an active role in promoting healthy development of the Internet.
Incident # 4:
A month later on 2 July 2009, another BBC reporter asked, “Qin Gang, do you have children?” Qin Gang nodded affirmatively. The BBC reporter continued, “I ask you because a few weeks ago, you asked my colleague whether he had children when he asked a question about Green Dam Youth Escort. And you said that the Green Dam Youth Escort is essential to protect the children of China, and my colleague would of course understand that if he had children. So now that the government has delayed the installation of this software, are the children of China, perhaps your children less well protected?”
To this Qin Gang replied:
Everything I need to say on the subject, I have already said, so I have nothing to add to the matter. Okay. Next question.
Also from Shanghaiist blog:
我想提醒你的是，这里是外交部的新闻发布厅，不是讨论同性恋问题的场所。
What I’d like to remind you is this.This is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference and not a forum for the discussion of gay issues.
— Qin Gang (秦刚), Foreign Ministry spokesman
In response to a question by a journalist on why the word “homosexuality” was among the list of filtered words in the Green Dam censorship software even though China has no laws against homosexuality.
More from the Great Personalities website:
This is an interference in China’s judicial sovereignty.
— Qin Gang on comments made by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and others calling for Beijing to be transparent in dealing with the recent detention of four employees of mining giant Rio Tinto on espionage charges / July 17, 2009
The statement from the United States ignores the facts and makes groundless accusations against the Chinese government. We express our strong dissatisfaction and resolute opposition. We urge the United States to forsake its prejudices, correct its erroneous ways and avoid obstructing and damaging China-U.S. relations.
— Qin Gang on Hillary Clinton’s remarks / June 04, 2009
And from CDT:
The following excerpt is from remarks by Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Qin Gang (秦刚) during a press conference on March 31, 2009, and is being widely commented on by Chinese netizens:
Question: YouTube was blocked at one point last week and was available again from China, and now it seems to be blocked again. There are speculations that it links to the release of video from the “Tibetan Government in Exile”. Do you have any comment on that? Is there any particular offensive material on YouTube right now that causes it to be blocked again?
Qin Gang: I answered this question at the last regular press conference and here I’d like to reiterate my answer briefly. The Internet in China is fully open and the Chinese Government manages the Internet according to the law. As for what you can and cannot watch, watch what you can watch, and don’t watch what you cannot watch.
Update: Qin Gang: “Stand Your Ground Firmly. Your Bottom Decides Where Your Brain Is”
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- July 21, 2009 9:36 AM
Song Shinan (宋石男 ): China is Unhappy
Commenting on the recently published book Unhappy China, Sichuan-based Bulloger Song Shinan (宋石男 ) wrote:
“中国不高兴” (Unhappy China) is only valuable for its title. All the 340,000 words in the book should be removed and replaced with only these five characters printed on the cover to sell on the market. These five characters will inevitably resonate with the absolute majority of the Chinese population. Especially those Chinese children who are trafficked for child labor in Liangshan, especially those Chinese prisoners who are killed by “hide-and-seek” games in detention facilities, especially those Chinese thought criminals who are accused of crimes because of their speech, especially those Chinese college graduates who are unemployed, especially those Chinese migrant workers who venture into the city only to return to the country, especially those Chinese peddlers who are beaten to death by “urban management” teams, especially those appellants who are mentally healthy yet are closed up in mental hospitals, especially those Chinese web users whose websites are closed down and blogs deleted, especially all those Chinese people who do not have the freedom of speech and can only sing the “Grass-Mud Horse” song, especially all those Chinese people who quietly cry at night because they have been humiliated or injured—they are unhappy. China is unhappy.
Translated by CDT’s Lucy Lin.
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- April 2, 2009 10:21 PM
Qin Gang (秦刚): What Can and Cannot be Watched Online
The following excerpt is from remarks by Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Qin Gang (秦刚) during a press conference on March 31, 2009, and is being widely commented on by Chinese netizens:
Question: YouTube was blocked at one point last week and was available again from China, and now it seems to be blocked again. There are speculations that it links to the release of video from the “Tibetan Government in Exile”. Do you have any comment on that? Is there any particular offensive material on YouTube right now that causes it to be blocked again?
