Meanwhile, the Chinese people and their leaders are more determined than ever to build the country into a more prosperous, more democratic society on the basis of what they have achieved since 1949. When New China celebrates its centenary in the mid-21st century, as predicted by Professor Hu and other experts, it will become as developed as an average developed country.

With these words, an editorial on China’s People’s Daily Online closes an encomium for “New China,” a retrospective of the achievements made in China through 56 years of communist rule. Reading the editorial, I was reminded of the post on Simon World which praised Wen Jiabao, the Premier of China, for recently saying,

“China will press ahead with its development of democratic politics, that is reconstruction, in an unswerving way, including direct elections.”

The fact that an editorial on Communist-sponsored People’s Daily would speak so approvingly of the concept of democracy might seem like another signal of impending political reconstruction in China — but don’t believe it. The editorial spends some time explaining the instability of “Old China” — instability brought about by foreign invaders, the United Kingdom and Japan, and “inner turmoil” — and praises the CCP for bringing stability to China. Such stability is a prerequisite for prosperity. Then, the editorial introduces another prerequisite for prosperity: democracy.

Stability and prosperity can in no way be realized without democracy. By proceeding from its own conditions, New China practices the “system of multi-party cooperation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China,” which has proved effective in getting all patriots and their political groupings actively involved in national development.

How the name of New China, the People’s Republic of China, was chosen highlights the extent to which this “socialist democracy” has been practiced. It was adopted in September 1949, on proposal from non-Communist delegates to a conference called by the Communist Party to make preparations for the founding of the new government.

“It was the outcome of democratic consultation,” says Lu Guoqing, a historian. Dai Huang, a retired journalist who witnessed the celebrations of the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1, 1949, says he loves the new name chosen for the country. “After two millenniums of feudal rule and a whole century of imperialist aggression, China finally made itself a republic of, and certainly for and by, the people.”

And democratic consultation and multi-party cooperation under the leadership of the Communist Party have become institutionalized. Political consultation takes the organization form of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which gathers representatives of all the eight non-Communist political parties and non-party figures aside from those from CPC.

The non-Communist political parities all have representation in the National People’s Congress, the supreme organ of state power, and local people’s congresses. Of the nearly 3,000 deputies to the current 10th NPC, deputies from non-Communist parties and patriots without party affiliation account for 16.09%, and workers and farmers take 18.46% of the seats.

All the 55 ethnic minorities have deputies to the NPC, who take 13.91% of the seats, although their combined population account for less than 9% of the national total. And their development and prosperity have always been high on the agenda of the leaders of the People’s Republic.

[Ed. note: emphasis added.]

So you see, China already has democracy, at least according to the editorial writer(s). While I appreciate the homage to American culture in this essay (in the bolded text), I can’t help wondering if the Chinese Premier’s stated goal of increasing democracy in China is a matter of more of the same. The “democratic” China of the future might be a China in which large political action committees — or more likely, boards of corporations — each put in their 2¢ while the CCP puts in its benjamin. Or yuan. Or whatever. Another People’s Daily editorial quotes Chinese President Hu Jintao from an address made at a U.N. summit:

“In the spirit of equality and openness, we should safeguard the diversity of civilization, promote the democratization of international relations, concert our efforts to construct a harmonious world that embraces all kinds of civilization.”

These are nice words, but note the level at which “democratization” should work, from President Hu Jintao’s perspective. The “democratic” dealings of nation-states are analogous to the “democratic” dealings of large interest groups within China. Individuals are only incidental. The President’s multiculturalism, displayed before the U.N. in a call for mutual cooperation, would seem to rule out individualist or unilateral activity — just as such “democratization” would rule out the same for individual citizens in China.

But of course, if the subject of democracy should be viewed through the lens of active PACs who do all the work and reap all the rewards, American Democracy should not escape similar examination…