Third Plenary Session's Biggest Challenge: Fulfill the Chinese Dream

Third Plenary Session's Biggest Challenge:
Fulfill the Chinese Dream
China Times editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China)
A Translation
November 12, 2013

Summary: The CCP authorities must exclude those with vested interests. It must transform passivity into activity. But its reforms must be sequential and progressive. It must use its limited resources and capabilities to maximum advantage. It must transform the Mainland into a comprehensive, well to do society. It must join the Chinese dream with the realities of life. This is the biggest challenge faced by the Xi Li regime. It must not imitate the KMT's empty slogans, big talk, and evasions.

Full text below:

The KMT just held its 19th National Party Congress. Its theme was party unity. When Party Chairman Ma Ying-jeou took office he delivered a speech entitled, "Strive to reform and improve. Unity will make us stronger." He called for party unity, for revisions to the party constitution, and for provisions enabling the President to serve as party chairman. These confirmed that the KMT has only one "sun," i.e., leader. Honorary Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung used the "Zhong Li Ji Nian Ge" and the song lyric "Do not weaken unity, do not lose faith" to inspire people. Honorary Chairman Lien Chan delivered a written speech that stressed "unity in our spirit, unity in our ideas, unity in our hearts, unity in our convictions, unity in our goals, unity in our ideals."

If the KMT can actually unite, it should be able to restore party morale. The KMT must clear up its own confusion. It must dispel the impression that the KMT seeks only power. This will help the Kuomintang govern. It will increase voter confidence and enable the KMT to remain in office and continue to improve cross-Strait relations. Alas, the KMT has long been afraid of public battles. It has always preferred internecine backbiting. Few people are optimistic about such a prospect.

The Chinese Communist Party is holding its 18th National Congress. It is scheduled to adjourn today. The First Plenary Session recognized the party as the nation's highest leader. The Second Plenary Session elected the nation's leaders and the leaders of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference. The Third Plenary Session determined the primary governing strategy for the new leadership. This is why the Third Plenary Session has received such widespread attention. Consider recent CCP developments. In 1978 the 11th Third Plenary Session established a policy of reform and opening up to the outside world. It set a clear direction for future decades. In 1993, the 14th Third Plenary Session further affirmed its support for a market economy. This eventually led to the Mainland joining the World Trade Organization and to its full integration into the international community. Its overall national strength has improved. Today, the Mainland has become the world's second largest economy. It has become one of the biggest beneficiaries of globalization. But the Mainland's economic development has also produced many negative side effects. Many dangerous conflicts in society have been building up. Everyone looks forward to further reforms.

According to official Mainland media reports, the focus of the plenary session is how to deepen reform. The media gave special mention to five topics: economics, politics, society, culture, and the environment. They even mentioned a "383 Reform Plan" that has outsiders guessing about its significance. But overall everyone has emphasized that under Xi Jinping "The range of reforms is wide, and the degree of the reforms is unprecedented." This is the institutional blueprint for the Xi Li regime. It will affect more than just the next 10 years. It will affect the Mainland's direction for a much longer period of time. Everyone is concerned. Different countries and the international media may have different concerns. But they all understand that this is a huge undertaking. Many obstacles and vested interests will stand in the way. But people still look to the CCP to adopt a responsible attitude, and a rational and progressive approach. They hope the CCP will gradually take steps to narrow the wealth gap, implement the rule of law, pursue social justice, punish corruption, improve the standard of living, and protect the environment.

In fact, Mainland reforms are in a race against time. All Beijing can do is constantly move forward without panicking. This is no easy task. That is why the Mainland has repeatedly stressed that Beijing needs a stable international and domestic environment in which to pursue rapid or reasonably rapid economic growth. It must use this hard won time to solve a variety of domestic problems.

This involves both long-term strategy and short-term survival requirements.

From Taiwan's point of view, we are pleased that the Mainland is expanding the scope of its reforms and liberalization. We are pleased that the Mainland understands the difficulty and the risk. Some advocates of reform say the key is liberalization and competitiveness. This contains some truth. The maintenance of stability is not an excuse for resisting or delaying reforms. The CCP authorities must exclude those with vested interests. It must transform passivity into activity. But its reforms must be sequential and progressive. It must use its limited resources and capabilities to maximum advantage. It must grasp the key points. It must change from a management-oriented government to a service-oriented government. It must respond to public expectations. It must improve the rule of law. It must provide housing, health, education, and a public census. It must satisfy the public's modest but reasonable expectations of social security. It must transform the Mainland into a comprehensive, well to do society. It must join the Chinese dream with the realities of life. This is the biggest challenge faced by the Xi Li regime. It must not imitate the KMT's empty slogans, big talk, and evasions.