Qin Gang: I answered this question at the last regular press conference and here I’d like to reiterate my answer briefly. The Internet in China is fully open and the Chinese Government manages the Internet according to the law. As for what you can and cannot watch, watch what you can watch, and don’t watch what you cannot watch.
[The translation above appeared on the Foreign Ministry website. However, CDT re-translated the last sentence to be closer to the original Chinese]
问：上周Youtube网站曾一度被屏蔽，现在又再次被封，有人猜测是这跟“西藏流亡政府”发布在Youtube上的一段视频有关。你对此有何评论?还是Youtube上又出现了一些导致它被封的视频片断?
答：上次记者会我已经回答了这个问题，我在这里再简短重申一下。中国的互联网是充分开放的，同时中国政府也要依法管理网络。至于能看什么，不能看什么，能看的就看，不能看的就别看。
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- April 1, 2009 11:04 PM
Wu Bangguo (吴邦国): China ‘Will not Have Democracy’
Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, which is currently meeting in Beijing, said today that China will never adopt Western-style democracy. From BBC:
“We must draw on the achievements of all cultures,” he told delegates in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
“But we will never simply copy the system of Western countries or introduce a system of multiple parties holding office in rotation,” he added.
“Although China’s state organs have different responsibilities, they all adhere to the line, principles and policies of the Party.”
Correspondents say Mr Wu’s statement appeared to be a deliberate rejection of calls in China and abroad for greater liberalisation.
See also a Xinhua report.
While Wu’s statement is on every major Chinese news website, comments from netizens about his statement have been widely banned or selectively posted. Here is one blogger’s reaction: a simple screenshot showing that the commentary function on this news item was closed on China.com, with a caption “Shhh…. Be careful of the river crabs.”
More Chinese blogger’s comments about Wu’s statement, please see here, here and here.
The above screenshot is from netease.com, one of China’s top news portals. The statistics on the upper-right corner read: “495 comments, showing 9 items.” Netease then closed the comments feature under this news item. So did Sina. On Sohu, similar page reads: “14684 comments, showing 316 items.”
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- March 9, 2009 11:39 AM
Xinhua’s Revision Notice on Xi Jinping’s Speech
From the Hong Kong-based Ming Pao, via the New Century News, translated by CDT:
On March 1st, the official Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who also serves as president of the Central School of the Chinese Communist Party, made a speech emphasizing that cadres must improve their own overall capacity and loyalty to the party. The report itself is not too newsworthy. But on the same night, Xinhua News Agency issued a revision of the speech to the Chinese media, and the revision is interesting.
Here is the full text of Xinhua’s revision notice: In today’s broadcast of the report, “Xi Jinping Emphasizes Cadres Must Improve Their Own Overall Capacity and Loyalty to the Party, the end of the third paragraph read, “Six, one must improve their capability in dealing with the media, be good at using media correctly, manage media scientifically, and effectively guide public opinion.” Please change this paragraph to “Six, one must improve their capability in dealing with the media, respect the ways that news and public opinion propagates, correctly guide public opinion, be closely in touch with the media, self-consciously accept being monitored by public opinion.”
官方新华社3月1日曾经就一则新闻，报道身兼中央党校校长的国家副主席习近平在中央党校春季开学典礼上的讲话，强调领导干部要加强党性修养提高综合素质。这篇报道本身并无太多新意，但新华社在发稿当晚发出的改稿通知，颇耐人寻味。
新华社的改稿通知全文如下﹕今播《习近平强调，领导干部要加强党性修养提高综合素质》稿，三段末「六要提高同媒体打交道的能力，善于正确运用媒体、科学管理媒体，有效引导社会舆论。」请改为「六要提高同媒体打交道的能力，尊重新闻舆论的传播规律，正确引导社会舆论，要与媒体保持密切联繫，自觉接受舆论监督」。
» Read more
- March 4, 2009 10:03 PM
Wu Hao (伍皓): Conventional Strategies for Handling Online Public Opinion (Updated)
Here is an interesting update to the story, Eluding the Cat: Yunnan Government Asks Netizens to Help Investigate Detainee Death. At 3 pm on February 22nd, Wu Hao (伍皓), the deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Party Committee of Yunnan Province went online to have an interactive chat with netizens concerned about the “Eluding the Cat” event. Here are some excerpts from Wu Hao’s responses, translated by CDT:
Wu Hao: When we handled such public opinion events in the past, we mostly took a conventional approach. We had the following options:
First, we could use the strategy of “delaying.” Many people feel that netizens’ voices are not clearly focused. So a delaying strategy can be adopted to deal with netizens’ opinions. When they encounter a new hot news item, their attention will quickly shift. This is one strategy.
