Wei
Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A836-W534
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号： A836-W534
Release
Date: September 1, 2014
发布日：2014年9月1日
Topic:
The Way Out for China (Part CI): Rule of Law is a Prerequisite to
Anti-corruption -- Wei Jingsheng
标题：《中国的出路》之一百零一：法治是反腐败的首要条件
-- 魏京生
Original
Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)
此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）
Note:
Please use "Simplified Chinese (GB2312)" encoding to view the Chinese
parts of this release. If this
mail does not display properly in your email program, please send your request
for special delivery to us or visit:
http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2014/report2014-09/WeiJS140901ChinaWayOut101RuleOfLawA836-W534.htm which
contains identical information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The
Way Out for China (Part CI): Rule of Law is a Prerequisite to Anti-corruption
--
Wei Jingsheng
The
rule of law, by definition, is nation and society governance according to the
law. It consists of two basic
elements: the first is the establishment of the Constitution and the law, and
the second is the implementation of the Constitution and the law. Both are indispensable. The reality after the Communist Party
took over China is that both are substandard, even perverse.
When
the Chinese Communist Party established its first constitution after it took
over China, its leader Mao Zedong and his partisans were feeling
uncomfortable. At formal meetings,
Mao Zedong criticized "the Constitution supremacists" and encouraged
lawlessness. With his usual sophistry,
Mao illustrated that the Kuomintang established and implemented a Constitution,
and to the end the Communist Party kicked it to Taiwan. Through this example, Mao implied that
an established constitution should not be implemented in earnest; it should
only be used to deceive the world.
In
the past sixty-some years, the whole Communist regime has understood the
constitution and law through this model.
Even the average Chinese have recognized this situation, thus they have
to understand the Communist constitution and law through this model. When the average Chinese tried to
reason with the Communist officials according to the constitution and law, they
always got mocked and despised, and were considered as vexatious.
The
Chinese people have been accustomed to this reality. It makes a stark contrast to the American people who could
have armed confrontation against police while hold up their constitution. This contrast illustrates the
difference between the Constitution and the law of a democratic system and the
Constitution and law of despotism.
Some time ago, militia in Nevada were organized and held the
constitutional amendment against armed police. Finally, the federal government ordered the police to
retreat and recognized the constitutional authority. No matter how many legitimate reasons, the authority of the
Constitution and the law cannot be broken.
On
the contrary is the situation in China.
Because the establishment of the Constitution and the law was for the
purpose of deceit, safeguarding people's rights in accordance with the
Constitution and the law are bound to be suppressed. Starting from the Cultural Revolution, there has been civil
resistance in all sectors of society in an attempt to maintain the
constitutional rights. It reached
the climax of the Xidan Democracy Wall period in the late 1970's. This outpouring indirectly affected the
internal struggle within the Communist Party and thus the Chinese Constitution
had its opportunity to turn into reality instead of lie.
Once
the constitution becomes a reality, it would be bound to shake the Communist
one-party dictatorship. The
Communist Party headed by Deng Xiaoping had a clear mind on this. After Deng Xiaoping started the
Sino-Vietnamese War and established his own authority, the first thing he did
was to eliminate the Democracy Wall, and nipped the bud of this movement of
people to defend their rights and interests in accordance with the
Constitution.
But
a single spark can start a prairie fire.
In the late 1970's and early 1980's, democracy movements came one after
another in China. It penetrated
from outside the Communist Party into the party, and even received the
recognition and sympathy from all levels of Communist Party members. This penetration was the reality that
the authoritarian faction led by Deng Xiaoping could not tolerate yet was
unable to stop. After they
destroyed the physical presence of the Democracy Wall, they took away the legal
basis for such activity, which were the four big freedoms as stipulated in the
Constitution; to summarize them into simply one -- freedom of speech.
What
they took away was neither legitimate nor reasonable. Further the people would not recognize it. So when the Chinese Communist regime
put out its new constitutional amendments, it added to the unreasonable
"four basic principles" into the constitution to stipulate that the
Communist Party is in a position above the Constitution and the laws. Thus it completely tore off the
camouflage of the swindler, expressing clearly that the constitution in China
is not a constitution of the people, but a constitution for a handful of
Communist leaders to enslave people across the country, a constitution of
feudal serfdom.
