中国式现代化与全过程人民民主

文/大卫·弗格森（David W.Ferguson，英国） 译/史聪一

对于那些贫穷及欠发达国家而言，西方的政治模式并不符合其需求。在这些国家中，鲜有采用西方政治模式并因此走向成功和繁荣的例子。

在实行西方民主制度前，许多国家既非处于贫困状态，又非处于欠发达状态，这样的例子反而不少。以俄罗斯和乌克兰为例，二者在20世纪90年代成为西方“民主国家”后，两国国内生产总值皆折损了2/3。曾几何时，利比亚是整个非洲大陆上最稳定、最有序、最繁荣的国度之一。而今，利比亚在成为“民主国家”后却变得支离破碎。过去，利比亚的主要产业是石油。但现在，这个国家的主要产业竟然是人口贩卖。

西方民主模式在强加于世界其他国家时之所以会失灵，是因为西方国家并非先成为民主国家，而后才繁荣起来。相反，这些国家是先富裕起来，然后才成为所谓的“民主国家”，这就是它们的现代化道路。因此，要理解和讨论中国式现代化，就必须从辩证与历史的维度分析世界的现代化进程。

我认为，西方发达国家的现代化道路建立在“三重剥削”的基础之上。

第一重剥削，是西方国家对本国工人阶级的无情剥削，使后者成为工业化城市工厂中的苦力，生活极其困顿，物质极端匮乏。在美国，也曾有数百万奴隶作为农村劳动力受到剥削。

第二重剥削，是西方国家对其他国家的无情剥削，方式无外乎两种：一是殖民主义，二是暴力侵略和占领，从而掠夺其他国家的资源。

The Western political model is ill-suited to the needs of poor and underdeveloped countries.There are few examples of poor and underdeveloped countries that adopted the Western political model and went on to become successful and prosperous as a result.

And there are plenty of examples of countries that weren’t poor and underdeveloped until they became Western democracies.Russia and Ukraine each lost two thirds of their GDP after becoming Western democracies in the 1990s.Libya was one of the most stable,orderly,and prosperous countries on the whole African continent.Now it’s a democracy,and it’s a broken state.Its main industry used to be oil.Now it’s human trafficking.

There’s a reason why the Western democratic model doesn’t work when it’s forced on other countries.Because Western countries did not become democracies and then become prosperous.First they became rich,and then they became democracies.That was their path of modernisation,and in order to understand and discuss China’s modernisation,you must conduct a dialectical and historical analysis of the whole history of modernisation across the globe.

The developed West followed a path of modernisation built on what I call the Three Exploitations.

First,ruthless exploitation of their own working class,who became factory fodder in industrial cities,living in dreadful poverty and deprivation.In the US they also exploited millions of slaves as rural labour.

Second,ruth less exploitation of other countries,either through colonialism or simply through invasion and occupation,in order to loot their resources.

大卫·弗格森在中国共产党国际形象传播创新论坛（2023）上发表演讲（中国外文局国际传播发展中心 刘嵘 焦非 摄）

第三重剥削，是西方国家对自然环境的无度透支。整个西方世界用了200年时间才明白了一个道理：将实现现代化建立在破坏环境的基础之上，绝非明智之举。

当今世界，这些剥削方式都是不可容忍甚至是难以想象的。中国的现代化进程显然不能采取这种模式。

在中国共产党的百年建党史及70多年的执政历程中，那种将穷人视为可剥削资源的观点同中国共产党的所有思想皆背道而驰。

中国同世界其他国家的关系建立在对外开放、和平友好、共同发展的基础之上，并通过“一带一路”倡议等付诸实践。比如在环境方面，中国只用了不到40年的时间，便洞悉了西方花了两个世纪才真正明白的理念。

中国式现代化建立在一整套与现代世界和中国国情相适应的结构、进程及一系列相关举措的基础之上，这些要素共同构成了全过程人民民主。

Third,ruthless exploitation of the environment.It took the West two hundred years to understand that modernisation achieved by destroying the environment is not a good idea.

