In traditional Chinese political philosophy, there has been a lack of explicit discussion on the power-responsibility relationship or the contract state . Western learning does not lack such content. As Western countries have already resolved the question of power-responsibility correspondence by means of constitutional democracy, it has become a linguistic usage of theirs that is not all too logical but quite harmless in practice to discuss “big and small” questions without taking power and responsibility into account. Yet, were our countrymen, (...) our compatriots, who are first of all muddleheaded about the relationship between power and responsibility, to take over and accept such language as theirs and discuss “their problems,” there would be great harm. If it is a mere academic error to say “State power does not go down to the county level,” which in history is actually “The state is not responsible for anybody and anything below the county level,” then the following will bring real harm. (shrink)

There is little doubt that China's reform can be seen as a special case in the history of humanity, of modernization, and even in the relatively short history of economic transition. In terms of market-oriented choice, reform in China is not different from that in most countries in the world. With respect to the transition from a command to a market-based economy, comparable countries could be narrowed down to most of the former communist states that bear similarity. When taking into (...) consideration the circumstances in which the ongoing corporatization and/or privatization take place under the conditions of a regime that is nondemocratic in both polity and, to a large extent, resource allocation, however, the matching number of countries would be further reduced to a few, such as Vietnam and some autocratic small nations. Again, among these few, China's reform has its own specific features. (shrink)

There is little doubt that China's reform can be seen as a special case in the history of humanity, of modernization, and even in the relatively short history of economic transition. In terms of market-oriented choice, reform in China is not different from that in most countries in the world. With respect to the transition from a command to a market-based economy, comparable countries could be narrowed down to most of the former communist states that bear similarity. When taking into (...) consideration the circumstances in which the ongoing corporatization and/or privatization take place under the conditions of a regime that is nondemocratic in both polity and, to a large extent, resource allocation, however, the matching number of countries would be further reduced to a few, such as Vietnam and some autocratic small nations. Again, among these few, China's reform has its own specific features. (shrink)