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China National Day

October 1, 2011 by · Comments Off on China National Day 

China National Day

China National Day, China’s leaders marked the National Day with an appearance in Tiananmen Square in Beijing after Prime Minister Wen Jiabao promised greater “democracy” and the rights of individuals.

President Hu Jintao, Wen and senior leaders of the Communist Party, on Saturday fell on the huge square and bowed to the monument to the revolutionary martyrs, as it marked the 62 anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

In a speech Friday night, Wen pledged to address larger social problems in China, including rising inflation, the yawning income gap, unemployment, food security, corruption, environmental destruction and social injustice .

“We will make great efforts to ensure and improve democracy and solve the problems that most concern people and that most directly involve their interests,” Wen said in his speech posted Saturday on government websites.

“We will make an effort to advance the reform and opening and further stimulate the economy, political system reform, cultural and social development. We will make a great effort to safeguard social justice and ensure people’s democratic rights and judicial impartiality. ”

But for “democracy”, the communist leaders of China does not mean multiparty competition for power at the polls, usually refers instead to the discussions within the ruling elite.

During his speech, Wen stressed that the nation would adhere to a “socialism with Chinese characteristics”, the code of the refusal of the dictatorship of a party to tolerate the separation of powers is seen in governments around the world.

However, “… we must dare to study and learn from outstanding achievements produced by all the nations of the world and make contributions to the advancement of human civilization,” said Wen.

In recent years, China has witnessed an unprecedented number of street protests often aimed at government graft and the growing wealth gap, Wen problems previously attributed political system and an excessive concentration of power among officials.

In response, has repeatedly pledged to advance democracy and human rights, as well as his government has cracked down on any signs of discontent and jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize a year ago.

The repression was further strengthened in February, with leading rights activists and lawyers disappeared in police custody without charges amid calls internet anonymous Moorish protests in China.

Wen’s remarks also come as the nation’s parliament deliberating amendments to the penal code that allows police to detain suspects in secret for up to six months without charges and without notifying their families.

Activists and human rights groups have denounced loudly amendments as a blatant violation of human rights.

China’s crackdown on dissidents is likely to continue at least until late next year when a key party congress announced a new leadership, followed by the removal of Hu and Wen in early 2013, said Willy Lam, a leading expert on China University of Hong Kong China.

“Wen Jiabao, is still a minority in the kind of leadership in political reform … is a voice in the wilderness,” Lam told AFP.

“Wen is determined to persevere until their mandate is, but there is no possibility that the collective leadership to make the decision to revive or continue the policy reform in terms of facts … there has been a decline in political reform. “

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