Not
coincidently, but inevitably, since this fundamental change of the constitution
in China corrupt officials have sprung up like bamboo shoots after the spring
rains. Only a few years later,
their development had caused great anger among the Chinese people, thus
triggering the 1989 democracy movement.
After the democracy movement was suppressed again, these corrupt
officials have become like freed mustangs without fetters, galloping forward to
achieve the highest levels of corruption in ancient and modern times, both in
foreign lands and in China.
Is
any natural association there? Of
course there is. Foreign
philosophers long ago summarized it as "power tends to corrupt, and
absolute power corrupts absolutely."
In examining the corruption in China carefully, we can confirm this
truth. When all power is
concentrated in the hands of a handful of people, they must protect
themselves. The higher the degree
of power concentration, the greater the corruption. The more unified the Party officials were, the lower the
likelihood of corruption exposure.
Only
in the change of guard of officialdom with the need to get rid of a lot of the
old bureaucracy will the Communist regime come up with some hapless scapegoats
to appease the resentment of the people, in an effort to defraud the trust of
the people. It was the same in
Ancient times, when a large-scale cleanup of corrupt bureaucrats occurred after
the new emperor ascended the throne or reign himself. But the political structure did not really change, so the
cleanup of corruption tended to be anticlimactic. Soon it would rise again and return everything as it was
before.
The
Communist regime has mobilized all propaganda tools both inside and outside
China to tout the anti-corruption campaign of its leader Xi Jinping. But as Xi Jinping sends some type of
inspection teams of imperial minister style on one hand, and attacks people's
effort to expose corruption on the Internet on the other hand, we could tell
that Xi Jinping's anti-corruption remains its mode of protecting its own
officials. That is the mode of
inevitable failure, or a mode that attempts fooling the Chinese people.
Can
we jump out of this model? Of
course, we can. We could use a
mode of anti-corruption participated in by all the people. However, this mode of public
participation must protect people's freedom of speech and limit the power of
government to suppress public opinion.
Relying on a rule of law model of one-party dictatorship, certainly it
will not protect the rights of the people. People virtually have no rights and freedom within this mode
of one-party dictatorship, but a dictatorship of either layers of dictatorship
by individuals or an authoritarian autocratic clique. No matter how Xi Jinping reforms in this mode, it will be
only minor repairs and be unable to solve the fundamental problem. Therefore it is impossible to have a
real effect.
What
kind of rule of law can have a real effect? When the political opposition stares at you professionally,
when tens of millions of eyes of the people and the media stare at you, you
would not dare to reach your corrupt hands out. Those who do dare to reach out with their hands of
corruption, would not have a very high success rate. This is the root reason why the Western democracies could
curb corruption effortlessly.
Xi
Jinping has repeatedly claimed that his reforms will not waver one-party
dictatorship. So his rule of law
and reform will not be successful.
Further, from the perspective of anti-corruption, he could not even
reach the level of Mao Zedong, but to the most the level of the Qing Emperor
Jiaqing. In the Qing dynasty it
could extend the life of the dynasty, but in modern times, the effect to extend
life is probably minimal.
To
hear Mr. Wei Jingsheng's related commentary, please visit:
http://www.weijingsheng.org/RFA/RFA2014/WeiJS140813ChinaWayOut101RuleOfLaw.mp3
(Written
and recorded on August 13, 2014.
Broadcasted by Radio Free Asia.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
This
is a message from WeiJingSheng.org
The
Wei Jingsheng Foundation and the Overseas Chinese Democracy Coalition are
dedicated to the promotion of human rights and democratization in China. We appreciate your assistance and help
in any means. We pledge solidarity
to all who struggle for human rights and democratic governance on this
planet.
You
are welcome to use or distribute this release. However, please credit with this foundation and its website
at: www.weijingsheng.org
Although
we are unable to afford to pay royalty fees at this time, we are seeking your
contribution as well. You may send
your articles, comments and opinions to: HCP@weijingsheng.org. Please remember, only in text files,
not in attachments.
