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发帖数: 3096 | 1 《纽约时报》：揭开西方精英对中国的五大误解
字号:小 大 2011-10-19 18:10 作者：李世默 来源： 四月网 我要评论(1) 分享到
作为世界上最大国家的执政者，中国共产党持续执政已达62年之久。那么迄今为止，中
共的执政业绩到底如何呢？
众所周知，在1949年中共建政以前，由于战火肆虐，外敌横行，中国的国土四分五裂，
满目疮痍；人民普遍食不果腹，人均寿命仅为41岁。但在今天，中国已跻身世界第二大
经济体，成为在全球有重要影响的大国；人民生活迅速改善，人均寿命已达74岁。
但问题还不至于此，对于中共的执政地位，西方的政治和知识精英即使不是直接否定，
也难掩其不快之意。这自然有其原因，在在西方媒体对中国的叙述中，有五大误解流传
甚广，甚嚣一时。以真相揭穿这些误解，已是刻不容缓。
误解一：由于没有选举，中共的执政地位没有得到其治下人民的认可。根据皮尤研究中
心的报告，中国政府享有高度支持，支持率在世界各国中十分靠前；2010年间，中国民
众对国家未来方向的满意度高达87%，这一数字近年来一直保持在80%以上；有66%的民
众相信，未来五年生活会继续改善；有 74%，也即绝大多数的民众对未来五年颇感乐观。
我们不得不问，那些经由选举上台的政府，在这些领域成绩如何呢？难道惟有选举，才
是证明认同以及合法性的唯一途径？
误解二：中国是个威权国家，政治权力高度集中，且自我孳生。中国的最高决策机关，
是中共中央政治局。政治局目前有25名成员，其中仅有7人或有某种财产或权力背景，
即所谓的太子党。至于其余成员，包括国家主席和政府总理，都出身于普普通通的平民
家庭，经过长年奋斗和竞争获得晋升。中央委员会的人数比政治局更多，其中有背景者
的比例就更小了。
若探访中国的那些名牌大学，不难发现中共一直在吸纳年轻一代中最优秀、最聪明的成
员。事实上，中共大概是这个世界上最重选贤任能的政治组织。相比大多数西方国家，
以及绝大多数的发展中国家，中国的政治精英要更为出色。中共依靠这些优势不断自我
更新，这又有何不可呢？
误解三：中国限制言论自由，因此窒息了创新。中国对言论自由无疑是有限制的，尤其
是对政治言论，但这果真损害了中国社会的创新能力吗？
那些最成功的互联网公司，纷纷登陆纽约证交所和纳斯达克，其中有许多都是中国的新
兴公司；在全球可替代能源产业中，中国企业已独占鳌头；中国居民的住房拥有率在
1990年时几乎为零，政策破冰之后，到今天已跃升到至少80%。尽管中国目前还相对贫
穷，但居民的住房拥有率在各国中已经领先。
伦敦皇家学会报告说，就在公认的国际刊物上发表科学论文的数量而言，中国的比例已
从1999年到2003年间的4.4%，增长到2004年到 2008年间的10.2%，仅次于美国。2008年
，中国当代艺术品的拍卖收入超越法国，跃居世界第三。在全世界，作品销量突破百万
大关的艺术家共有35 位，其中有15人是中国人。上述种种事实，难道不是中国社会创
新能力的证明吗？
误解四：由于中共的威权统治，必然导致腐败泛滥。腐败的确是当前中国的一大问题，
对此没有任何人，尤其是中共自己会否认。但归根结蒂，威权统治和腐败又有何关系呢？
据透明国际组织的报告，在全世界最透明，最少腐败的20个国家和地区中，仅有新加坡
、香港、卡塔尔和日本不属于西方世界。而在这其中威权政府就有三个，且恰恰是上述
各国家、地区中仅有的发展中案例。据透明国际统计的透明指数，中国排名第78位，与
代议制民主的国家相比，高于印度的第87位、菲律宾的第134位、印度尼西亚的第110位
、阿根廷的第105位，与希腊的第78位差相仿佛，稍稍低于意大利的第67位。可见，中
国的一党执政，要比许多民主国家更廉洁。
误解五：中国今天成功的原因，仅仅被归结为中共接纳了资本主义和市场经济。根据传
统基金会和《华尔街日报》对经济自由度的年度排名，中国居于第 135位。而在发展中
国家中，有许多国家的该项排名比中国更高，这意味着更激进地拥抱资本主义和市场经
济，如海地、阿尔及利亚、孟加拉、象牙海岸、巴基斯坦、印度尼西亚、菲律宾、肯尼
亚、卢旺达等等。如果中国崛起的秘诀就是市场经济改革，为何那些更早，更激进地实
行市场经济的国家，没有取得更出色的经济成就呢？除了市场经济改革，中国崛起的秘
诀又是什么呢？
那些背离事实，但又纠缠着人们头脑的假想，华而不实且贻害无穷。在对中国的认识上
，类似假想尤其有害，既然这些基于谎言的谬论，至今还在世界各国的政治和知识精英
中间流传，和平的世界秩序就只能是镜花水月。
本文发表于2011年7月19日的《国际先驱论坛报》，题为《Debunking Myths About
China》。
作者李世默（ERIC X. LI）是春秋综合研究院董事会主席，中欧国际工商学院董事会成
员，美国阿斯本研究所研究员。
附英文版原文：
Debunking Myths About China
By ERIC X. LI
The Chinese Communist Party has been running the largest country in the
world for 62 years. How has it done?
