Social harmony is again to be the theme of the upcoming plenary
session of the Communist Party Central Committee's meeting. This is
the third time the issue has been brought up since September 2004,
indicating that social harmony is of primary importance in the eyes
of our leaders. It is also a suggestion that this issue is far from
being resolved. We will have to try harder.
Recent years have witnessed a general upsurge in expectations
among the Chinese people. Citizens are more aware of their
individual rights, and are willing to stand up to fight against any
infringement. But on the whole, polls indicate that people feel
good about themselves, and see a bright future for their livelihood
and for the country. Nobody wants to rock the boat.
National stability is therefore no longer a big issue, and that
is why the focus has been elevated to social harmony instead.
Stability is not good enough; people deserve a better deal and to
be happy.
Social harmony is a complicated issue arising from unbalanced
regional development, uneven allocation of resources, unfair
distribution of income, corruption and deficiencies in our legal
system. No matter how hard we try, these problems cannot be solved
overnight. This is perhaps one reason why they must be brought up
frequently to serve as a reminder in case some officials may loosen
the reins.
Conventional wisdom has it that all the above-mentioned problems
result from over-emphasis on economic growth at the expense of
developments in other areas, and that the remedy lies in the
promotion of "green GDP." Like it or not, whatever "green GDP"
means, economic growth is an essential part of it. In technical
jargon, GDP is the objective function to be maximized, and green is
the constraint, the bottom-line that cannot be crossed.
Common sense tells us that economic growth is not everything;
but without it, there is nothing. We have over 20 million young
people entering the labor market every year, and some estimate that
we need at least 7 per cent annual growth just to supply them with
jobs. Failing this, we would face high unemployment and achieving
social harmony would be impossible.
Economic growth and social harmony are not mutually exclusive.
They are partners. Whatever necessary reforms must be undertaken in
the context of economic growth, and economic growth must also be
undertaken in the context of social harmony.
Viewed from this people-based angle, economic growth is not an
end in itself. First and foremost, it means gainful employment, and
increasingly, it also means higher income for more people. Poverty
eradication has been very successful in the past quarter century,
and absolute poverty is becoming rare in China.
Poverty by itself is not that painful, but inequality, and the
subsequent jealousy and feeling of injustice are, and they are
detrimental to social harmony. With the Genie's Coefficient, a
measure of income equality, having deteriorated to 0.42, social
harmony is clearly endangered, and the government has to step in to
do something about it by way of taxation on the rich, and transfer
payment to the poor.
This has to be done at both the regional and individual levels.
The affluent eastern coastal provinces have to contribute more to
the development of the country's central and western regions. The
cities have to be more hospitable to guest workers from the
countryside. Both the grassroots labourers and the farmers must
have their income raised fast, and their education and medical
needs better taken care of. The livelihoods of pensioners and
retirees have to be protected.
Our government is no longer an omnipotent machine that can take
care of everything for everybody. There are many areas where civic
society can participate and do a better job. Non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) are invaluable adjuncts to government efforts
in many other parts of the world, but they are still in their
infancy in our country.
Following the best international practices, private citizens
should be encouraged to provide various services and to solicit
donations and sponsorship from the public, while the government
takes a benign attitude and maintains a tight audit of their
accounts to ensure there is no monkey business in the acquisition
and dissemination of money.
At the same time, the wealth of the rich has to be seen to
accumulate in legally and morally acceptable ways. There are some
people who get rich through the transfer of State assets into their
coffers through corruption and dubious means. Their high-profile
self-promotion and conspicuous consumption can only serve to add
more discontent among the general public. Again, it is up to the
government to stop all these misdeeds.
To start with, it must see that all government officials are
clean and operating within legal parameters. It is true that the
government is unceasingly clamping down on corrupt officials of
various ranks throughout the country, but the common impression
indicates that corruption is still prevalent. At present, checks
and balances within the system are far from sufficient and
effective. A piece of good news is that legislation has just been
passed to lay down the legal framework for the National People's
Congress to supervise the working of the government.
Again, the government cannot do all the work by itself without
assistance from the citizenry. Our media should be empowered to
perform their role as public watchdogs and whistle-blowers. A
balance has to be struck between press freedom, individual privacy
and public interest. Although commercialism is slowly but
relentlessly creeping into the content of our media, they are in
general highly responsible.
A robust media is always conducive to social harmony. So is the
revival of morality and an overall sense of pride among the people.
The age of naked pursuit of materialism is gone, and the whole
country is now aspiring to regain its historical glory in the
modern world. In line with our tradition, social harmony starts at
the individual level, and cannot be complete without achieving
harmony with nature.
There is still a long way to go. But we have already moved quite
a few mountains, and are confident that this is another one we can
tackle.
The author is a member of the National Committee of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference from Hong
Kong.
(China Daily September 13, 2006)