For
website issues and suggestions, you may contact our professional staff and web
master at: webmaster@Weijingsheng.org
To
find out more about us, please also visit our websites at: www.WeiJingSheng.org
and www.ChinaLaborUnion.org for news and information for Overseas Chinese
Democracy Coalition and human rights and democracy movement as whole,
especially our Chinese Labor Union Base.
You
may contact Ciping Huang at: HCP@Weijingsheng.org or
Wei
Jingsheng Foundation office at: 1-202-270-6980
Wei
Jingsheng Foundation's postal address is:
Wei
Jingsheng Foundation, P. O. Box 15449, Washington, DC 20003, USA
You
are receiving this message because you had previous shown your interest in
learning more about Mr. Wei Jingsheng and the Chinese Democratic Movement. To be removed from the list, simply
reply this message and use "unsubscribe" as the Subject. Please allow us a few days to process
your request.
*****************************************************************
中文版
Wei
Jingsheng Foundation News and Article Release Issue: A836-W534
魏京生基金会新闻与文章发布号： A836-W534
Release
Date: September 1, 2014
发布日：2014年9月1日
Topic:
The Way Out for China (Part CI): Rule of Law is a Prerequisite to
Anti-corruption -- Wei Jingsheng
标题：《中国的出路》之一百零一：法治是反腐败的首要条件
-- 魏京生
Original
Language Version: Chinese (Chinese version at the end)
此号以中文为准（英文在前，中文在后）
如有中文乱码问题，请与我们联系或访问:
http://www.weijingsheng.org/report/report2014/report2014-09/WeiJS140901ChinaWayOut101RuleOfLawA836-W534.htm
-----------------------------------------------------------------
《中国的出路》之一百零一：法治是反腐败的首要条件
-- 魏京生
法治，顾名思义就是依法治理国家和社会。它包括两个基本内容：第一是宪法和法律的制定，第二是宪法和法律的执行。二者缺一不可。中共执政后的现实，是两者都不合格，甚至倒行逆施。
中共执政后制定第一部宪法时，毛泽东和他的党徒们就觉得很不舒服。毛泽东在正式会议上就批判宪法至上主义，并且鼓动无法无天。毛泽东用他一贯的诡辩手法，举例说明国民党制定并且实行宪法，最后还是被共产党赶到台湾去了。以此暗示制定宪法不可以认真执行，那只不过是用来欺骗世人的谎言而已。
六十多年来，中共的上上下下都是按照这个模式来理解宪法和法律。甚至老百姓也早就看清了形势，不得不按这个模式来理解共产党的宪法和法律。当老百姓拿出宪法和法律跟当官的论理的时候，一律遭到讥诮和鄙视，继而被认为是无理取闹。
这个被中国老百姓见惯不怪的现实，和美国老百姓可以手拿宪法武装对抗军警，恰好形成了鲜明的对比，说明了民主的宪法和法律与专制的宪法和法律之间的区别。前一段时间美国内华达州的民兵，手拿宪法修正案组织武装对抗军警。最终得到的是联邦政府下令撤退军警，认可了宪法的权威性。不管有多少正当的理由，宪法和法律的权威不容破坏。
