No matter how needed reform may be, it will always provoke resistance. This is because those who benefit most from the existing state of affairs will always try to hinder the reform process. However, the reformers should listen to the people, and be wise and brave enough to tell the true voices of the people from those seeking to protect their privileges, says an article in People's Daily. Excerpts:

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping's "Southern Tour Speeches" and the convening of the Communist Party of China's 18th National Congress, which introduced a new historical orientation for the country's reform.

A plan for reform, no matter how well-designed it is, will never please everyone and so is bound to provoke discord, especially as vested interest groups will use their power and influence to hinder the reform process and the media and the public will examine it with critical eyes to see if it shows any wavering in favor of these vested interests.

In China, such discord is foreseeable, as the reform and opening-up policy has been challenging the established interests since the very beginning by throwing off our mental shackles. It seems controversy and criticism will always arise over reform, no matter whether in the late 1970s and the launch of economic reforms that allowed farmers to use land based on long-term contracts and to keep the produce after paying taxes, or today, when deepening reform to include the monopoly industries, so as to facilitate fair competition among private and State-owned enterprises.

But reform continues anyhow, by applying the long-held principle of "crossing the river by feeling the stones", although the further reform proceeds, the more resistance it encounters.

This leads to the emergence of skeptical voices which are the archenemy of reform. Overtaken by misgivings about the opposition from vested interest groups and some uncontrollable risks, some people mistake the gradual progress of reform as stagnation, and accuse the active but cautious manner of promoting reform as over-prudent and ineffective.

Reform entails risk, but dangers arise from the absence of reform. The fundamental cause of the decline of any nation or party lies in their bringing reform to a dead end. Authorities nationwide face institutional barriers, and they can enjoy a moment of ease if they shirk the problem and leave it to their successors, but this simply delays the inevitable and creates a potential crisis later on.

Deng said that "as we go further with the reform and open wider to the outside world, we shall be better able to cope with problems if they arise. Don't be afraid of risks: we can't do anything without taking some risks". From the bumpy beginning of reform and opening-up to widespread hesitation before Deng's speeches in 1992 to nowadays, the Party has succeeded in grasping the principal contradictions, confronted the risks and pushed a way past all the difficulties, fully demonstrating the spirit of a reformer.

Imperfect reform is better than none. The Party should always remain alert to any short-term behavior that might undermine its ruling foundation, prevent the concerns of vested interests from diverting reform efforts, overcome any mental slackness that might delay reform and look beyond the present to the long-term stability of the nation.

Abiding by the new historical orientation, the Party should "advance reform and opening-up in important areas and key links when opportunities are ripe and continue to reform the economic, political, cultural and social systems in an innovative way". Only in this way can we disarm any crises that might come along and create a better future for the Party and the nation.

(China Daily 02/24/2012 page9)