The Roadmap of the 18th CPC National Congress and the Chinese Dream
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 26, 2014
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There are different views and voices in the international community about the Chinese Dream. Some people recognize and appreciate the idea, while others fail to understand or misinterpreted it, or even link the Chinese Dream with pursuing hegemony and building "peace under the rule of China." President Xi's speech at the First Plenary Session of the Twelfth National People's Congress on March 17th, 2013 offered a more clear and precise interpretation of the Chinese Dream: to realize the goal of completing the construction of a moderately prosperous society and completing the socialist modernization of a prosperous, powerful, democratic, civilized and harmonious society. To realize the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation means achieving the happiness of the people.
The Chinese Dream is a dream about national development, not about achieving hegemony. At the beginning of the modern era, China was impoverished and weak. The Chinese people sustained a hope in their hearts that one day their country would become prosperous and powerful. The word "prosperous" here refers to a wealth that is both material and spiritual, because neither material scarcity nor a spiritual void accord with socialist principles. The word "powerful" here refers to not only to grow in economy, science, and technology but also to progress in other aspects like culture, education, sport, national defense, and ecology. That is to say, the true wealth and strength of a country stem from the realization of the comprehensive, coordinated and sustained scientific development of the country. This has nothing to do with hegemony. At present, China is still far from being wealthy and powerful in many aspects. There is still a very long road to go to meet the requirements of the scientific outlook of development. The "five-in-one" general deployment was proposed in the Report to the 18th CPC National Congress. This is in fact a general deployment to realize the prosperity of the country. To succeed in carrying out the many tasks that accord with this general deployment is the key for China to achieve prosperity, power and strength.
The Chinese Dream is a dream about national dignity, not about empire-building. The Chinese people have deep memories about the past: the gradual decline of the country, the loss of sovereignty, and the humiliations of the nation. They have always expected, and continue to expect, that the day will come when the Chinese nation is rejuvenated and reinvigorated. It means that people will live with a greater degree of fulfillment, and with more dignity. It is not a dream about "returning to the grand Tang Dynasty" or about "building a tributary system centering round China." China wants dignity, and the most important characteristics of this are:
Firstly, it means that China should achieve self-improvement. Backwardness means failure, and self-improvement comes only from development. During more than thirty years of reform and opening up, China has concentrated on building the country and has applied itself wholeheartedly to the pursuit of development, otherwise China would not be where it stands today, and it would not have achieved its current level of respect from so many other countries.
Secondly, it means that China should have self-confidence. How can people achieve self-improvement if they have no confidence in themselves? The 18th CPC National Congress put forward that the path, theory, and system of socialism with Chinese characteristics are the basis for China's self-confidence and strength. The international community need not fear that China will ever seek to export its own path, theory, and system.
The Chinese Dream is a dream about people's happiness, not about constitutionalism. In the final analysis, the Chinese Dream is the dream of the people. Happiness is the core content of the Chinese Dream and also the fundamental values of CPC members. In the view of the CPC, the happiness of the people is inspired more importantly by enjoying more extensive, more satisfactory, and more comprehensive people's democracy, not simply by having a better education, a more stable job, a more satisfactory income, more reliable social security, a higher standard of medical care and service, more comfortable living conditions, and a more beautiful environment, not simply by having the opportunity to achieve a more brilliant career and realize one's dreams, nor simply to grow and progress along with the homeland and the times.
According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, rule by the people satisfies the need of self-actualization, and it is the highest level of happiness. So the first of the eight basic requirements of building socialism with Chinese characteristics in the Report to the 18th CPC National Congress is that the status of the people must be ensured as the main party, the people's rights and interests guaranteed, and the rule by the people safeguarded. In China, the socialist democratic system with Chinese characteristics is the fundamental guarantee of rule by the people. The so-called "dream of constitutional government", which takes the basic political systems of the West such as the "tripartite" political system and the multi-party system as its orientation, cannot bring real and permanent happiness to the Chinese people because it is not compatible with China's national conditions nor with the cultural psychology of the Chinese people.
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