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DE RUEHCN #0146/01 1570920
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
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FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2528
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3057

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000146 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM AND DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  6/6/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SCUL CH
SUBJECT: THE "BALANCES" OF A HARMONIOUS SOCIETY:  PERSPECTIVES OF A 
SICHUAN POLITICAL SCIENTIST 
 
REF: CHENGDU 43 
 
CHENGDU 00000146  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: James Boughner,  Consul General, United States 
Consulate, Chengdu. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  In a recent meeting, the Director of the 
Sichuan Institute of Political Science said the core of the 
Chinese Government's Harmonious Society guiding philosophy is 
the balancing of various interests so everyone can enjoy the 
fruits of development.  In addition, Harmonious Society strives 
to solve disputes, address morality there is already a 
"blueprint" containing goals for Harmonious Society, and those 
goals now need to be proactively implemented.  The media is 
playing a supervision role, but is cautious because of China's 
"sensitive social differences."  The New Socialist Countryside 
construct should be viewed as implementing concrete measures 
such as improvement of "citizen schools" and boarding schools in 
rural areas.  With regard to problems associated with the 
elimination of the agricultural tax, the scholar observed that, 
although the direct burden on rural residents has been 
alleviated, rural villages are struggling and local governments 
are unable to pay their officials.  Hu Jintao's "Socialist Core 
Value System" has accompanied the development of Harmonious 
Society in order to provide people with "spiritual guidance" and 
new rules and standards in the ideological field.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C) Guo Dan (strictly protect), Director of the Institute of 
Political Science at the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences 
(SASS) recently met with Washington visitors from the Bureau of 
Intelligence and Research (INR) and Congenoff.  We had a 
broad-ranging discussion of the "balances" sought by the 
Harmonious Society guiding philosophy as well as the concrete 
measures envisioned for the New Socialist Countryside. 
 
Harmonious Society Aims to Balance Interests 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) Guo noted the core of the Harmonious Society guiding 
philosophy is the balancing of various interests so everyone can 
enjoy the fruits of development.  Now more attention is paid to 
fairness and how to make development more equal, compared to the 
past when economic efficiency was the top goal.  The philosophy 
was put forward because of the various unharmonious elements 
that arose from development -- serious social conflicts and the 
income gap between the rich and the poor.  China's leaders 
believe the single-minded focus on GDP produced some of these 
problems. 
 
. . . To Solve Disputes 
----------------------- 
 
¶4.  (C) In addition to finding balance with regard to 
development, Guo continued, Harmonious Society also seeks to 
solve disputes within society. He explained that there are five 
groups in Chinese society: workers, farmers, entrepreneurs, 
white-collar workers, and government officials.  On the one 
hand, Guo asserted, the impetus for development should not be 
eliminated.  Rather, disputes must be resolved through balance, 
by identifying differences, and by finding a "balance point" in 
society.  Guo said that without this type of resolution, society 
will collapse. For example, in the National People's Congress 
(NPC) political scientists discussed the balance of 
representation in the Congress and decided the number of 
representatives of workers and farmers should increase.  In this 
way, those citizens can express themselves.  In provincial level 
People's Congresses, there should be representatives from the 
migrant community, Guo added. 
 
. . . To Address Morality in Chinese Society 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (C) When queried whether Harmonious Society was intended to 
addressing morality in Chinese society, Guo responded that the 
appearance of new moral standards is due to the market economy. 
China went from neglecting the market economy to emphasizing it 
and focusing exclusively on development. This had an impact on 
all of society, although it is too early to say whether this is 
good or bad, Guo stated.  In the past, GDP needed to be 
developed first because China was so underdeveloped.  In 
contrast, the focus is now on "citizens first" (yi gongmin wei 
zhu), and there has been a change from efficiency-directed 
policy to fairness-directed policy.  Guo said this shift in 
policy requires new moral standards, and a "reliance on past 
experience to show us the way."  Responding to another question, 
he emphasized that it is incorrect to simply attribute the shift 
in Chinese morality to the "importation of Western values." 
While some people talk about an increase in selfishness from the 
 
CHENGDU 00000146  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
emphasis on development, "I actually see the opposite trend," 
Guo said.  Although some people are more selfish, others have in 
fact started paying more attention to disharmonious elements in 
society and to Chinese traditions. 
 