Second, blocking. The propaganda department still has the power to direct the media. We can order the media to not report or comment on it.
Third, deleting. We can delete all inconvenient, or negative, online posts one by one. This is also one strategy.
Four, waiting. In this case, this is the best strategy, since this is a legal case. We can just take our time and wait for the judicial department’s investigation to go through all the legal procedures. It will take a very long time to complete this case, and by that time the public’s right to know will still not be fulfilled.
伍皓：以前我们面对这种公共舆论事件时，我们更多的，或者是常规的做法，主要有以下几种选择：
第一，我们可以采取“拖”的措拖。有的人都有这样的感觉，网友的言论是东说西说，对网友的言论可以拖，碰到新的新闻点又转移了，这是一个策略。这是很多地方处理类似事件的方法。
第二，堵。我们宣传部门还拥有一定的指挥媒体权利，我们可以让所有的媒体都收声。
第三，删。我们把网上不利的，或者是负面的言论见一条一条删掉，这也是一种做法。
第四，等。这个做法是更好的做法，因为这是司法案件，我们完全可以慢慢地等司法部门调查，按照法律的程序走下来。要把这个案子办完是比较漫长的一个时间，到那个时候公众的知情权无法满足。
Mr. Wu Hao went on to claim that the Yunnan Party Propaganda Department decided to go for an open, transparent approach this time, as opposed to all the “conventional approaches” used in the past. The full text transcript is posted in many official Chinese news websites, including xinhua.net.
Update 1: While Mr. Wu Hao, a young former Xinhua reporter who was recently appointed to the Propaganda Department, indeed took an unprecedented approach, inviting netizens to help investigate the detainee death, this move also generated a huge controversy among netizens. Mr. Wu Hao selected “netizen” Fengzhimoduan (风之末端) and Bianmin (边民) as two leaders of a “netizen representative team.” However, an online search by other netizens revealed that both of the “netizen representatives” are actually working members of the official media as well as active online commentators. After other members of the netizen representative group raised questions over the qualifications of the two lead representatives, Mr. Wu Hao even confirmed with the head of the Yunnan Internet Monitoring and Surveillance Department that both Fengzhimoduan and Bianmin had a history of receiving payment from the department for writing “commentary pieces at the time of public opinion crisis.” In other words, this “netizen investigative team” Wu Hao organized is actually led by two members of the “fifty-cents party,” as Chinese netizens put it. Records of the conversations and appointments in this case have been recorded online, reported by Guangzhou based Southern Metropolis News and widely published in the official media.
The Shanxi-based Chinese Commercial Daily (华商报) also reported that Fengzhimoduan (风之末端) had received fees for writing articles for the Yunnan Propaganda Department in 2008.
The whole “Netizens Investigative Team” published a report after their visit to the prison site and admitted that they did not get access to any substantial information about the case. “They [local authority] denied us in the name of law and institutional procedures,” the report said.
Update 2: Please also read David Bandurski’s piece on the China Media Project: How Control 2.0 found its poster boy in Yunnan:
It’s all about Wu Hao (伍皓).
That’s right. It’s about an intelligent, 38 year-old former Xinhua News Agency reporter who is rising rapidly through the ranks of China’s propaganda apparatus. It’s about the fresh new face of Chinese propaganda controls in the information age.
And “Human Flesh Search On ‘Eluding The Cat’ Investigative Team Members” from ESWN, a translation of a Southern Metropolis Daily report about the netizen representatives.
Read also: “Eluding the Cat” – Bloggers investigate Yunnan prison death by Rebecca MacKinnon.
