民主好不好，人民最知道

——外交部副部長樂玉成在“中外學(xué)者談民主”高端對(duì)話會(huì)上的致辭

樂玉成

各位朋友，

大家下午好！很高興再次參加臨甲7號(hào)沙龍。

最近，民主在國際上成為熱門話題。本來這是一件好事，但個(gè)別國家打著“民主”旗號(hào)，歪曲民主要義，亂設(shè)民主標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，甚至把民主當(dāng)成服務(wù)一己之私的政治工具，在世界上搞各種小圈子，制造分裂和對(duì)抗。這顯然同民主背道而馳。所以，今天我們開這個(gè)民主對(duì)話會(huì)很有必要，就是要通過討論和交流，激濁揚(yáng)清，明辨是非，探討真正的民主之道。我愿借此機(jī)會(huì)和各位分享一點(diǎn)自己的思考。

首先我要回答一個(gè)問題，中國是不是民主國家？在一些西方人的中國敘事里，中國似乎沒有民主，中國共產(chǎn)黨等同于威權(quán)和專制，即使你創(chuàng)造了長期穩(wěn)定、快速發(fā)展、脫貧攻堅(jiān)等一系列人間奇跡，即使你得到了絕大多數(shù)中國民眾的支持擁護(hù)，你仍然被視為不講民主、沒有人權(quán)的國家。這恰恰暴露了某些人陰暗的心理和不可告人的圖謀，那就是把民主當(dāng)作打壓異己的工具、遏制別國發(fā)展的幌子。

今年是中國共產(chǎn)黨成立100周年。百年來，中國追求民主、發(fā)展民主的腳步從未停止。不少人應(yīng)該看過最近熱播的電視劇《覺醒年代》，其中有個(gè)鏡頭給我留下深刻印象：上個(gè)世紀(jì)初，中國共產(chǎn)黨的創(chuàng)始人陳獨(dú)秀、李大釗等人反復(fù)穿行在一條泥濘小路上，為中國的民主、自由而上下求索。

正是從這條泥濘小路出發(fā)，中國共產(chǎn)黨帶領(lǐng)中國人民開啟了百年奮斗的偉大征程。早在上世紀(jì)30年代初瑞金中央蘇區(qū)時(shí)期，中國共產(chǎn)黨就探索建立了蘇維埃工農(nóng)兵代表大會(huì)。延安時(shí)期，不識(shí)字的農(nóng)民用黃豆代替選票選出他們心目中最滿意的好干部。美國著名記者斯諾訪問延安后盛贊，這是“人類歷史本身的豐富而燦爛的精華”，是一種“東方魔力”“興國之光”。

新中國成立后，中國民主開啟了新紀(jì)元，不斷取得歷史性成就。特別是黨的十八大以來，以習(xí)近平同志為核心的黨中央進(jìn)一步深化對(duì)民主政治發(fā)展規(guī)律的認(rèn)識(shí)，提出了全過程人民民主的重大理念，實(shí)現(xiàn)了對(duì)人民民主制度的重大創(chuàng)新。中國特色社會(huì)主義民主邁入了新時(shí)代。

我身邊不少同事和朋友說很希望《覺醒年代》拍續(xù)集，我告訴他們，今天欣欣向榮、蓬勃發(fā)展的自由民主中國不就是最好的“續(xù)集”嗎？的確，中共先驅(qū)者的中國民主之夢(mèng)今天全都變成了現(xiàn)實(shí)。全過程人民民主就是他們當(dāng)年孜孜以求的最好答案。

中國的全過程人民民主，不是少數(shù)人、利益集團(tuán)的民主，而是多數(shù)人、全體人民的民主。當(dāng)前，中國從中央到省區(qū)市縣鄉(xiāng)有五級(jí)人大代表共262萬多名，都是由選民選舉出來，人民廣泛參加國家事務(wù)特別是基層的管理，行使憲法賦予公民的權(quán)利。特別是十三屆全國人大代表中，一線工人、農(nóng)民、專業(yè)技術(shù)人員代表所占比例明顯提升，凸顯了人大代表的廣泛性和人民群眾政治參與的廣泛性。

