Mohamed Noman Galal (PHD)

Expert  in international studies and Chinese Affairs

Accomplished Diplomat and

Former Ambassador of Egypt to China.

Western democratic concept of the ballot box, and a multi-party system, as a basis for political legitimacy, is seriously challenged by so called Arab Spring and Chinese developmental model. For a long time Western countries promoted the idea of democracy through ballot box to the extent many thought it is the panacea that solves all problems of every country and the whole world as well. Moreover, Many people thought there is no alternative to such a method to obtain legitimacy, turning the concept of the ballot box to something like a holy beast that no body is allowed to question or challenge its sanctity. Thus, It became a sacrosanct.

Perhaps ironically the first questioning came from Hillary Clinton the (then) U.S. Secretary of State during her   participation in the international conference “Manama Dialogue” organized by the International Center for Strategic Studies in December 2010 in Manama. Ms Clinton said in an answer to a question after her speech to the conference, , that the elections alone are not democracy, and it's not the only way to establish democratic system. It is one of the measures or tools to establish a democracy. While American secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the stage  there were  many  American research centers  promoting democracy through the ballot box in many countries in the Middle East and world- wide.

The issue of democracy is pressing strongly nowadays in the Middle East due to three main factors:

First the long stay in power of many rulers in the Middle East that leads some social and political writers to conclude that the Middle East lacks the demand for democracy.

Second The sudden uprisings in a number of Arab countries which led to the downfall of three leaders with long stay in power. I.e. Tunisia, Egypt and Libya .The latter was with the help of NATO forces.  In another country military power has been used by the ruler to kill his own the people such as  what is happening in  Syria. The Yemen’s case was a little bit different due to the tribal system as well as the GCC imitative to solve the Yemeni crisis to a great extent peacefully along with the UN assistance.

Third The elections as a means to achieve democracy resulted in Islamic movements taking-over power. This led to riots and complaints from various liberal and ethnic or religious minorities. The future situation is still unclear as liberal and religious parties are still quarreling and bloodshed in Egypt and Tunisia starts to pour though their uprisings  were peacefully.

Three questions to be asked are: (1) Can democracy and elections bring stability, security and prosperity to a country?

(2) Can liberal democracy bring liberals and forward looking sectors of society to the forefront of power?

(3)Is the ballot box legitimacy an absolute or a relative matter?

The conclusion of certain studies in this connection about  the so- called Arab Spring shows that the matter is relative . The ballot box in the Arab world brought some forces that do not understand the true meaning of democracy and even some of these forces do not believe in democracy at all. Thus, when they come to power they get engaged in worst forms of dictatorship. A researcher like Professor Seth Jones, in an article published in Foreign Affairs in issue of January / February 2013, calls the events of the Arab region a mirage of the Arab Spring, and calls upon the American administration to deal with the Middle Eastern region as it exists, not as the Americans want. While another Professor Sheri Berman in an article in the same issue entitled The Promise of the Arab Spring stated that in the field of political or economic development, there is “no gain without pain.

After that I saw the pains, sufferings and blood  shedding  of the people and the physical destruction of cities as well as the economic plight of the Arab countries that went through the Arab Spring  The term no gain without pain” is considered  an  offering  of condolences to the people affected  by the major calamity of the so-called Arab Spring .It is with no surprise that the term is abandoned by most American and European researchers who promoted it few years ago, in the midst of the process of transformation and reform in Eastern Europe.

This reminds an analyst of the ready-made recipes of the International Monetary Fund that unfold with a program of austerity causing serious economic and social difficulties for people of the developing countries.

This necessitate a thorough consideration of  the experiences of other countries, particularly the Chinese experience of development as well as its political system which has provided a pioneering model for miraculous economic development, to raise the standard of living of the Chinese people, to increase production. Thus turning China within two decades from a state where its people were suffering from famines, its economy is underdeveloped, and its industries backward with outdated equipments, to the second largest economy in the world.

This developmental model is based on several pillars in the forefront the first pillar is; the creative strategic thinking of the Chinese people and particularly the Chinese leadership with former leader Deng Xiao Ping” at the helm launching his policy of reform and opening-up in 1978, initiating the principle of one country with two systems, thus restored Hong Kong and Macao to the fold of the motherland.

The second pillar is to rely on the Chinese Communist Party and its cadres that assume their posts through long and complex process of selection and promotion in various locations without allowing any member to reach the pinnacle of power such as a Ministerial level without passing through various rigorous tests to prove and improve his /her theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Thus, applying the principle of meritocracy to every assignment as much as possible.

