China My research into China

Someone challenged me on my "research" on the democratic system in China.

He asked if I have visited China and spoke to the people there in my research and how long was that done?

He gave the impression that that is the expected form of research. I consider his view to be dishonest. (I found out later that he is actually working for an international consulting firm).

I carried out my "research" as follows:

a) I watched many videos made and read many articles written by foreigners who spent many years living in China.

b) I watched many videos made and read articles written by people who are critical of China.

c) I searched Google to get articles that describe how the election process is carried out in China. Earlier I thought that the election was made within the Communist Party of China. I realized that that was a wrong perception. I learned that every citizen had the right to vote for their deputy to the local people assembly.

d) I am actually very impressed with the active consultation that is carried out before laws and economic plans are formulated.

e) I also like their system of addressing grievances of individual citizens.

f) A regular survey by Harvard University found that the citizens of China gave over 90% approval rating and trust in their government. This is much higher than the rating given by the citizens of nearly all western styled liberal democracies.

I believe that the system of governance in China has its flaws and defects and a certain segment of the population is unhappy with the government for a variety of reasons. Some of the unhappiness may be genuine.

On the whole, I believe that the system of governance in China can be considered to be more "democratic" that the system practiced in most western countries.

I consider the real test of "democracy" to be a system that is accepted by the people to be democratic (i.e. the results), and not by other outdated measures of how democracy should be carried out (i.e. the form).

My "research" may not qualify me for a PHD or for a job in the international firm that my challenger worked for.

However, I did put in more "research" effort than the people who described the system in China as being authoritarian and oppressive.

Tan Kin Lian

The China system of democratic governance is described in this article. It confirms the perception that I had made during my earlier research. 

 

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