中國的全過程人民民主，不是搞“花架子”、形式上的民主，而是真正讓老百姓得幸福、惠民生的民主。過去數(shù)十年，中國讓8億多人徹底擺脫絕對(duì)貧困，創(chuàng)造了世界前所未有的減貧奇跡。中國建起了世界規(guī)模最大的社會(huì)保障體系和全民醫(yī)療保障網(wǎng)，覆蓋13億多人口。就業(yè)是最大的民生，中國每年新增就業(yè)連續(xù)15年保持在1000萬人以上，相當(dāng)于每年增加一個(gè)中等國家的全部人口。目前中國已有10.8億人完成新冠疫苗全程接種，全國60多萬個(gè)基層社區(qū)關(guān)心著每一位居民的接種進(jìn)度。

中國的全過程人民民主，也不是那種在投票時(shí)被喚醒、投票后就休眠的民主，而是人民充分享有知情權(quán)、表達(dá)權(quán)、監(jiān)督權(quán)，全鏈條參與的民主。“從群眾中來，到群眾中去”是中國民主實(shí)踐的重要方法。當(dāng)前，中國所有重大立法決策都經(jīng)民主醞釀產(chǎn)生，黨的十八大以來，共有187次法律草案向社會(huì)征求意見，共約110萬人次提出300多萬條意見建議。中國政府在制定“十四五”規(guī)劃過程中，廣泛問計(jì)于民，僅通過網(wǎng)上征求意見方式，就收集到100多萬條意見建議。

歷史和現(xiàn)實(shí)充分證明，中國的民主模式符合本國國情，受到人民擁護(hù)，是真正的民主、管用的民主、成功的民主。中國是當(dāng)之無愧的民主國家。當(dāng)年那條泥濘的小路，如今已建成14億中國人民不斷邁向民主、自由、繁榮、富強(qiáng)的康莊大道！

從中國成功的民主實(shí)踐中，我們可以得到一個(gè)重要啟示：民主制度不能是“飛來峰”，民主建設(shè)不需要“教師爺”。換句話說，民主要想成功，必須深深根植于本國的土壤，讓本國人民滿意和幸福。

中國人常說“十里不同音，百里不同俗”，即使在同一片中華大地上，也有東北黑土地、西北黃土地之分，還有江南水鄉(xiāng)、塞北草原之別，土質(zhì)不同，出產(chǎn)不同，文化也各具特色，更不用說世界各國千差萬別、多姿多彩了。“一方水土養(yǎng)一方人”，同樣的道理，“一方水土有一方民主”。就如同世界上找不到兩片完全相同的葉子，在這個(gè)世界上，從來不存在適用于一切國家的民主模式，更沒有十全十美、高人一等的民主制度。

回顧中國近代以來探索民主的歷程，就曾因?yàn)楹唵握瞻嵬鈦砟Ｊ蕉粤瞬簧倏囝^，付出慘痛代價(jià)。放眼世界，無論阿富汗還是利比亞、伊拉克，被“顏色革命”強(qiáng)行移植的民主，結(jié)果都是災(zāi)難性的，最終遭殃的還是無辜的人民。

各位朋友，

當(dāng)前，全球疫情與百年變局交織疊加，人類發(fā)展正面臨前所未有的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)和挑戰(zhàn)，迫切需要國際社會(huì)齊心協(xié)力，合作應(yīng)對(duì)。個(gè)別國家以“民主領(lǐng)袖”自居，召集什么“民主峰會(huì)”，人為把世界各國分成三六九等，貼上“民主”和“非民主”標(biāo)簽，對(duì)各國民主制度說三道四，指手畫腳，這是假民主之名、行反民主之實(shí)。這種做法對(duì)國際社會(huì)團(tuán)結(jié)合作沒有任何好處，對(duì)世界發(fā)展也不會(huì)有任何裨益。

