Social harmony is more than just a prerequisite for the country
to achieve sustainable development. It is also integral to the
overall well-off society that the Chinese people are striving
for.
The top leaders called on the nation at the recent Fourth Plenum of
the 16th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to build
a harmonious socialist society.
Such high-profile advocacy will definitely give a new impetus to
efforts the country has already been making to address various
problems in social and economic development.
But the width and breadth of social changes the country has
undergone over the past 25 years have made maintaining social
harmony an extremely daunting task, while the nation pursues fast
economic growth.
China has quadrupled its economy within the last two decades of the
20th century. The nation is now set to repeat that growth miracle
in the first two decades of this century.
The call to build a harmonious society means China will maintain
its economic development momentum while preserving its traditional
ethics.
But the growth has not benefited everyone. An increasing number of
crimes over the years has exposed a growing dissatisfaction in the
radical transformation of the economy and society.
On the one hand, a widening income gap, a common problem in the
modernization drive of most developing countries, has become a
focal point of society.
In the early years of the country's reform and opening-up, almost
all people have benefited significantly from the country's economic
progress, which has been achieved mainly by breaking up the
outdated central planning framework.
But as the country undertakes its market-oriented reforms, some
blatant illegal profiteering is being allowed to continue.
At the same time, the government has failed to provide adequate
social security for those left behind, and there has been an
increase in unemployment and urban poverty.
The increasing mobility typified by rural migrant workers who flow
into the cities by the million each year has also become a source
of problems because of the lack of policy to ease social tension on
this huge group.
The widening development gap between urban and rural areas has been
compelling more rural labourers to seek jobs in cities. But the
obsolete urban residence registration system as well as
discriminative education and healthcare systems all make it
difficult for migrant workers to live in urban areas.
Many of these problems stem from the country's excessive stress on
economic development.
We need to look back into the past, traditional Chinese culture for
ideas, if not answers to deal with these emerging challenges.
To build a safer society, the government should turn itself into a
more caring governing body. Fortunately, the central authorities
seem to be coming to grips with this critical issue.
Now it is time for concrete action.
(China Daily September 24, 2004)
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