社論－三中全會最大挑戰─落實中國夢
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中國時報 本報訊 2013年11月12日 04:09

中國國民黨召開第十九屆全國黨代表大會，會中大打團結牌，馬英九就任黨主席後發表演說，以「努力前進，改革再升級，團結更壯大」為題，訴求黨內團結，並在隨後的一中全會修正黨章，通過總統兼任黨主席案，確認國民黨只有一個太陽。吳伯雄榮譽主席引用「總理紀念歌」中「莫散了團結，休灰了志氣」的名言讓人動容，連戰榮譽主席發表書面致詞強調「志同、意同、心同、信念同、目標同、理想同」六同。

國民黨若真能團結，應能恢宏黨員士氣，一掃國民黨的陰霾，祛除國人對國民黨爭權奪利的錯誤印象，或有助於國民黨發揮執政優勢，獲得選民信賴繼續執政，持續改善兩岸關係。但國民黨一向怯於公戰、勇於內鬥，恐怕沒有多少人敢樂觀。

中國共產黨正在舉行第十八屆三中全會，預定今天結束。中共向來是在一中全會確定黨的最高領導階層，二中全會推選國家機構和全國政協的領導階層，三中全會確定新領導班子的重大執政方略，所以三中全會理所當然的受到各界矚目。揆諸中共近代發展經驗，1978年的十一屆三中全會確定了對外改革開放的政策，為爾後幾十年的發展設定了明確的方向，而1993年的十四屆三中全會則更進一步確定了市場經濟，最後使中國大陸加入世界貿易組織，全面融入國際社會，綜合國力不斷提升，如今中共已成全球第二大經濟體，成為全球化發展的最大受益者之一。但是不可否認的是，隨著中國大陸的經濟發展也帶來了許多負面的影響，社會上各種矛盾與危險也在積累之中，進一步的改革同樣為各界所企盼。

根據大陸官方媒體報導，這次關鍵性的全會重點在於全面研究深化改革的重大問題，媒體特別提到五位一體（經濟、政治、社會、文化、生態）的改革綱領，甚至一度還有所謂的「383改革方案」，讓外界莫衷一是。但總體而言，大家都強調，習近平主政下的這次「改革範圍之廣，力度之大都將是空前的」，而且這將是習李體制的施政藍圖，其結論不但將攸關未來10年，甚至更長時期的大陸的發展方向。對此，各界在關切（雖然每個國家、國際媒體所關切的重點都有所不同）之餘，理解這將是一項浩大的工程，各種阻力及既得利益的反彈必然接踵而來，但仍期盼中共能夠以負責任的態度、用理性漸進的手法，逐步的在各個層面，尤其是要縮小貧富差距、落實依法行政、追求社會正義、嚴格懲治貪腐、改善民生環保問題做出一些具體的成績，讓人耳目一新。

大陸的改革其實正與危機賽跑，北京只能以不疾不徐的速度，不斷往前奔跑，這當然不是個簡單的工作，所以中國大陸一再強調，北京需要安定的國際與國內環境，追求中、高速度，至少是一個合理的經濟成長數字，並且利用好不容易爭取來的時間，逐步解決大陸內部叢生的各種問題。

這既是一種長期戰略發展的考量，也是一種短期現實生存的必要抉擇。

從台灣的角度來看，我們樂見中國大陸進一步深化其改革開放政策，也理解全方位的改革有其一定的難度與風險，有人主張改革的關鍵在於開放與競爭，這當然有一定的道理，維穩確實不能成為抗拒或拖延改革的藉口，中共當局當前確實應該努力排除各方既得利益的羈絆，與其被動或被迫改革不如主動為之，但我們也認為改革的方法要循序而漸進，如何以有限的資源和能力抓大放小，如何把握重點，如何由管理型轉變為服務型政府，如何及時回應民意的期望，如何健全法治，如何在住房、醫療、教育、戶籍、社保方面滿足民眾卑微，但仍屬合理的要求，如何把中國大陸建設成全面的小康社會，讓理想的中國夢與現實的生活能夠充分的結合起來，這才是習李體制的最大挑戰。別和國民黨一樣，口號型的空話與大話能免則免。