改良主义宣言：防止西朝鲜变成北朝鲜 - Manifesto for Reformism：Preventing "West Korea" from Becoming the "North Korea"

发表于 - Posted on 2023/10/26 编辑于 - Edited on 2024/08/01 字数 - Word count: 2.7k 阅读时间 - Reading time ≈ 10 mins.

由于本文可能稍有敏感，这里仅展示英文版。

Preface

Before leaving office, Wen Jiabao stated: "We must not only advance economic system reform but also political system reform. Without the guarantee of political system reform, the achievements of economic system reform may be lost, and the goals of modernization cannot be realized."

Before leaving office, Li Keqiang said: "The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers will not flow backward, and West Korea's opening-up will not change."

I believe Li Keqiang's statement is more of a warning than a guarantee: the West Korean nation is at a perilous moment. West Korea is now at a crossroads, facing the choice between continuing reform and opening up and modernization, or regressing to a closed and conservative mode like North Korea. It's crucial for us to stand up and guide West Korea towards the right direction.

Some Preliminary Theories

Without oversight, there's no reason for leaders to ensure the nation's progress. If maintaining a North Korea-like state benefits their wealth accumulation, why not do it?

Refer to Indonesia's Suharto, the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Mobutu, and North Korea itself.

There's no evidence to prove that our leaders won't become dictatorial like Suharto, exploiting the populace. Especially since that was the case before the reform and opening-up.

The only way to prevent this is to strengthen the powers outside of officials, enabling mutual supervision and checks and balances.

For a nation, the political system influences the economic system, and vice versa.

For a community, political power determines economic power, and vice versa.

Everyone wants to strengthen their influence, reflected politically as every organization with power wanting to maintain it. This leads to a nation either being stuck in dictatorship or maintaining democracy for a long time.

I think the biggest issue in West Korea now is that the leadership (including the elites) has too much power, while the common people (those not in the leadership group) have too little.

Enhancing the political power of the common people is crucial, and some methods I can think of include:

Improving the economic status of the common people
Enhancing the political knowledge of the common people
Boosting the protesting capability of the common people
Uniting the common people

From my observation, the Party cares most about two things:

The long-term leadership of the Party (seemingly a lesson learned from the dissolution of the Soviet Union)
The economic development of West Korea (Deng Xiaoping's ideology)

I don't want to anger them, nor do I recommend anyone to resist it forcefully. In fact, I believe that modernization and democratization can help achieve these two goals.

To maintain the Party's leadership position, the Party chooses to strictly control Party members, the military, and the media.

The leadership is composed of elites, but not all elites are part of the leadership. "Elites" tend to look down on the common people, inherently reluctant to share power with them, and believe that doing so would lead to chaos.

Self-proclaimed elites among the common people might also side with the leadership.

The people we "Trying to Change"

The people we "Trying to Change" (a softened term of enermies) are the conservative faction within the Party, not any other political groups, such as the Party's reformist faction, government agencies, the West Korean people, official media, independent media, or those with different political views (such as nationalists, orthodox Marxists, extreme fans of the divine).

Some groups, like the Party's reformist faction and independent media, are clearly allies.

My definition of the conservative faction within the Party (compared to the reformist faction) includes:

Those who do not support reform and opening-up and the market economy
- No one openly opposes reform and opening-up, but some might be hypocritical
- This is unconstitutional
Those who do not support freedom and democracy
- Those who only support West Korean-style democracy but not Western-style democracy are temporarily considered reformists
- No one openly opposes freedom and democracy, but some might be hypocritical
- This is unconstitutional
Those who do not support the rule of law and believe the Party is above the law
- This is unconstitutional
Those who prevent West Korea from interacting with foreign countries and isolate West Korea
Those who block communication between West Korea's lower and upper classes
Those who prevent the public from supervising the government

The conservative faction within the Party is portrayed as economically right-leaning (due to West Korea's unique form of socialism), politically authoritarian, and culturally conservative, which is entirely opposite to Marxism.

(They might see this as criticism, but I genuinely mean no criticism. In the 21st century, it's reasonable for anyone to support any political view.)