The third pillar is the philosophy of the Chinese Communist Party and its ideology, especially in the ability to adapt and to align the party ideology with the ongoing changes and developments at home and world wide, One can refer, in this regard , to an important study also published in the foreign  Affairs Journal, of January/February of 2013 in which Professor  Eric x  Li  titled life of the party: The Post democratic future begins in China, the most prominent  element in his analysis  is  the party's ability to correct its mistakes .The main party organ that is responsible for that task is the discipline department which is entrust with recruiting .educating, training, monitoring and promoting cadres,to guarantee the integrity ,discipline , the dedication and hard work of a cadre .In spite of rigorous monitoring still corruption is including even some senior party officials but no exemption from being punished as soon as he /she is found guilty.

The examination  process reminds us of  the traditional heritage of Chinese system of public examinations which is one of the classical practices since the era of Confucius focusing on public examinations for officers in the civil service, and this was considered the most competitive and largest pillar of the Chinese ancient civilization  which enabled it to maintain the continuity of civilization, and national unity of their territories, contrary to what happened in many countries of ancient civilizations.

The new leadership of the country and party Mr. Xi Jinping has to do a mammoth task to face the serious challenges in particularly the following three main areas:

First challenge is the problem of corruption that has spread dramatically, especially in the ranks of the party at various levels. Former premier Wen Jiabao has recognized   these challenges and other top party leaders spoke frankly and openly about it during the meetings of the Eighteenth Congress of the Party in November 2012.

Second challenge is: the repercussions of the global economic crisis, which has affected China's exports. Thus, weakening the main driving engine for economic development in previous years, on which China based its developmental model.

Third Challenge: is the widening gap between the emerging classes, and between the different regions in China is a serious matter that is threatening the social peace and the principle of social justice on which the regime has based its legitimacy over the past years.

As for the first Challenge one can notice a number of points worth mentioning first the rejuvenation of the party including the top echelon of leadership i.e. the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the congress XVIII of the party is made up of 25 members representing the senior leadership in China, included 5 members only sons of former leaders in China, while the other 20 members belong to the middle and poor class who made their way to the top via their achievements in economic and administrative fields  either by taking over tasks in small towns and villages then escalated, whenever one has distinct achievement. The balance in the membership of the top leadership and at different levels shows a ratio of 20% -80% noting that, the 5  who represent  20% and are sons of former leaders are also competent and pass through tough and rigorous selection process.

Second Is the ability of the Chinese Communist Party to develop its philosophy over the years a clear example is, to add emphasis on the concept of market economy,   to allow the nationalist capitalists to join the party, and to focus on developing knowledge, and raise the standard of living of the poor who are below the poverty line.

Third That double monitoring responsibility, or one can call it the checks and balances of the administration and the party  .for example the party secretary and the top administrative official to monitor and advise each other at all levels.

Fourth Point is striking conclusion by professor Li in his analysis of the relation between corruption and democratic elections. He compares between countries that have political legitimacy on the basis of democratic elections or ballot box according to the Western model and China .He notes that the report of Transparency International in 2011 puts China in 75th position at the international level, while Greece in the 80 position, and India in position 95, and Indonesia and Argentina in the one hundred rank, while the Philippines in the 129 position, all of these countries have democratic elections. At the same time professor Li stresses that the  prominent role of the Communist party discipline department is to punish senior officials as soon as their wrongdoings are discovered, case in mind is that of  Bo Xilai  the Secretary general of the party in the Autonomous municipality of Chongqing .Also one can mention hundreds of thousands of party cadres at various levels ,their number reached 135,859 members in 2011,whom their work was examine  and their wealth  was scrutinized and they were punished according to mistakes they committed

The second challenge is the impact of the global economic and financial crisis that has a serious impact on China. The effects of the crisis can not be denied, however, China in 2012 achieved an economic growth between 7% -8% .

I agree with Professor Li that there are two driving forces for economic development of China in the next stage:

First is the process of urbanization, i.e.  Moving  from the countryside to the cities. as well as developing the countryside to the city level, which requires a lot of infrastructure development. This represents a major driving force for the economy and a shift in its approach.

The Second is the promotion of the spirit of capitalism based-Entrepreneurship projects, especially for export-oriented production.

