French President Emmanuel Macron on May 9 in his opening speech at the Conference on the Future of Europe, held in Strasbourg, France, praised what he called the “European model”, with how the European Union fought the COVID-19 pandemic as an example. He said that in this COVID-19 crisis, it is the European model and European cooperation that saved lives. He also denigrated the success of an “authoritarian regime” in containing the spread of the novel coronavirus, accusing the “authoritarian regime” of questioning the democratic system in the name of efficiency.
The EU sees itself as another pole in the multipolar global power balance. It is understandable for Macron to hype the “European model” so hard, but he should not overlook the fact that Germany and some other Western countries are copying the “China model”.
Six days before Macron delivered the speech mentioned above, the center-right German weekly magazine Focus published an opinion article penned by Gabor Steingart, former chief editor of German newspaper Handelsblatt (2010-18), under the headline “Silent system change — we are copying the Chinese model, but hardly anyone noticed”. In the commentary, he said the West is experiencing a silent system change never seen in history by way of the “growing role of the state in the market”, and it was inspired by the success of the Chinese model. He even described China as “becoming the pacemaker of our time”. He added that the core of Germany’s free-market economy depends on the free economic order supported by social stability, but it has passed its prime. In today’s system competition, he asserts, Western countries, instead of shunning the Chinese model altogether, responded to it with their own brands of state capitalism, including the central bank playing a crucial role in stimulating the economy; the government starting to standardize social welfare; the state becoming a main advocate of electric automobiles and the digital economy in response to climate change; the state continuing to borrow money while making laws and regulations for private enterprises as well as directly intervening in economic activities; and last but not the least, the West learning from China.
Macron did not define the “European model” but insisted it was a stark contrast to the “authoritarian regime”. In this respect, Steingart apparently does not share Macron’s view.
The truth is found in the real world, not whoever holds more power. In the real world, mankind exists with multiple civilizations. The COVID-19 pandemic has quickened the pace of a paradigm shift in the global power balance from the West to the East unseen in a century. The Chinese nation aims to achieve its great rejuvenation by the middle of this century, which should be a logical outcome of the country’s relentless development. But what China pursues is not hegemony but a shared future for mankind. While the Western capitalist system finds itself in a big predicament, we Chinese people are not exporting the “Chinese model” anyhow.
In the Feb 23 issue of the Wall Street International magazine, there is a letter from Michael von der Schulenburg, former UN assistant secretary-general, to Roberto Savio, a celebrated political commentator, social activist and founder of the Inter Press Service. Under the headline “Is American democracy failing its people?” Schulenburg points out in the letter: “Present developments in the United States remind me of what I have seen happening in the many countries I worked in where states began failing and descending into armed conflicts with violent opposition groups.” He also lists five typical precursors for countries sliding into violent intrastate conflicts: deepening geographical divisions; truth is the first victim of any conflict; seeing opponents as enemies; declining trust in democratic institutions; availability of arms and willingness to use them. All five precursors were found in the US when he wrote the letter.
Some characters in the West keep smearing China but cannot find any of the five precursors associated with the nation of 1.4 billion. During the “black revolution” in Hong Kong, which turned violent in June 2019 through the end of June 2020, people witnessed three of the five signs — namely, truth being the first victim of any conflict; seeing opponents as enemies; and declining trust in the existing governance institutions.
The recent revelation that the sensational story of a young woman losing an eye to a beanbag fired by police during a street riot in 2019 was completely made up qualifies as a perfect example of the second sign. That happened because Hong Kong society was divided on purpose by people who force their political standing on others by any means imaginable. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government could not contain the chaotic situation effectively for months on end mainly because it did not have sufficient political prowess to counter the anti-China forces commanded and supported by US- and UK-led Western powers. Its shortage of political prowess, meanwhile, can be traced back to failure to complete national security legislation according to Article 23 of the Basic Law in 2003 and loopholes in the existing electoral system that allowed anti-establishment forces, including separatists, to infiltrate the Legislative Council as well as other governing bodies.
The National Security Law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, promulgated by the National People’s Congress in June last year, and the decision to improve Hong Kong’s electoral system through local legislation, also by the NPC, have brought the HKSAR back on the right track of exercising “one country, two systems” faithfully and consistently. Contrary to what detractors everywhere have said, the National Security Law promulgation and improving the electoral system through local legislation were both achieved within the “one country, two systems” framework and precisely according to its original intent, which is a special part of the China model as we know it. It is consultative democracy combined with electoral democracy to build a consensus for the common good. Governance by patriots will end sociopolitical division. Truth will never fall victim to political prejudice again, allowing Hong Kong to embrace and enjoy the excellent governance it deserves.
The author is a senior research fellow of China Everbright Holdings.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.