B.RAMAN
China’s new State leadership was formally installed
in office at the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC), which
concluded in Beijing after a fortnight’s session on March 16,2013.
2.As expected, Xi Jinping, who had taken over as
the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Chairman of the
Central Military Commission (CMC) of the Party at the 18th Party
Congress in November last, took over from Hu Jintao as the State President and
the Chairman of the State CMC on March 14,2013.
3.Li Kequiang took over as the Prime Minister from
Wen Jiabao the next day. In their personal qualities, the two leaders are a
sharp contrast to Hu and Wen. Unlike Hu, who was formal, mostly unsmiling and
withdrawn, Xi is relaxed, warm in his personal interactions with his colleagues
and party functionaries and outgoing.
4.Wen was a warm and people friendly leader, who
mixed easily with party functionaries and the ordinary people and came to be
loved as “grandpa Wen”. Not much is yet known about his successor Li, but he
seems to be modeled more after Hu.
5. Those who expected some winds of political
change to blow from the NPC would have reasons to be disappointed. Despite
being personally likeable, Xi came out as a cautious and politically
conservative leader who is unlikely to take any major political initiatives.
6.His cautious approach was stamped on the
proceedings and style of the NPC. Whereas the previous NPC sessions used to be
lively with China’s growing community of netizens competing vigorously with the
NPC to become the real voice of the people, the just-concluded NPC session was
lack-lustre, carefully orchestrated and discouraged competitive debates from
the online community.
7.Nothing brought out the change in style more
dramatically than the unusually restrained role of Wen in the proceedings. Wen,
who in the past used to be in the forefront of leaders advocating political
reforms to follow economic reforms and who used to point out that Deng
Xiao-Ping felt that economic reforms would not be sustainable unless ultimately
followed by appropriate political reforms, was relatively inarticulate on this
subject.
8. References to the need for political reforms
took a back seat in the 12th NPC. Apart from the importance of
revamping the Chinese economy, two other messages which came out loud and clear
from the NPC were the inadvisability of experimenting with Western style
political reforms and the importance of continuing the effective control of the
CPC over the PLA.
9. The proposed revamping of the economy would
stress quality growth with greater priority to encouraging domestic consumption
and reducing the dependence on foreign
investment. It would also pay attention to measures for the removal of present
ills in the economy such as corruption, inefficiency, inequality and
environmental damage. The emphasis would still be on sustaining the Chinese
economy as the second largest after that of the US, but livelihood issues and
issues likely to impact political stability and social harmony such as corruption and environmental pollution
would receive greater attention.
10. The new leadership feels that the measures for
the revamping of the economy cannot succeed without continuing political
stability. It is in this context that any talk of political experimentation is
sought to be discouraged. It was stressed that the present political system
based on consultative inner party and inner State democracy without contentious
public debates on policy issues has served the country well and would continue.
This would mean the continued primacy of the CPC as the decision maker.
11.Yu Zhengsheng, the newly-elected chairman of the National
Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), was
quoted as telling a session of the CPPCC on March 12: “China will promote
consultative democracy and will not copy Western political systems under any
circumstances. We need to steadfastly uphold the leadership of the Communist
Party of China (CPC), adhere to and improve the system of multiparty
cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC….We need
to more strictly follow the socialist
path of political development with Chinese characteristics, not imitate Western
political systems under any circumstances, always adhere to the correct
political orientation, and strengthen the CPPCC's ideological and political
foundations of collective struggle."
12.The other message that came out of the NPC was
the strengthening of China’s military power side by side with its economic
power and the need to ensure the absolute loyalty of the PLA to the CPC. In a
statement issued on March 12 after an address the previous day by Xi Jinping to
a panel meeting of the People's
Liberation Army (PLA) delegation to the
NPC, the PLA’s General Political Department said: “All military staff must
comprehend and implement the key points conveyed in Xi's speech and thoroughly
understand the vital role of national defense and military building in
realizing the "Chinese dream." They must fully seize the opportunities and meet the
challenges China is facing in safeguarding national security and sustaining
development, and further enhance their sense of responsibility and mission.”
13.The statement called on military staff to follow
the directions of Xi and ensure victories in any war. It also asked forces
personnel to live frugal lifestyles and reject waste so as to make better use
of military spending.
14. According to the Xinhua, Xi urged the armed
forces to be "absolutely loyal" to the Party and bring the country's
defense capacity and army building to new high.
15. China’s power projection in the economic as
well as military fields was laid down as the primary tasks of the Party and the
Government in the coming years and it was underlined that any political
experimentation would come in the way of political stability and social harmony
which were essential for achieving these goals.
16. Any expectation that the new leadership would
take China on the road to a more liberal society would be premature. (16-3-13)
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd),
Cabinet Secretariat, Govt of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director,
Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre for
China Studies. Twitter: @SORBONNE75 )
