“If the people are allowed to oversee the government, the government will not dare relax”

I'm posting two translations that I did for our website. Both are at least somewhat related to the milk crisis. This one can also be found here.

By Liao Yimin, translated by Jennifer Haskell

This article's title came from Mao Zedong's 1945 famous "talks in the cave" with Huang Yanpei at Yanan. Today, its use is that it could act as a panacea to solve the "crisis of the ruling."

Calling it a "crisis of the ruling" is not at all excessive. The current poisoned milk incident is the same as the 2003 SARS crisis, as it has caused the whole world to receive a disastrous shock, as thousands upon thousands of children have become sick and thousands upon thousands of households are suffering grief and indignation. Everywhere, without exception, people sigh as they discuss it, and global public opinion is once again focused on China. If it is said that the SARS incident had an element of "natural disaster" (in reality it was a man-made disaster), then the contaminated milk incident is entirely man-made. The reason it is man-made is as Hu Jintao said: some cadres' work style is superficial, management is lax, and they have turned a blind eye to the cries and suffering of the people. They have become apathetic and unresponsive to huge problems related to the safety of people's lives. In short, public authority is lacking; administration doesn't act.

As the people discuss the problem of corruption, they pay more attention to graft and bribery, not realizing that administrative inaction is becoming a more serious and more common image of corruption. Chinese cadres often say that they "represent the people," but in reality: those with "public power" do not administer the law in the people's interests, and they do not act for the people. The people say of the cadres: "In the morning, they have meetings in which they only speak empty words, at lunch they drink Remy Martin, in the afternoon they muddle-headedly do not accomplish anything, and at night they meet bosses and chase women." Because the law is not administered fully, forgery and counterfeiting is increasing, as advertisements for false products are prevalent across the country; it could be called a spectacle. How could officials have missed them? They have seen it but are uncaring and unresponsive. We are not strangers to melamine as last year it was found in dog food exported to the US. Did officials not think to defend against it? They lazily thought about it but did not take responsibility.

In facing cadre apathy, government sluggishness, the people's dissatisfaction, and a crisis of the ruling, what can be done? Education and raising awareness of course are necessary, but neither addresses the root of the problem. In order to resolve the fundamental issue, China only needs to look to the title of this essay and Mao Zedong's "highest directive": "If the people are allowed to oversee the government, the government will not dare relax." How can this "highest directive" be implemented? Li Junru wrote in explanation, we are constantly working hard, but working hard is not enough! Is the contaminated milk incident not enough to proof that our hard work still falls very short of addressing the people's needs? Zhang Chunxian said in Hunan, emancipating the mind means that power needs to be given back to the people. This is exactly the point! Only if you genuinely give power to the people, then the people can sufficiently and effectively oversee the government, and the government will not relax. As Party members take part in activities to study the ideas of scientific development, will we discuss this issue?

To read the article in Chinese, click here.