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Many American consumers, business people and politicians are possessed of the whimsical notion that China long ago abandoned Communism for the benefits of liberal capitalism and is pursuing a “progressive” political path of some sort. While, I have previously addressed this, the recent spectacle of the 18th Communist Party Congress seems to call for revisiting it. The Congress was, of course, bathed in Marxist symbolism: everything in red and the hammer and sickle logo on everything from nametags to portfolios.
As action invariably reflects symbolism, the Congress was accompanied by increased media censorship. Ironically, even the phrase “18th Party Congress” was stricken from Internet searches during the event. There was also an exceptionally repressive crackdown on dissidents, many of whom will be jailed for years for suggesting political reforms.
Marxist-Leninist Communism has two important components. One is state control over productive resources and the other is a bizarre and opaque political system. My previous post made the case that , despite the dynamism at the lowest levels, China’s economy remains a centrally controlled, socialism in sheep’s clothing. Watching the news flow out of the Congress is all that is required to see that China’s political structure with its all important Politburo Standing Committee and a military that reports to the party – not the civilian leadership – is 100% pure communist.
As to whether China is “progressing” away from Communism, I’d refer you to the NEW oath that all lawyers in China have been required to take, whereby they pledge allegiance not to the truth or judiciary fairness, but rather to the Communist Party and “the cause of socialism.”:
I swear to faithfully fulfill the sacred mission of legal workers in socialism with Chinese characteristics. I swear my loyalty to the motherland, to the people, to uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system, and to protect the dignity of the Constitution and laws. – from The NY Times.
Bob Hall recently pointed out this invaluable snippet of conversation between Mo Xiusong, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and Dr. Clark Bowers, member of a U.S. delegation to China:
- Clark Bowers: Is the long-term goal of the Communist Party of China still world Communism?
- Mo Xiusong: Yes, of course, that is the reason we exist. However, the road to Communism may take well over a hundred years and the transition doesn’t have to be violent.
- Clark Bowers: Is it possible to reach your goal of world Communism while any of the bourgeois or their economic environment still exist?
- Mo Xiusong: No, that would be against the laws of science.
- Clark Bowers: As part of your reform, do you even desire to ever allow for anti-Socialist political parties?
- Mo Xiusong: No, that would be unconstitutional.
- Clark Bowers: Do you have any desire to change this part of the constitution?
- Mo Xiusong: No, the people wouldn’t support it.
- Clark Bowers: Who speaks for the people of China?
- Mo Xiusong: The Communist Party of China acts on behalf of the workers of China. We are their mind.
- Mo Xiusong continues: The historical miscalculations of Gorbachev led to an unbridled chaos that tore the social fabric of the USSR apart. We opposed a similar destabilization in Tiananmen Square in 1989, and history has vindicated our leadership by the economic and political stability that has followed.
Bob says we can find this charmer in Beating the Unbeatable Foe, by Frederick Schwarz, M.D., (408 – 410)
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
Greg Autry serves Senior Economist with the American Jobs Alliance and is co-author (with Peter Navarro) of Death by China: Confronting the Dragon – a Global Call to Action. He blogs regularly on the Huffington Post.
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