Radio Free China 08/10/08

Wen spoke about improving democracy and the election system in China, and how the government should be monitored by the people. He said, “Socialism, as I understand it, is a system of democracy...Freedom of speech and freedom in news media coverage are guaranteed in China.

“By hosting the Olympic Games, China has actually become more open...The Chinese government attaches importance to, and protects, human rights.”

According to Agence France-Press and Hong Kong-based Apple Daily, Chinese media omitted Wen’s comments about the Chinese political system.  

U.S.-based Chinese political commentator Li Hongkuan said that although Wen’s speech was not wrong in theory, it did not reflect the true situation in China. The fact that the official media censored Wen’s comments on political reform showed the Chinese government’s resistance to democracy.

“Wen has done thorough preparation for this interview with CNN. He has probably prepared a response on the issue of democracy. They know that the Tiananmen Square Massacre and democracy in China are inevitable topics. That’s why his advisors prepared him well on this.

“I heard he was a bit surprised by the mention of the photo taken on Tiananmen Square, but he shifted it to the issue of democracy, which he already had the answer for,” Li said.

“He talked about the forms of democracy and gradual improvements. There is nothing new here. You can’t say that he is wrong, but it’s actually not practiced in China. He has not loosened up restrictions on the freedom of speech and has not allowed people to discuss democracy,” Li added. “His own interview now has been censored by Chinese media. This shows, from a different angle, that the Chinese Communist Party is definitely resisting democracy and political reform. He will definitely not implement political reform or democracy in China. This is how his response should be read.”

Sun Wenguang, a retired professor from Shandong University, used his own experience to illustrate that the government is not willing to truly implement steps to move China to democratic elections.

“Mr. Wen talked about taking initial steps to move China to a democratic system. Those of us living in mainland China don't feel that way at all. Many examples show that he has not really pushed for it.

“For instance, I entered a local election as an independent candidate last year. Theoretically they would allow that and let the voters decide based on their free will. Actually [the government] used all kinds of ways to block me from entering the race. Communist Party officials even visited the homes of everyone who nominated me. It is clear that the Communist Party was trying to intimidate them,” Sun said.     

Professor Sun also believes that China lacks Internet freedom. He said, “They say there is Internet freedom in China. First of all, many overseas Web sites have been blocked. Secondly, we cannot freely express our opinions. On the Internet, including websites based in China, we are not allowed to criticize the Chinese Communist Party. Actually, criticism aside, we are not even allowed to comment on the Communist Party.”

Professor Sun disagreed with Wen's statement that socialism is a system of democracy. He said, “The basic principle of socialism is public ownership of assets. In China, decisions are made by the Communist Party. Jiang Zemin has said in the past that the leadership of the Communist Party itself represents democracy. This is completely false and absurd.”

When asked by an American reporter whether Wen believes that there will be competitive election in China in 25 years between two political parties, Wen said that he could not predict what would happen in 25 years.