» Read more
- February 24, 2009 2:38 AM
Xi Jinping (习近平) on Foreigners “Pointing Fingers” at China (With Video)
Vice-president Xi Jinping (习近平) , China’s probable successor to President Hu Jintao, just gave a speech to overseas Chinese in Mexico on February 11, and discussed international intervention:
“There are some foreigners who had eaten their fill and had nothing better to do, pointing their fingers at our affairs. China does not, first, export revolution; second, export poverty and hunger; or third, cause unnecessary trouble for you. What else is there to say?”
“有些吃饱了没事干的外国人，对我们的事情指手画脚。中国一不输出革命，二不输出饥饿和贫困，三不去折腾你们，还有什么好说的.”
The following video clip of Xi’s speech is from a news program of a Hong Kong TV station:
Read also: China: “Stay away!” Vice president Xi warned in Mexico by Bob Chen of the Global Voices online.
» Read more
- February 12, 2009 9:18 PM
How to Introduce China’s System of Political Parties to Foreigners?
On November 5, The CPPCC News published an interview with Zhou Tienong, vice-chairman of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee and chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, translated by CDT:
When asked how he usually introduces China’s system of political parties to foreigners, Zhou said:
I am used to introducing China’s system of political parties from two dimensions – our basic national conditions and our efforts to develop the country. China is a developing country and in the process of development there needs to be someone to take the leading role. A political force has to live up to two requirements if it wants to take that leading role: First, it has to be stable; Second, it cannot be conservative and should be very willing to be supervised by all parties. The Chinese Communist Party is such a force. On one hand, its ruling status was formed from history. No one is trying to topple it from power. So it is stable. On the other hand, we can supervise it so that it won’t become conservative on the precondition that no one tries to topple it.
I think supervision that does not aim to topple (the ruling party) is most effective. The participating parties’ supervision of the ruling party is for the sake of the better execution of its work. It helps consolidate the status of the ruling party, which is apparently happy to accept such supervision. On the other hand, if the supervision aims to throw (the ruling party) out of power, there will be a lack of trust. One side is forced to be vigilant about the other side’s every sentence and to study its real intentions – does it want to supplant us (as the ruling party)? In this case, the supervision will achieve little.
So China’s system of political parties is not only favorable to the stability of political forces but also to the ruling party’s willingness to accept supervision. I told them (foreigners) that the current system of political parties had guaranteed political stability and economic prosperity for China for 30 years uninterrupted. This is a certainty. To adopt a new system of political parties will be an uncertainty. Of course there are some problems in this certainty, but it is good and acceptable in general. Since the status quo is acceptable and we feel not so bad, why should we find a new uncertain alternative to replace it? Many foreign friends agreed with my point of view.”

Image: Gou Tienong meeting with foreign guest.
民革中央主席周铁农谈
参政党如何监督执政党
A02版：新闻稿件来源:报刊文摘
《人民政协报》11月5日刊登记者对全国人大常委会副委员长、民革中央主席周铁农的专访文章。
在回答 “平常怎样向外国人介绍中国的政党制度”时，周铁农说，我习惯于从中国的基本国情和中国的发展实践两个层面介绍中国的政党制度。中国是发展中国家，发展中需要有人来带个头。要成为带头的政治力量得符合两个标准：第一要稳定，第二要不保守，善于接受各方监督。中国共产党就是这样一支力量，一方面，中国共产党的执政地位是历史形成的，没有人要拉其下台，所以稳定；另一方面，有人在不拉其下台的前提下对其进行监督，使其不保守。
我以为不以拉下台为目的的监督是最有效的监督。参政党对执政党的监督是为了执政党把工作做好，有利于执政党地位更稳固，执政党显然乐于接受。相反，如果以拉下台为目的，这种监督之间就缺少信任，一方不得不对另一方说的每句话都要警惕，仔细思考，其居心究竟何在，是不是为了取而代之，这样监督的效果就会大打折扣。
所以中国的政党制度既有利于政治力量的稳定，又有利于接受监督。我告诉他们，从实践上看，现行的政党制度已经保证中国实现了连续30年保持政治稳定，经济繁荣，这是已知数；换个政党制度是未知数。当然，这个已知数里肯定有些问题，但是这个已知数总体上是好的，是可以接受的。既然已知数是可以接受的，而且感觉还不错，为什么要找未知数来代替呢？很多外宾还是认同了我的观点的。
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- December 25, 2008 7:56 PM