Ideology versus practice: China's growing problem.

• Author: Peng, Tao
• Position: Essay

Tao Peng urges Beijing to seek new political perspectives to remove the contradiction between its political ideologies and practices.

On 10 October 2012, Gong Fanbin, a professor at Chinas University of National Defence, (1) claimed in an article published on the official website of the People's Daily that the reason for the repeatedly postponed political reforms in China is not a fear of the consequences on the part of the Communist Party of China (CCP). It is, rather, in large part because the party is reluctant to face up to the likely theoretical implications, given that the existing, obsolete theory conflicts with modern political, economic and social developments in the country. According to Gong Fanbin, the CCP's political ideological attitude is not consistent with the ruling practice. Chinas leaders have not worked out a modern or new political approach in the new political environment in the country.

On 6 October 2012, a newspaper of the CCP's Central Committee, Study Times, published similar articles, which made it clear that the CCP's leadership has not built an effective and compelling value system. (2) The result is a kind of value confusion in political practice. "This shows that some Chinas intellectual elites and government think tanks have recognised that political values and political philosophy in China have changed over time and that Chinese politics lacks new theories or theoretical foundations. The views of Chinese reformers suggest that they will seek gradually to persuade the leadership to abandon the theories of Marxism, Leninism and Maoism and develop a new way of thinking for future political practice in order to reduce the huge gap between political theory and practice.

Several members of the CCP leadership have encouraged rumours of 'political reform', with the press representative of the state observing that: 'If we do not reform the political system our politics would fall into an impasse.' Some political advisers have appealed to the Chinese regime to abandon the old political concept in order to work out a new theory. This is a logical consequence of the year-long conflict between CCP's political ideology and practice.

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After Deng Xiaoping criticised the left ideology of Mao Zedong and promoted the emancipation of the spirit of the CCP and the implementation of an economic open door policy in 1978, [he political practice of the CCP gradually deviated from Marxism, Leninism and Mao's...