None of these exploitations is in any way tolerable or even thinkable in today’s world,and China’s modernisation clearly cannot follow that model.

Through its hundred years of existence and its seventy years of governance,the idea that the poor are a resource to be exploited is the antithesis of everything the CPC believes in.

China’s relationship with the rest of the world is based on opening up,peace and friendship,and mutual development,through initiatives like the BRI.For example,in terms of the environment,China learned in less than forty years what it took the West two centuries to understand.

China’s modernisation is based on a set of structures and processes and a series of actions properly matched to the modern world and China’s conditions.Together they formWhole-Process People’s Democracy.

首先，中国拥有成文宪法，依宪治国，任何人不得有超越宪法的特权，所有修改宪法内容的建议都必须严格按照法定程序，经权力机关批准通过。

从不那么概念化的视角来审视，中国政治制度中最为重要的特征之一是：在中国，你能够确定出现在面前的领导干部就是实实在在地参与治国理政的人，你能确定全国人民代表大会、中国共产党中央委员会、中国共产党中央委员会政治局以及国家主席都在治国理政中发挥重要作用。

中国政治制度的第二个重要特点是：领导干部始终坚持将发展计划详细地阐释出来。阐述的过程较为冗长，实事求是地讲，有时候会令人感到无聊，但之后他们总会去付诸实践。从“五年规划”到两会报告，均是如此。

中国共产党所做的一切，都是为中国人民谋幸福，增进人民福祉。在远离中国本土的地方，中国共产党可曾毫无根据地发动或是煽动战争？又有多少贫穷无辜、手无寸铁的百姓在这样的战争中失去生命？对第一个问题，答案是两个字：没有；对第二个问题，答案仍旧是两个字：没有！

事实上，中国共产党为实现中国经济社会变革作出了艰苦卓绝的努力。在20世纪70年代，中国曾比撒哈拉以南非洲诸国还要贫穷。但时至今日，中国是全球第二大经济体，并跻身中等收入国家行列，且不断接近高收入国家的标准。

在中国，每一个孩子都有免费接受义务教育的权利。过去的50年中，中国成功地从零开始创建了福利制度，为全国人民提供基本的福利覆盖。在某些情况下，中国的福利制度比西方发达国家的制度要好很多。例如，中国养老保险制度是员工和雇主共同缴纳养老保险，成年无业人员也能通过个人缴纳的方式获得养老保障。

我夫人的姐姐退休前是普通的中国工人，她们每月都可以有大概相当于300英镑的退休金。按绝对值计算，这笔金额大约是英国国家养老金的一半；就购买力平价而言，这笔退休金的价值不亚于英国，甚至价值更高。但是，她们作为工人，在50岁时就可以退休了。而在英国，女性的退休年龄过去是60岁，现在是66岁。在我看来，她们在中国所享受到的养老金，比我在英国所享受到的养老金性价比要高。

First of all,China is a state governed by a written constitution.No one can act outwith the authority of the constitution,and any proposed amendment to the constitution has to be approved by properly authorised bodies in accordance with defined procedures.

From a less conceptual perspective,one of the most important features of China’s political system is this: in China,you can be certain that the people who are running the show are people you can see,right in front of your face.In China you can be certain that the country is being governed by the National People’s Congress,and the Central Committee of CPC,and the Political Bureau,and the President.

A second important feature is that these people always spell out exactly what they are planning to do -in long,and to be honest sometimes boring detail -and then they go ahead and do it.The Fiveyear Plans and the reports to the Two Sessions,for example,do exactly that.

Everything the Party has done has been in the interests of and to the benefit of the Chinese people.How many groundless wars has the CPC launched or fomented in distant parts of the world? How many millions of poor,innocent,and defenceless people have died in these wars? The answers are none and none.