在中国情况恰恰相反。制定宪法和法律既然是为了欺骗，那么按照宪法和法律维护人民权利，就必然要遭到镇压。从文化大革命时期开始，社会各阶层维护宪法权利的民间反抗，风起云涌，到七十年代末的西单民主墙时期形成了高潮。这间接影响了共产党内的斗争，宪法开始有了可以变成现实而不是谎言的机会。
宪法一旦变成了现实，必然会动摇共产党一党专政的政权。以邓小平为首的中共对此保持着清醒的头脑。在对越战争树立了权威之后，邓小平做的第一件事就是消灭民主墙，将人民依照宪法维护自己权利和利益的运动消灭于萌芽之中。
但是星星之火可以燎原。七十年代末和八十年代初的民主运动此起彼伏，从党外延伸到了党内，甚至获得了各级党员的认可和同情。这是邓小平为首的专制派不可容忍而又难以阻止的现实。在消灭了民主墙的物质存在之后，又取消了民主墙的法律依据。这就是宪法中所规定的四大自由，简单说就是言论自由。
这种取消既不合法也不合理，更不会被老百姓认可。于是中共在修订新的宪法时，又加上了蛮不讲理的四项基本原则。而且以宪法形式规定了共产党高踞于宪法和法律之上的地位。同时也就是彻底地撕下了骗子的伪装，明示了中国的宪法不是全国人民的宪法，而是一小撮党棍们奴役全国人民的、封建农奴制的宪法。
并不是巧合，而是必然的，在宪法做了这个根本性的修改之后，贪官污吏便如雨后春笋一般地茁壮成长起来。仅仅几年之后就发展到引起人民极大的愤怒，成为引发一九八九年民主运动的导火索。在民主运动被再一次镇压下去之后，贪官污吏们就像解脱了羁绊的野马一样飞奔向前，成就了古今中外最高水平的贪污腐败文化。
这里边有什么必然的联系吗？当然有。外国的先哲们早就总结出来了，叫做绝对的权力导致绝对的腐败。细看我们中国的腐败，印证了这条真理。所有的权力集中在一小撮人的手里，他们必然官官相护。集中的程度越高，贪污腐败的胆子越大。党官们团结得越紧密，腐败穿帮的可能性越低。
只有在官场换届，需要大量淘汰旧官僚时，中共才会拿出一部分倒霉蛋来平民愤，骗取人民的信任。古代也是一样，大规模清理腐败官僚一般也就是发生在新皇帝登基或亲政之后。但是政治结构不改变，这种清理腐败往往是虎头蛇尾，很快就沉渣泛起，一切如故了。
中共动员了国内外所有的宣传工具吹捧习近平的反腐败运动。但从习近平一边派一些钦差大臣式的巡视组，一边打击人民以网络揭发腐败来看，习近平的反腐败仍然是官官相护的模式。那仍然是必然失败的模式，或者说是忽悠老百姓的模式。
能不能跳出这种模式呢？当然能。这就是全民参与到反腐败之中的模式。但是这种全民参与的模式就必须保障人民的言论自由，限制官方压制舆论的权力。靠一党专政的法治模式肯定无法保障人民的权利。这种一党专政的模式实际上没有人民的权利和自由，只有层层个人独裁或小集团独裁的专制。无论习近平在这个模式内怎样改革，都只能是小修小补，不解决根本问题。因此也就不可能有真正的效果。
什么样的法治能有真正的效果呢？当政治反对派以专业的眼光盯着你的时候，当人民和媒体的千万只眼睛有权利盯着你的时候，你才真的不敢伸手。在这样的环境下胆敢冒险伸手的人，成功率也不会很高。这就是西方民主国家能够毫不费力地遏制住腐败的根本原因。
习近平一再宣称他的改革不会动摇一党专政。所以他的什么法治啦，改革啦一定不会成功。而且从反腐败的角度看，他连毛泽东的水平也达不到，最多不过是清朝嘉庆皇帝的水平。在清朝还可以延缓皇朝的寿命，在现代可能连延缓寿命的效果也微乎其微。
聆听魏京生先生的相关录音，请访问：
http://www.weijingsheng.org/RFA/RFA2014/WeiJS140813ChinaWayOut101RuleOfLaw.mp3
（撰写并录音于2014年8月13日。自由亚洲电台播出。）
-----------------------------------------------------------------
魏京生基金会及中国民主运动海外联席会议以推动中国的人权与民主为己任。
我们欢迎任何形式的帮助与贡献。我们愿与世界上为人权与民主而奋斗的人们一起努力。
我们希望您能够帮助我们散发我们的资料。但请标明出处与我们的网址：www.weijingsheng.org
欢迎投稿（暂无稿费）或批评建议，请寄信箱： HCP@WEIJINGSHENG.ORG
魏京生基金会通讯地址：
Wei
Jingsheng Foundation, P. O. Box 15449, Washington, DC 20003, USA
电话： 1-202-270-6980
魏京生基金会网址：WWW.weijingsheng.org
中国民主运动海外联席会议及中国团结工会的网址为：www.ChinaLaborUnion.org
阁下之所以收到本信，是因为阁下以前曾表示有兴趣了解魏京生先生和中国民主运动。
倘若阁下希望不再收到类似信息，请回复本信并用 unsubscribe 作为主题(Subject)。