. . . And to Promote Balanced Development 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C) Citizens are more aware of the need for balanced 
development, both in terms of environmental balance and balance 
in other areas, Guo suggested.  This is a movement away from the 
past concentration on solely economic development.  When asked 
if China has achieved balanced development, Guo responded that 
many countries were pondering this same issue, countries such as 
Brazil and South Africa.  At the 15th National Party Congress 
(NPC), there were a lot of economists discussing economic 
issues.  In contrast, at the 16th NPC, social scientists 
attended in greater numbers and the 11th Five-Year Plan was 
passed.  This is a very dynamic question, not a static question, 
Guo continued. The differentiation and gaps in society are 
increasing, so new policies will need to be developed.  For 
example, Western China needs assistance from East China in order 
to implement the Great Western Development Strategy. 
 
How To Implement Harmonious Society Goals 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) According to Guo, there is already a "blueprint" of 
goals for Harmonious Society, and those goals now need to be 
proactively implemented.  He said the only way to resolve 
problems is to continue to adhere to the course of economic 
development.  Many people used to think the government could 
organize and administer the economy.  In fact, there is a lot of 
government impact on the economy in Western countries as well. 
But China needs to find a balance.  Guo qualified his statement 
by adding, on one hand, some things should naturally be 
subjected to market forces, but the government interferes.  On 
the other hand, some things that should be public services are 
currently being run by the marketplace. 
 
Harmonious Society and Freedom of Speech 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (C) Responding to a question on the role of media in the 
Harmonious Society, Guo said the media is playing a supervision 
role currently, but it is cautious in its supervision because of 
China's "sensitive social differences."  However, changes are 
still occurring due to media attention on specific issues. 
Turning to the question of citizen protests, Guo gave an example 
of The Chongqing party secretary who publicly spoke in favor of 
a protest taking place right outside his office.  Guo thought 
this public statement of support for freedom of speech was "very 
impressive," but added that if there are protests outside his 
office every day, then he has failed to do his job.  China's 
goal is to eliminate protests by eliminating the causes of 
protests, not by dispersing the protesters, Guo claimed.  He 
opined that Chinese people have the same freedom to protest as 
citizens in the United States -- they just have to "apply for 
permission." 
 
Concrete Measures for a New Socialist Countryside 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶9.  (C) When asked about the New Socialist Countryside 
construct, Guo said it was begun several years ago and has 
resulted in the implementation of "concrete measures."  In the 
last two years, the government has been busy "taking over" the 
"citizen schools" (minban xuexiao) that typically have 
low-quality buildings and teachers.  By paying the salaries of 
the teachers and constructing new buildings, the government is 
making the schools more stable.  Now, in the poorest areas of 
Sichuan, the best buildings are always schools.  The New 
Socialist Countryside program is also attacking the new problem 
of boarding schools by providing subsidies to boarders.  Last 
year, the central government announced a policy doing away with 
fees in poor schools.  In some pilot project areas of Sichuan, 
fees have been eliminated. 
 
Smaller Government 
------------------ 
 
¶10.  (C) Turning to another rural issue, Guo stated that the 
elimination of the agricultural tax and the special agricultural 
tax has relieved the direct burden on rural residents, but not 
on the rural villages (xiangzhen), because they now have debts. 
For this reason, it is necessary to reduce the size of the local 
governments.  Due to lack of revenue, some local government 
officials work only half time.  Some of these officials are 
"holding on" just because they want to retire and get their 
 
CHENGDU 00000146  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
pensions.  Guo stated that currently, about 60 to 80 percent of 
local officials' salaries are paid by the central government. 
Therefore, when the agricultural tax and special agricultural 
tax were eliminated, 20 to 40 percent of those salaries suddenly 
had no local funding.  Guo suggested that some potential 
solutions -- none of which are ideal -- include the following: 
 
-  Providing technical services to the peasants, and thereby 
earning service income. 
 
-  Working half the month, like some younger and more energetic 
officials do, since they can find other work. 
 
-  Merging different town organizations -- for instance, from 
ten members down to six; and 
 
-  Lowering the number of officials through early retirement. 
 
Socialist Core Value System 
---------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (C) To conclude the meeting, Guo commented on the promotion 
of Hu Jintao's "Socialist Core Value System" during the 
development of Harmonious Society.   He noted that people need 
to have "spiritual guidance" and there should be new rules and 
standards in the ideological field.  The tenants of the 
Socialist Core Value System should be viewed dynamically.   For 
instance, if one asks about Marxism (one of the tenants), they 
must understand Marxism in a modern way.   The "Eight Honors and 
Eight Disgraces," another part of the Socialist Core Value 
System, is general guidance for the common people, but it only 
points out a direction, not a rule, Guo stated.  "There are no 
absolutes." 
BOUGHNER