民主說到底就是要食人間煙火，時(shí)刻問政于民、問需于民、造福于民，而不是高居廟堂、高談闊論、遠(yuǎn)離人民。面對(duì)動(dòng)蕩不定的世界，國際社會(huì)當(dāng)務(wù)之急仍是繼續(xù)抗擊新冠疫情。全球被新冠病毒奪去生命的人數(shù)已超過520萬，其中美國一國就有80萬之多，我們對(duì)此深感痛心，絕不能允許這樣的人間悲劇再繼續(xù)下去。據(jù)世衛(wèi)組織預(yù)計(jì)，世界上仍有80多個(gè)國家在年底前無法實(shí)現(xiàn)40%成年人接種疫苗的目標(biāo)，其中許多是非洲國家，而來勢(shì)洶洶的“奧密克戎”新冠毒株正在嚴(yán)重威脅非洲人民的生命安全。中國一直在向非洲人民伸出援手，日前習(xí)近平主席在出席中非合作論壇第八屆部長級(jí)會(huì)議上宣布了中國援助非洲的一系列重大舉措，其中包括再向非州國家提供10億劑疫苗，援助實(shí)施10個(gè)醫(yī)療衛(wèi)生項(xiàng)目，派遣1500名醫(yī)療隊(duì)員和公共衛(wèi)生專家，等等。除了新冠疫情，氣候變化、經(jīng)濟(jì)通脹、能源安全、難民移民等一系列挑戰(zhàn)也十分嚴(yán)峻，迫切需要各國團(tuán)結(jié)合作，共謀對(duì)策。讓我們還是回歸民主的本質(zhì)，多接地氣，多關(guān)心民生，多造福人民吧。

以上就是我的致辭。希望對(duì)大家接下來的討論有所助益和啟發(fā)。最后，預(yù)祝本次對(duì)話會(huì)取得圓滿成功！謝謝大家！

2021年12月2日，北京國際俱樂部

On Democracy, the People Know the Best

– Remarks by Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng at “A Dialogue on Democracy” 

Le Yucheng

Distinguished Friends,

Good afternoon! I’m very glad to join you again in this dialogue.

Recently, democracy is being widely discussed around the world. This should have been a good thing. But a very few countries are using democracy as a cover: they twist its essence, and willfully set its standards. They even take democracy as a political tool for selfish gains, and build small blocs to create division and confrontation in the world. This obviously runs against the spirit of democracy.

Therefore, today’s dialogue on democracy is very necessary. Through our interaction, we hope to clear up confusion, promote right conceptions, and look for the right way of democracy. I wish to share with you a few of my thoughts.

The first question I’d like to answer is: Is China a democracy or not? Some in the West claim that there seems to be no democracy in China, and that the Communist Party of China is just authoritarian and autocratic. In their eyes, although China has created many miracles of long-term stability, rapid development and poverty reduction, and the government has the universal support of the Chinese people, yet China is still a country without democracy and without human rights.

This actually reveals their hostile mindsets and intentions, namely, democracy is just a tool to repress anyone who disagrees with them and to contain the development of other countries.

This year marks the 100th birthday of the CPC. For 100 years, China has never stopped its efforts to pursue and advance democracy. Many people have watched The Age of Awakening, a popular TV series. I was deeply impressed by one of the scenes – Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao and other CPC founders walking back and forth on a muddy path in the early 20th century, looking for ways to democracy and freedom.

Starting from that muddy path, the CPC led the Chinese people on a great journey of the century. In the early 1930s, the CPC established the congress of workers, peasants and soldiers in Ruijin, capital of the Chinese Soviet Republic. While in Yan’an, peasants, who could not read, would vote for their ideal candidates by casting beans as ballots. U.S. journalist Edgar Snow was deeply impressed by his visit to Yan’an. He said what he saw there was the best of human history, and a light of rejuvenation in the East.

After the founding of the People’s Republic, China’s democracy has stepped into a new stage, and made steady and historic progress. In particular, since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has deepened the knowledge on the laws of democracy, and proposed the important concept of “whole-process people’s democracy”. This is a major innovation on the people’s democratic system. Socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics is now in a new era.

Many of my colleagues and friends hope to see sequels to The Age of Awakening. I would ask them: Don’t you think the prosperous, dynamic, free and democratic China today is the best sequel? Our forefathers’ dream of democracy is now a reality, and the whole-process people’s democracy is the best answer to their life-long struggle.

China’s whole-process people’s democracy is not for the few or an interest group. It is for the majority and the whole Chinese people. All the 2.62 million deputies in the five levels of people’s congresses, from the National People’s Congress down to provinces, cities, counties, and townships, are elected by the people. The people in China participate extensively in state affairs, especially local-level governance, to exercise their constitutional rights. Among the deputies to the 13th National People’s Congress, frontline workers, farmers and people with special skills take up a much bigger share. This shows the broadness of the NPC deputies and the extensive political participation by the people.

