Sunday, November 27, 2011

Democracy doesn't have to start from revolt

Chinese propaganda to avoid home-grown Occupy movement:

For a long time, China has not only been criticized as undemocratic, but also anti-democracy. As China does not have Western-style elections, some Chinese find it hard to refute the West's finger-pointing. Although China has made prominent social progress in recent years, it has long been the target of criticism over the democratic issue.

To convince Western public opinion is rather difficult but Chinese people should not be manipulated by the West. It is important to maintain independent thinking on democracy.

Democracy is a good thing, but is this also true when latest streets protests in Egypt claimed dozens of lives? We need democracy, but a truly good democracy that will avoid autocracy, promote scientific decision-making, combat corruption, and more importantly, not give way to social unrest.

This requires the basic construction of a Chinese democratic culture that should match the building of democratic institutions. This should include a social consensus on democratic politics, strong legal authority and respect for the majority opinion.

Democracy may bring different results to different countries. The Egypt revolution may aim at a high standard of democracy, but a true democratic culture needs to be reached through constant economic and cultural development.
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