Written by Professor Cai Dingjian, Director of the Institute for Study on Constitutionalism at China University of Political Science and Law, from China Elections and Governance:
I believe that the liberation of thought should focus on reforms to the political structure. The major obstacles to political reform today are special interests groups and restrictions on thought. We have to overcome the “two whatevers”[i] arguments: that is to say, we need to take “whatever is conducive to stability” and “whatever fits China’s unique national circumstances” out of the debate on how and when China should launch political reform.
This round of political reform should start from elections and be aimed at constitutionalism. Administrative reform should be aimed at transparency of the public budget and affairs. Judicial reform should focus on independence of the judiciary.
I have two suggestions. Firstly, since one of China’s biggest problems is corruption, reform of the public fiscal structure could, to a great extent, solve this problem. If Guangdong is a pioneer in thought liberation, I would suggest the provincial government of Guangdong ask the central government to make Shenzhen a special administrative zone, in order to facilitate multi-pronged reforms including those on fiscal policies, public budgeting, the electoral system, etc.
I hope that this round of thought liberation will be a starting point for the practice of political reform in contemporary China, rather than merely a starting point for ideas.