China’s whole-process people’s democracy is not a show, or a formality. It truly makes the people happy, and improves their well-being. In the past decades, more than 800 million Chinese have been lifted out of extreme poverty, a miracle unseen anywhere in the world. China has also built the world’s largest social security system and healthcare system, covering more than 1.3 billion people.

Jobs are the most important part of people’s well-being. More than 10 million new jobs were created each year for 15 consecutive years, a number equivalent to the population of a mid-sized country. So far, 1.08 billion Chinese have been fully vaccinated against COVID. And community workers in the 600,000 communities across China are keeping up to speed everyone’s vaccination.

China’s whole-process people’s democracy is not the kind that wakes up at the time of voting and goes back to dormant afterwards. Instead, it ensures that the people have the full right to know, to express, and to supervise. It means that the people participate in every part of democracy. “From the people, to the people” – this is an important way of China’s democratic practices. All major law-making decisions in China are the result of a democratic process. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the public has been called on to comment on 187 draft laws. Around 1.1 million comments were collected, with more than 3 million suggestions. When drafting the 14th Five-Year Plan, the Chinese government also asked the public for advice. On the Internet alone, the government received more than one million proposals.

Both history and reality have fully proved that China’s model of democracy fits in well with its national conditions. It enjoys the support of the people. It is real, effective, and successful democracy. China is indeed a true democratic country. That muddy path in the early 20th century has become a broad, straight road leading the 1.4 billion Chinese people to greater democracy, freedom, prosperity and better lives.

China’s success in democracy highlights an important lesson: transplanted democracy does not work, and countries should not be lectured about how to build their own democracy. In other words, for democracy to succeed in a country, it must take deep roots in that country, and make its own people happy and satisfied.

We in China often say that “language dialects change every ten miles, and folk customs differ every 100 miles”. Even on the Chinese territory, there are many different features— the rich plains in the northeast and the dry yellow northwest, the wet south and the immense grasslands north. Different soils produce different crops and cultures. And that is also true with the diverse world with so many countries. As the saying goes that personality is shaped by the environment, democracy should also be moulded by the conditions on the ground. No two leaves in the world are completely the same. Likewise, a one-size-fits-all model of democracy for the whole world does not exist, and there is no democratic system that can claim to be perfect or superior to others.

If you look at China’s path to democracy in modern times, you will see that we suffered a lot and paid a heavy price by simply copying the models from other countries. If you look at the world, be it in Afghanistan, Libya or Iraq, democracy imposed through color revolutions all ended in catastrophe. And at the end of the day, it is the innocent people that bear the brunt.

Friends,

Our world is going through a pandemic and changes unseen in a century. Humanity faces unprecedented risks and challenges. Now more than ever, the world needs to come together and respond collectively. A certain country is putting together the so-called democracy summit as self-styled leader of democracy. It divides countries into different levels of a hierarchy, labels them as democratic or undemocratic, and points fingers at other countries’ democratic systems. It claims it is doing this for democracy. But this is in fact the very opposite of democracy. It will do no good to global solidarity and cooperation or promote global development.

In essence, democracy needs to be in touch with the people. It needs to keep in mind what policies people want; what their needs are; and how to make their lives better. Democracy is not to be put on a pedestal. It is not about grandstanding. And it should not be out of touch with the general public. In today’s world of uncertainties, fighting COVID-19 remains a top priority. The coronavirus has claimed over 5.2 million lives worldwide. The U.S. alone lost over 800,000 lives to COVID. This is heart-wrenching. This tragedy must not continue. According to the WHO, more than 80 countries are still unable to vaccinate 40 percent of their adults by the end of this year. Many of them are African countries. What is worse, the new and formidable variant Omicron is now posing a severe threat to the African people. To help address these challenges, China has been providing assistance to people in Africa. At the recent Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, or FOCAC, President Xi Jinping announced major steps in support of Africa, including another one billion doses of vaccines to African countries, 10 medical and health projects, and 1,500 medical personnel and public health experts.

In addition to COVID-19, we also face many other challenges including climate change, inflation, energy security, and refugees and migrants. The clock is ticking for all countries to work together to find a solution. Let us return to what democracy is really about, get in touch with the people, and do more to improve their lives.

With that, I conclude my remarks, which I hope would be useful and meaningful for your discussions. I wish this dialogue a full success. Thank you.

Beijing International Club, 2 December 2021

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