by MAO Yushi, Honoarary President, Unirule Institute of Economics
Translated by MA Junjie, Project Reseacher, Unirule Institute of Economics
Scholars from Taiwan normally hold an annual meeting to express their exceptions for the year ahead, to communicate across different areas of the society, especially among scholars and decision makers. It’s a different situation from us, and we need to learn from practices of Taiwan. Today, the title of my speech is “Republic Means Freedom of Speech.”
What does “共和” mean? This word is translated from English, and the meaning of “republic” in the Oxford English Dictionary is ambiguous. We have this translation following the meaning of the Japanese translation. However, I find it inaccurate. Regardless of its original meaning, as we call a state a “republic,” at least we mean the peaceful state between people and the abolishment of violence.
Issues of a state can be very complicated. People have very differentiated opinions. Then how are we supposed to solve domestic problems without violence? Discussion and negotiations are the answer. But what if we can’t reach an agreement? We keep the discussion and negotiation going, till we reach one. We will finally reach an agreement. Why? Because we have the same objective, that is the happiness of all the people of the state. If violence is used when an agreement can’t be reached, then the republic does not exist.
Before the reform and opening up, it was a game of life or death in the political struggle in China. From LIU Shaoqi to LIN Biao, from PENG Dehuai to HE Long, if one lost, one would die. Now politics within the Communist Party of China have development and become civilised, and no death penalty falls on political criminals; while as we see the fate of Jang Sung-taek, a leading figure of North Korea, who lost his life after a failed batter in politics. China is a civilised political entity, that is to say, politicians are safe as political struggles take the form of argument.
What is a safe institution for politicians, and what is an unsafe one? Apparently, a civilised, democratic institution is safe for politicians. On the contrary, a dictatorship is utterly dangerous for politicians. They may think they are safe, but in fact they are not. Many examples come to the fore, dictators such as Nicolae Ceaușescu, Saddam Hussein, and Muammar Gaddafi, all died a violent death. Politicians in democracies may face death threats, but only rarely. Most of them get to step down from their office safely. Nowadays, political criminals are exempted from death penalty, and the institution of secret reporting is abolished in China. In the past, a person may get in serious trouble if he or she held contrasting opinions from the party authorities and got reported. Such cases are hardly seen now. This shows that the government has relaxed its control over the ideas of citizens. In fact, the reporting system that aims to convict someone for his or her unorthodoxical opinions exists somehow within the system of the state [Page] but has been eradicated in the free market.
How to make everyone feel safer, not only for politicians, but also for common citizens? The rule of law is a must. There is progress and backward development for China’s rule of law. We have seen several cases where innocent people were convicted, though not sentenced to death, for something they have not done. As the real criminals were found at last, a couple of wrongly convicted citizens got their justice. Why did such things happen at all? I think it’s because there were no guarantees for people’s security, and abuse during the investigation. As there are wrongful criminal cases, to correct them is even harder as there is this old problem in China— that is authority is more powerful than law.
A republic means we should resort to rationality, and protection of the freedom of speech is the most important feature of a republic. It also provides a critical standard to measure if the society is making progress or developing backwards. From this perspective, I think this country is taking a step backward, as we can see.
Therefore, in this New Year Expectations, I expect more freedom of speech in the year ahead. One fundamental thing is the protection of the freedom of speech without which nothing else is guaranteed. And the freedom of speech is something to fight for, not to be taken for granted.
Therefore, as a common citizen, we all need to do our part. China is getting more and more powerful, but that is just in terms of economic development, far from being a respectful power in the international community. We have this Chinese dream, but to realize this dream it takes not only economic success, but also heartfelt respect from other peoples of the world. In this regard, we are far from it. What is the problem then? Firstly and ultimately, we need freedom of speech without which it is impossible to eradicate corruption. Nothing is possible without freedom of speech. |
