New faces should go back to reality
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As usual, China's townships and counties are routinely reshuffling their legislative bodies – people's congresses – every three and five years respectively. What makes it unusual this year is the appearance of more so-called independent candidates for congress deputies in places underneath Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. It might provide a chance for China's political life to make some changes.
In the era of the Internet, it has become a phenomenon that has certainly attracted the attention of millions of Web users. Meanwhile, the support these candidates get on the Internet, especially through the burgeoning microblogs, is different from what is gained from traditional community or village voters.
With more independent candidates, it is inevitable some of them would be selected as people's congress deputies in the future. A key problem right now is how well Chinese society has prepared for when these new deputies join ranks. Most of them have publicly expressed different ideas toward the current political system.
Just like opposition parties in the West, independent candidates in China represent different opinions on the political scene. Since China's political system is based on the cooperation of multiple parties under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, it would not suit the participation of candidates who choose an opposing attitude toward the current system.
In the past, few independent candidates have won an election. But the situation is changing, stirring hot debate among the public. In fact, the Chinese public has seen opposing viewpoints in some dissidents, who have gained overwhelming support online though, in reality, few people express their support.
The gaps in ideals between different groups have grown in Chinese society in recent years. The participation of independent candidates would accelerate the process, bringing even more turbulence, threatening the cohesion of the nation.
On the other hand, China's political system needs more impetus to make progress suited for the changing world. As a result, no hasty conclusion should be drawn from the appearance of independent candidates, who are fresh blood to some degree to the current system. Whether they will play a constructive role depends on how society handles this issue.
Moreover, the independent candidates could destroy the current system by soliciting votes on the Internet, posing a challenge toward the critical point of China's political scene. Any breakthrough of the critical point will deviate from China's reform doctrines, which stress step-by-step progress. Instead of pushing forward political development, the deviation is more likely to create political risks in society.
China's political system has expressed flexibility toward different ideas, stressing internal changes instead of external reforms. For the independent candidates, they should integrate personal endeavors with the trend of China's political reform. Only in this way, will they attain more success as well as have more significance for the nation' s development.
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