We all know the facts: In 1949 when the Communist Party took over, China had
been mired in civil wars and dismembered by foreign aggressions; its people
had suffered widespread famine; average life-expectancy was a mere 41 years
. Today, it is the second largest economy in the world, a great power with
global influence, and its people live in increasing prosperity; average life
expectancy has reached 74 years.
But the assessment has to go deeper than that, for reasons none other than
the apparent discomfort, if not outright disapproval, Western political and
intellectual elites feel toward the Communist Party’s leadership. Five
misconceptions dominate the Western media’s discourse on China. These
misunderstandings need to be debunked by realities.
China does not hold elections, therefore its rulers do not have the consent
of the ruled. According to the Pew Research Center, the Chinese government
enjoys popular support that is among the highest in the world. The Chinese
people’s satisfaction with the direction of their country was at 87 percent
in 2010 and has been consistently above 80 percent in recent years. Sixty-
six percent perceive progress in their lives in the last five years. A
whopping 74 percent are optimistic about the next five years.
We need to ask: How do most governments produced by elections compare with
these numbers? Are elections the only viable way to validate consent and the
legitimacy it brings?
China is an authoritarian state in which the party’s political power is
concentrated and self-perpetuating. The Communist Party’s Politburo, the
highest ruling body, consists of 25 members. Currently, only seven of them
come from any background of wealth or power, the so-called princelings. The
rest of them, including the president and the prime minister, come from
ordinary backgrounds with no special advantages. They worked and competed
all the way to the top. In the larger Central Committee, those with
privileged backgrounds are even scarcer.
A visit to any top university campus in China would make it obvious to
anyone that the Communist Party continues to attract the best and the
brightest of the country’s youth. In fact, China’s Communist Party may be
one of the most meritocratic and upwardly mobile major political
organizations in the world — far more meritocratic than the ruling elites
of most Western countries and the vast majority of developing countries.
What is wrong with self-perpetuation through merits?
China’s restriction on freedom of expression stifles innovation. China no
doubt restricts freedom of expression, especially political speech. But does
that impede innovation in Chinese society?
Some of the most successful IPO’s of Internet companies on the New York
Stock Exchange and Nasdaq have been Chinese startups. Chinese businesses are
well on their way to dominating the global alternative-energy industries.
Breakthroughs in public policy have taken private home ownership from near
zero in 1990 to at least 80 percent today — among the world’s highest, in
this relatively still poor country.
The Royal Society in London reports that China’s share of scientific
research papers published in recognized international journals went from 4.4
percent in the period between 1999-2003 to 10.2 percent in the period
between 2004-2008, now just behind the United States. In 2008, China
overtook France as the world’s number three in contemporary art auction
revenues. Fifteen out of 35 living artists worldwide who command seven-digit
sales for their work are Chinese. If these facts do not demonstrate
innovation, what does?
The Communist Party’s authoritarian rule leads to widespread corruption. No
one, not least the party itself, disputes that corruption is a significant
problem in China. But does authoritarian rule have anything to do with it?
According to Transparency International, the top 20 cleanest (least corrupt)
places worldwide include only four non-Western governments: Singapore, Hong
Kong, Qatar and Japan — three of the four are authoritarian regimes; the
same three are the only ones that belong to the developing world. By
Transparency International’s account, China (78) ranks higher than India (
87), Philippines (134), Indonesia (110), Argentina (105) and many more, and
tied with Greece (78), barely below Italy (67) — all electoral democracies.
Apparently, China’s one-party system is less corrupt than many democratic
countries.
China’s success to date is all due to the party’s embrace of capitalism
and a market economy. According to the Heritage Foundation and The Wall
Street Journal annual ranking of free economies, China ranks 135. Developing
countries that rank above China (showing a stronger embrace of capitalism
and a market economy) include Haiti, Algeria, Bangladesh, Ivory Coast,
Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Kenya, Rwanda — the list goes on. If
market economic reform was the only magic China performed, how come many
other countries that have implemented a market economy much earlier and
deeper than China have not achieved much economic success? What else has
China done?
Hypotheses that do not stand up to facts and yet still dominate people’s
consciousness are specious and harmful. It is especially dangerous in this
case because one cannot imagine a peaceful world order when the political
and intellectual establishment of today’s world powers holds views that are
built on falsehoods.
A version of this op-ed appeared in print on July 19, 2011, in The
International Herald Tribune with the headline: Debunking Myths About China. |
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