White paper brings to the fore multiparty system advantages: China Daily editorial

The white paper, China's Political Party System: Cooperation and Consultation, the State Council Information Office published on Friday demonstrates, at least in political terms, the way in which China has progressed from a backward agricultural country to the world's second-largest economy in a matter of just four decades.

It explains in detail not only the structure of the country's multiparty cooperation mechanism, and the nature and dimension of the political consultations under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, which constitute the foundation of the People's Republic's political framework, but also how it works.

Based on the principle of mutual trust and oversight, the CPC and the other eight political parties have established the multiparty cooperation system in which the CPC is the ruling party and the others participate in the government decision-making process under its leadership.

This unique political system is best suited to China's national conditions, and has helped the Party protect the interests of the people and make achievements in many fields including economic and social development since the founding of New China in 1949.

The other political parties, whose members comprise professional elites from all walks of life and represent the interests of different sections of society, not only provide the CPC with professional advice on policymaking, but also supervise the operations of the CPC. That's why China is free of the divisive and costly partisan politics, a hallmark of the Western political structure, and can focus on improving the lives and livelihoods of the people.

That some developed, and so-called democratic countries, have been fooled by the United States into joining it to curb China's peaceful rise and smear the CPC can be attributed to their lack of understanding of China's unique political system, or their blind belief in the superiority of their own political system.

So when the so-called champions of democracy call for diversity in politics, they actually want political uniformity, that is, they expect all countries to follow the Western "democratic" system of having a ruling and an opposition party.

Despite the triumphant claim of the West three decades ago, history has not ended nor has the superiority of the Western political system been established as a universal truth.

China's achievements and the contributions it has made to global peace and development, by reducing poverty and fighting climate change, would not have been possible had it followed the Western model of democracy. Which shows the effectiveness and efficiency of its multiparty cooperation mechanism.

The US is desperate to isolate China from the international community and check its rise because it fears losing its global hegemony, and claim over democracy.

But whether the US likes it or not, China will continue to learn from other countries and draw lessons from its past to improve its political system and better serve people both at home and the rest of the world by adapting to changes.