Instead,the party has conducted endless and painstaking efforts to transform China’s economy and society.In the 1970s China was poorer than sub-Saharan Africa.Now it is a middle-income country,bordering on a high-income country,with the second-largest economy in the world.

Every single child in China has a right to free compulsory education.Over the last five decades China has succeeded in creating out of nothing a welfare system that provides basic coverage to the whole population,in some cases much better than what developed Western countries can provide.For example,the state pension system in China is that working adults contribute and their employers contribute,and non-working adults can have their contributions credited.

My sisters-in law were Chinese ordinary workers.They both enjoy a pension worth about£300 per month.That is about half of the UK state pension in absolute terms;in terms of purchasing power it is at least as good or better.But like allgongren,my sisters-in-law retired at the age of 50.The retirement age for women in the UK was 60,and it is now 66.My sisters-in law have better pension provision in China than I do in the UK.

在过去50年里，中国有数亿人摆脱了贫困。在过去十年中，中国最后的约1亿贫困人口也摆脱了绝对贫困。在世界范围内，总人口超过1亿的国家总共也就十几个，没有任何其他国家曾经实现过，或是曾经有能力去实现如此雄心勃勃的目标。目前，中国已经制定了一些相关战略，以确保贫困人口的生活水平能够继续以高于全国平均水平的速度增长，从而缩小该群体同其他群体间的收入差距。

实现人员、货物、信息快速高效运输与传送，是经济发展的关键所在。中国有句俗语：要想富，先修路。中国拥有世界上最好的基础设施及通信设施，这也成为推动中国经济发展和扶贫工作的一个关键性因素。

中国的全过程人民民主，是基于三个“C”展开：合作（cooperation）、协商（consultation）及连续性（continuity）。合作，即各界人士及团体参与人民代表大会和政治协商会议，相互之间精诚合作；协商，是宪法赋予人民就立法提案发表意见建议的权利，而立法机关也有宪法规定的听取人民意见建议的义务；连续性，即发展战略需要通过数年甚至数十年的时间制定、试行、检验并推行。

发展中国家的贫困人口需要的是住有所居，食能果腹，衣可蔽体；还要劳有所得，子女学有所教，生活安全无忧，未来美好可期。

这是一个重要的事实：要想真正实现富裕，需要为之付出努力。要想为之付出努力，需要满足某些基本条件。其中，最基本的条件是长治久安。正是中国的全过程人民民主和中国共产党执政的长期稳定性，为中国人民实现富裕的努力创造了条件。

Over the last five decades China has raised hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.Over the last ten years the last 100 million have been raised out of absolute poverty.There are only about a dozen countries in the world with a total population of more than 100 million.No other country has ever achieved or could ever achieve such an ambitious goal.China now has in place strategies to ensure that the standards of living of the poor continue to rise faster than the average,to reduce the income gap.

Critical to economic development is the ability to move people,goods,and information quickly and efficiently.There is an old saying in Chinaif you want to get rich,build a road.China has by a considerable margin the best physical and the best communications infrastructure in the world.That has been a key factor in both economic development and poverty alleviation.

China’s Whole-Process People’s Democracy is based on three C’s-cooperation,consultation,and continuity.Cooperation between the huge number of individuals and groups representing all walks of life who participate in the People’s Congresses and the CPPCC.Consultation in that individual citizen have a constitutional right to voice opinions and suggestions on proposed legislation,and the legislative authorities have a constitutional obligation to listen to them.Continuity where strategies will be devised,piloted,reviewed and rolled out over periods of years and even decades.

Poor people in developing countries need a roof over their heads,food on the table,clothes on their backs,jobs for themselves,schools for their kids,safe streets,and prospects of a better future.

And here is a very important and absolute fact:You can only achieve prosperity by working for it.And you can only work for prosperity if certain essential conditions are met.Two of the most basic of these are long-term stability and order.China’s Whole-Process People’s Democracy and the longterm stable governance of the CPC deliver the conditions that allow the Chinese people to work for prosperity.