PUBLICATION: GLOBE AND MAIL
DATE:
MON MAR.15,2004
PAGE:
A10
BYLINE:
GEOFFREY YORK
CLASS:
International News
EDITION:
Metro DATELINE: Beijing China
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Right
to private property enshrined in Chinese constitution
Symbolic
step taken just metres from spot where Mao ushered in communism
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Karl
Marx would not be amused. By an overwhelming vote yesterday, the parliament of
the world's biggest Communist state declared that private property is
"inviolable" and must be given constitutional protection. Just a few
hundred metres from the spot where Mao Zedong proclaimed the arrival of
communism after the 1949 revolution, the Chinese parliament took a huge symbolic
step toward capitalism with the approval of a constitutional amendment to
enshrine private property as an inalienable right.
The
historic decision was almost unanimous -- 2,863 in favour, 10 against and 17
abstentions. The constitution will now say that "lawful private property is
inviolable."
A
separate amendment offers further good news for the private sector by adopting
the so-called "Three Represents" theory of former president Jiang
Zemin, which proclaims that all classes of society -- including entrepreneurs --
should be represented in the Chinese Communist Party.
The
vote came on the final day of the annual parliamentary session, known as the
National People's Congress, as its members met in the Great Hall of the People
on Tiananmen Square.
The
guarantee for private property is a significant victory for entrepreneurs and
business people, who have become politically influential over the past 25 years
as the country shifted away from Maoism. Beginning with its first
market-oriented reforms in 1979, China has triggered an economic boom by
unleashing the capitalist instincts of its people.
China
still officially calls itself a Communist state, but it is increasingly
difficult to recognize any fragments of Marxist theory in the raw capitalism and
pro-business policies of the current regime. The latest constitutional move is
an even more dramatic step on the road away from Marxism. It was Marx who had
insisted that the entire theory of communism could be summarized in just one
phrase: "abolition of private property.
Business
leaders had lobbied for the constitutional guarantee of the right to private
property, believing that it could help them resist the occasional cases of
harassment or expropriation by local government officials.
The
amendment was adopted without debate yesterday, indicating that China's elites
are strongly in favour of the new guarantee. One survey had found that 40 per
cent of big-city respondents were worried about threats to their private
property.
Despite
its symbolism, however, the amendment might not provide much concrete help for
China's private sector.
Chinese
constitutional provisions are often ignored or never translated into useful
measures for ordinary people. Even as it approved the protection for property
rights yesterday, the Congress was also approving an amendment giving a vague
endorsement of human rights -- even though the government has been blatantly
violating human rights for decades.
But
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao promised that the guarantees would be enforced.
"This
amendment to the constitution is of great significance to the citizens of
China," Mr. Wen told a press conference yesterday, insisting that the
parliamentary vote was "a reflection of the will of the Chinese
people."
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NEWS RELEASE - March 8, 2004
CHINA
PROTECTS PROPERTY RIGHTS – NOT CANADA!
“Both
Chairman Mao and Chairman Paul wrote Red Books and then did whatever they
wanted.”
http://www.cssa-cila.org/garryb/breitkreuzgpress/guns116.htm