Written by Laurence Brahm - Published by South China Morning Post on 11/16/2002

History is being made with blending of private enterprise principles into the party’s doctrine

THE OPENING OF THE 16th party congress seemed as much like a curtain closing on an era as the commencement of a new one under the party's leadership. On the podium were not on1y the Standing Committee and Politburo members, but two generations of surviving leaders.

Wan Li and Bo Yibo, two of the surviving "eight immortals" of Deng-era politics, appeared together with Hua Guofeng, Mao Zedong's hand-picked successor sidelined and retired by Deng Xiaoping, together with Wang Dongxíng, once Mao's personal bodyguard and commander of the legendary proletarian guard which arrested the Gang of Four. Even Qíao Shi, ousted in the 15th party congress by Mr Jíang, was there to say farewell. There was a 1ot of history on the podium.

In a way congress seemed permeated with a feeling of signing off to a historic epoch as Mr. Jiang delivered his opening address, effectively his grand farewell speech. Official Media emphasised the accomplishments of the outgoing general secretary, the most clear being official amendments to the party constitution incorporating Mr Jíang's “Theory of the Three Representatives” as the party's guiding principle. This now makes Jíang theory equivalent to Mao Thought and Deng Theory. In another sense, maybe the party had just decided to put three decades of painful ideological transformation into perspective.

At the third plenum of the 11th party congress in 1978, Deng Xiaopíng challenged Mao's successor, Hua Guofeng, who insisted on the Mao 1íne. Deng argued pragmatism, sticking with the relevant, while pushing forward ideological parameters alongside requirements of economic development.

The year 1987 proved to be another Deng watershed in rewriting party theory, when .the patriarch announced that China was “only in the first stage of socialism”. Deng reinterpreted China’s situation in 1992, calling it a “socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics”, - a theme adopted as the party's guiding torch at the 14th party congress later the same year. But what did he mean by "Chinese characteristics". Many overseas Chinese entrepreneurs implicitly understood, leading to unprecedented inbound investment in China.

It was not until the 15th party congress, when Mr Jiang, at the height of his ostensible power, made additions to party theory in his own right, announcing that Marxism, Leninism and Mao-thought were a very important part of China’s history, emphasizing the word “history”. He added that it would be the “banner of Deng Xiaoping Theory”, or pragmatism, that would "lead China into the new century”. Mr Jiang turned up the heat on melting China's iron rice bowl by emphasizing that the “public sector" was no longer restricted to the state sector which would remain foremost in the national economy, including private enterprise, to co-exist. Now that Mr. Jiang’s “Theory of the Three Representatives” has become enshrined in the party's constitution, he can be said to have fully taken his place in the hierarchy beside Mao and Deng, at least in the party's books. If examined, it is a very well thought out theory for posterity. The first theory, “to represent the broad interests of China's masses" was penned by Mao, not Mr Jíang. The second theory, “to represent advanced productive forces” is a c1ear Dengísm. Mr Jíang can really only ca11 the third theory, “to represent advanced civilization”, his own.

So what does representing “advanced civilization” mean? Everyone in Beijing seems to be asking the question. In short, the party's constituency has changed. No longer representing workers, farmers and soldiers, it now represents a far more complex community, comprising private entrepreneurs who have become the driving force in China’s economy together with an emerging white-collar class. In fact, it has become a conservative pro-business party. This was clear from Mr. Jiang’s words in his opening speech. First, the position of the private entrepreneur wil1 be recognized, together with the contribution to China’s economy and, society. Second, the private economy wi11 be raised to equal status with that of the state in the context of the overall economy. This is one up from the 15th party congress, which relegated the private sector to a mere sidekick. Third, China wil1 adopt a market economy as the fundamental principle of its national economy. C1early, as the 150 party congress marked the transition from planned to market economy closing out the 20th century, so the 16th congress is heralding the mark economy at the opening of the 21 century.

So what wil1 the Fourth Generation with Hu Jintao at the centre, do for an ideological ovation five years from now at the 17th congress? “Capitalism with Chinese characteristics”, perhaps?

Laurence Brahm is a global activist, international mediator, political columnist and author. He is the leading advocate of a fresh development paradigm - The Himalayan Consensus - an innovative approach to development.

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