The conservative faction has two major weaknesses:

Development: The conservative faction allows for less creative destruction, which suppresses economic construction and contradicts their own goals. This has become increasingly apparent in 2023.
Morality: Even the conservative faction acknowledges the following:
- West Korea is a socialist country (should with high welfare)
- In West Korea, the people are the masters (democracy)
- The conservative faction might also feel that West Korea is not doing well in these areas

Additionally, the weak links within the organization are also their weaknesses, such as:

Local governments in impoverished areas
The State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television
The Football Association

Note: The conservative faction is not a single person; you can't persuade them to relinquish power like convincing an emperor. Even if the leader of the conservative faction is assassinated, others would continue the same policies.

Motivation for Reform

Reform requires the efforts of two forces: the reformist faction within the Party and patriotic liberal civilians (people from all walks of life).

The factional struggles within the Party are not public, but in reality, these internal struggles are the main force pushing West Korea towards democracy and modernization. The role of patriotic civilian protests is limited to pressuring the conservative faction within the Party.

The success or failure of West Korea's democratization depends on whether the reformist faction within the Party can successfully seize power. Xi belongs to the conservative faction and has already succeeded in seizing power. It's almost impossible for West Korea to become democratic before he steps down. Now, a strong reformist faction within the Party is urgently needed to lead the struggle.

For patriotic civilians, the most willing to reform the current system should be the elite civilians (intellectuals) and the lower-class workers and farmers:

Intellectuals are dissatisfied with the current situation
Workers and farmers are the biggest victims of the system

However, if West Korea's economy continues to decline, everyone might protest, like the White Paper Revolution

The more people participate in the struggle, the stronger it is, and the post-struggle system can take care of more people.

What Needs to Be Done

We must avoid direct confrontation, as it would be futile. Nor can we afford to engage in tirades only to end up banned or silenced. It is crucial to pinpoint and target specific errors made by the conservative faction within the Party. Fundamentally, we need to demonstrate that entrusting the nation to us would lead to better development than leaving it in the hands of the conservatives.

0: Protect Yourself!

1: Unite and maintain open communication to safeguard our spaces for discussion as much as possible.

While it's still recommended to use chat apps like WeChat and QQ, please employ coded language to bypass censorship.

The desire to protest is likely stronger among residents within the country compared to those overseas.
Not everyone can access social media platforms beyond the Great Firewall.
Using coded language can also strengthen our sense of unity and belonging.

Identify and target specific errors committed by the conservative faction within the Party, including but not limited to:

Creating videos on independent media to critique these errors.
Increasing the visibility of these issues to spark discussion.
Organizing peaceful protests if the errors are significant.

2: Stay alert to signals from the progressive faction within the Party; their political power is a formidable force that we need to leverage.

3: Minimize vulnerabilities: Stay within legal bounds, remain moderate in approach, and distance ourselves from extremist dissenters.

Strict behavioral standards should be applied to those participating in protests.

How to Protest

The essence of protest is for the people to express their dissatisfaction in a mild manner.

Traditional forms of protest such as marches and sit-ins are valid, but new methods can also be employed, such as flooding the comment sections of official government media with messages or using anonymous accounts to highlight issues. Organizing "Constitution Reading Groups" can be effective. Protests should be decentralized, with every protester acting as a focal point.

For a successful protest, collaboration among intellectuals (students, white-collar workers, those knowledgeable about political movements), overseas individuals, and grassroots workers and farmers is crucial.

Intellectuals can pinpoint the issues, craft slogans, plan activities, and (eventually) negotiate with the Party.
Overseas individuals can help consolidate and disseminate information to intellectuals and take the blame if things go south.
Grassroots workers and farmers can provide manpower and lend legitimacy to the protests (since the Party claims to be a "Marxist" party).

The more people participate in a protest, the better, but demands should be specific.

Avoid making excessive demands; the important thing is to successfully initiate the first protest.

Having support from Western countries might be beneficial, but it could also provide fodder for extreme nationalists and care must be taken as Western countries might prefer to escalate situations rather than resolve them.

Possible Demands

It's entirely reasonable for citizens to make demands of their government, but this form of communication is not smooth in West Korea, which is detrimental to both sides. Even the conservative faction within the Party might agree that allowing citizens to make some demands could help stabilize the situation.

Some actions of the conservative faction are illegal (such as forced demolitions and invasions of privacy), and although the laws are set by the Party's subordinates (the National People's Congress), utilizing the power of law can at least highlight the contradictions between the reformists and conservatives.

