Charles Parton
Chinese modernisation
Democratic parties announce their manifestos before an election; autocratic parties do so after their (s)election. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sets out its longer-term goals at party congresses held every five years, and at the main annual plenums. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CCP, described the Third Plenums of 1978 and 2013 as ‘epochal’ for their role in ‘reform and opening up’, the two main contributors to the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s rise. Xi implied that this July’s plenum should also be seen as ‘epochal.’ Its measures are to be completed by 2029, and six years later, they will have helped the PRC on its way to achieving the first part of its two-step strategy to build ‘a great modern socialist country in all respects.’
‘Reform and opening up’ have long been the party’s nostrum for success. ‘Reform and opening up are the only way to make our country strong,’ says the 2002 version of the Party constitution. 3 In his ‘Explanation’ of the Third Plenum Resolution, the conclave’s formal document, Xi declared that, ‘...If we are to break new ground in advancing Chinese modernisation on the new journey in the new era, we must continue to rely on reform and opening up.’ 4 The word ‘reform’ duly appears 139 times in the Resolution, ‘opening up’ 27 times
No comments:
Post a Comment