And for the third challenge which is related to  the gap between the rich and the poor, and between Eastern regions and Western regions of China. The Chinese leadership is working to raise the level of the poorer classes from under poverty level to above the level of poverty. The achievement in this field is significant and it has been recognized by UN as a great effort to raise more than 300 million people from below the poverty line in the past ten years and is working to raise the remaining population. This is a great and unprecedented achievement. The government is also working to increase the size of the middle class and it has achieved a substantial progress in this connection. This will increase the consumption demand.

Moreover, China is giving party cadres and administrative officers the discretion to take initiatives and to devise policies to achieve the targets planed for in advance. This I called the democratic legitimacy by achievement Performance.  The classical definition of the objectives of any government is to raise the   standard of living of its people, to spread internal and external security to each individual on its land and to administer justice. I believe that democracy and legitimacy by performance is far rational approach rather than democracy and legitimacy through ballot box while poverty, insecurity, absence of justice, and corruption prevail.

As for the Western regions, China launched, since the era of former President Jiang Zemin, the campaign to develop Western regions. Former president Jiang issued directives to the developed Eastern regions to contribute in the developing Western provinces, as well as allowing different regions to compete in attracting foreign investments.

In Brief from the previous review one can conclude by highlighting certain aspects of the Chinese democratic model and the prospects for its development in the future as follows:

I: The Chinese model is a model worth studying and having proper attention to be able to benefit from its experience and advantages.

However I believe it cannot be copied fully. Each society has its on conditions, milieu and characteristics. The Chinese model is an expression and reflection of the evolution of the previous global practices since the Industrial Revolution in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth centuries as far as the sequence of priorities in society and development. This means that the scientific law of politico-social development goes through three stages:

The first priority is for basic economic needs of any human being, and then second follows civil and political rights and fundamental freedoms, lastly followed by demand for the social justice to bridge the gap between classes or regions. Needless to say, that these stages intermingle with each other. Sometimes a bit of each stage in other stages .The socio-politico-economic fabric of each society is the driving force for such mingling, interaction and connectedness.

2: The political model and development of the Western world is not the only model in the globe. And that model developed also in different environment, and it is not necessarily suitable for developing countries, especially Arab countries. However, it is equally important to study this model and also benefit from it, without being obliged to copy in Toto.

3- The legitimacy of ballot box is not the only criterion and basis for democracy in the beginning of the twenty first century but new legitimacy as stated by many political scientists, and practitioners are necessary, in addition to the ballot box particularly the legitimacy of performance and achievement, and the legitimacy of societal consensus, and this What achieves peaceful development of society and shield it from disasters, crises and upheavals .

4 The concept harmony in political systems is more important than the concept of voting and overpowering  because overpowering will lead to more problems that is why the European union adopted this principle .The Middle Eastern countries do not know the  practical meaning of governance,  opposition, or citizenship  .Consequently they have to develop their own model of democracy.

5- As for the Chinese civilization one can notice that  the evolution  of its political, cultural and philosophical development  shows it was based on the concept of harmony, consensus and coexistence. The guiding principles are Harmony, Reconciliation and coexistence.

In the Chinese history the concept of coexistence is manifested in the existence of Confucius teachings along with the worshipping of Buddha. Another manifestation of Chinese concept of coexistence is along with three monolithic religions i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is interestingly to mention the coexistence of various schools of philosophical thought and schools of various political thought based on the Chinese principle known as Let a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend Therefore, the Chinese communism is not based always and solely on the principle of class struggle  but rather on the basis of what is called benign contradictions and not on the  malign contradictions and class struggle This does not mean that China has not seen the  severe application of malign contradictions and class struggle, but that stage was imposed either due to fighting against colonialism, or feudalism, or due to  philosophical aberration of the ideology as happened during the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution 1966-1976.

6- The Chinese foreign policy is not looking for domination or hegemony by military means or focusing on  exporting its experiences  in theory and practice .China depends on its soft power through trade ,investment and culture .Consequently, it created  various mechanisms such as China-Arab Cooperation forum, China-Africa Cooperation Forum, and even cooperation with various countries and international gatherings with some other countries it calls the mechanism  “strategic relations” or strategic cooperation or strategic dialogue on disputed issues or interests according to the status of relations with different countries. The objective is to search common denominators to avoid international conflicts and wars which  If I quote  in this connection the words of the Charter of the United Nation,” It is within one generation brought on humanity twice untold sorrow”.

Conclusion

In brief one can concluded that these are some remarks and lessons drawn from a comparative study of Chinese and Western as well as Middle Eastern civilizations, their political thinking, their background and their practices.

They are reflections and insights of student of Chinese civilization, its development, its foreign policy, and its international relations as well as its aspirations in the twenty-first century.