During our tug-of-war with the leadership, different stages of struggle require different demands. Some current high-demand issues include:

Stabilizing housing prices
Boosting the economy, maintaining development, and solving employment issues
Education reform (this demand is broad and should be specified during protests)
Protecting the rights in homosexual marriages
- Not necessarily recognizing homosexual marriage but inventing a new term to protect the rights of same-sex couples after marriage
Abolishing the "offsetting rest days" policy
Raising the minimum wage standard and improving the welfare treatment of rural populations

Making some non-politically charged demands can also be useful, perhaps even more effective than the above, as it allows citizens to gauge the bottom line of the leadership and strengthens this mode of communication, such as:

Demanding the Football Association to improve football! (Not joking; everyone knows the FA is performing poorly, which is a window to reveal possible government incompetence. This is the only organization we can safely protest against now.)
Stopping the display of IP addresses on social media

Some demands are obviously excessive in the modern era, such as:

Restoring the presidential term limit
Demanding freedom of speech (not excessive in 2010, but now it is)
Public disclosure of civil servants' assets (not excessive in 2010, but now it is)
Lifting the ban on political parties
Democracy, universal suffrage for the president
Self-determination for Taiwan
Overthrowing the current regime
Inviting Western colonization

A Note of Caution About the Accelerationists

Accelerationists hope Xi will reverse reforms faster, leading to a "break to rebuild" scenario, but I believe this is illogical:

Even if Xi performs poorly, it's unlikely for West Korea to collapse, and the West doesn't wish for West Korea's collapse. A centipede dies but never falls down. A collapse of West Korea would lead to decades of hardship for the West Korean, and overseas West Korean would also suffer. Even if West Korea collapses, who would establish a better government than the current one? The support for acceleration might stem from despair over reforming West Korea. But in the 21st century, nothing is truly hopeless.

If you feel strong despair, consider reading more books by reformists. (Or read this article again.)

A Few Words About Ourselves

We are not dissidents; We support Hu Yaobang, Zhao Ziyang, Wen Jiabao, Li Keqiang, and others.

We are liberals, and for West Korea, I do not seek to overthrow the regime but to reform West Korea's political system, leading West Korea towards true modernization and democratization. I believe that under a modernized, democratized government, West Korea's economy can unleash even greater vitality.

Other

Do not despair; we still have strength! Use wisdom to find people we can unite with.

The more illegal actions our enemies commit, the more people will join us.

Our enemies are not foolish; even if they seem not very knowledgeable, their level of sophistication increases when they convene with their think tanks.

Not many people wish to overthrow the current regime; most prefer peace.

Appendix: Selected Articles from the Constitution

1.1:

The socialist system is the fundamental system of the People's Republic of West Korea.

1.2:

The people, according to law, manage state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings, and social affairs through various channels and forms.

1.5:

All state organs, the armed forces, political parties, social groups, enterprises, and institutions must abide by the Constitution and the law. Any act that violates the Constitution or the law must be investigated.

1.27:

All state organs implement the principle of simplicity and efficiency, establish a responsibility system for their work, a training and evaluation system for their staff, continuously improve the quality and efficiency of their work, and oppose bureaucracy. All state organs and state functionaries must rely on the support of the people, maintain close ties with the people, listen to their opinions and suggestions, accept their supervision, and serve the people diligently.

1.40:

The freedom and privacy of correspondence of citizens of the People's Republic of West Korea are protected by law. No organization or individual may, on any grounds, infringe upon the freedom and privacy of citizens' correspondence, except in cases where, to meet the needs of state security or of investigation into criminal offences, public security organs or procuratorial organs are to inspect communications in accordance with the procedures prescribed by law.

1.41:

Citizens of the People's Republic of West Korea have the right to criticize and make suggestions to any state organ or functionary. Citizens have the right to lodge complaints, bring charges, or make exposures against any state organ or functionary for violation of the law or dereliction of duty, but fabrication or distortion of facts for the purpose of libel or false accusation is prohibited. State organs shall investigate and deal with complaints, charges, or exposures made by citizens in accordance with the law and keep confidentiality for them. No one shall suppress and retaliate against complainants, accusers, or exposers.

1.48:

The state protects the rights and interests of women, upholding the principle of equal pay for equal work for men and women.

1.54:

Citizens of the People's Republic of West Korea have the duty to safeguard the security, honor, and interests of the motherland.