Zhang Weiying, a professor at the Guanghua School of Management at Beijing University wrote that there are six misconceptions that hinder further reforms in China.
1. “The ‘China Model theory’ is a very wrong idea. … We are actually a parasitic economy – others built the road and we now walk on it. It is natural that we walk faster. That does not prove that we are greater than others. Nor does it prove that our system is superior.”
2. For the relationship between political system reform and economic system reform, Zhang expressed the belief that the era when an economic system could adopt the market mechanism without political system reform has long passed. “Without political system reform, there is little room for economic system reform.”
3. Zhang noted that the current system does not necessarily benefit vested interest groups. “[They must] understand that human rights are better than special privileges. … Without human rights, one lives without security. Those who live in anxiety cannot be happy people regardless of how much wealth and privilege they have.”
4. As for the statement that State-owned enterprises are the foundation for Communist rule in China, Zhang said, “I think this notion is totally wrong. There was Communist rule first, then the State-owned enterprises, not vice versa.”
4. As for the statement that State-owned enterprises are the foundation for Communist rule in China, Zhang said, “I think this notion is totally wrong. There was Communist rule first, then the State-owned enterprises, not vice versa.”
5. “The statement that power comes from the gun is also wrong. The true foundation of political power is whether people consider it legitimate. When people have the idea that the legitimacy of political power has been lost, the military forces cannot maintain political power because the military follows that idea.”
6. “The fallacy ‘the more the power, the stronger the government’ confuses power and authority. History and reality show that the stronger government is the one that restrains its power, not the one with unlimited power. The reason is that, in fact … a government that people do not trust cannot be a strong government.”
Source: Financial Times (Chinese Edition), December 10, 2013
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001053841/?print=y