Xiao Ping says China's sound political system has bred an economic miracle that has lasted an epic four decades

China's reform and opening-up drive has been ongoing for almost 40 years, and the changes it has brought about are nothing short of epic, thanks to the country's political system and its global significance.

The report Xi Jinping delivered at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is nothing but full of confidence, as he declared China has entered a new era. It means scientific socialism is energizing China in the 21st century and showing developing countries an effective way to achieve modernization. That's how we help solve some of the problems facing humanity with Chinese wisdom - the China solution.

Western countries are inherently competitive and have been competing with China in terms of national strength and everything else for ages, which can be boiled down to competition of political systems. Their past achievements and media power have turned liberal democracy into universal values. Even though those values are now worn out in many places, they are still good enough for Western countries to feel superior, to the point they have turned their political system into a myth. Taiwan prides itself in copying the West, including partisan politics and parliamentary democracy, but its economy is now less than one-20th of the mainland's - from about one-third 30 years ago. Even so, they still find comfort in what they call "Taiwan's democratic experience".

Today, the West admits that China has achieved an economic miracle but insists its political system is no match to theirs. They have overlooked a fundamental logic - it doesn't make sense that a country under a terrible political system has managed to maintain fast economic growth for 40 years.

On the day before the start of the 19th National Congress of the CPC, Chinese State media gave its stamp of approval to "democracy China style" in an editorial, which concluded that China does not need to import a Western political system, which "is becoming ineffective".

Western media, understandably, was shocked and likened the conclusion to a "declaration of victory". It's probably too early to predict China's chance of winning this competition. Or, maybe, it's simply unnecessary to compare different political systems because every political system is dependent on a particular social condition. The only thing certain is that, having experienced so many historic changes, the Chinese people are more confident in their own political system than ever. And this confidence will fire up their determination to make the country stronger and stronger. That is what you call popular will and collective strength.

The author is a veteran current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 10/23/2017 page9)