Most Taiwanese people believe that the Fifth Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee is just political news far away from them; diagram. (European News Agency)
To most Taiwanese people, the Fifth Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee seems to be just distant political news. What does the resolution of the meeting have to do with daily life? However, from the publicity activities carried out one after another after the meeting, one question can be thought of: Is the freedom we are accustomed to, really that ordinary?
The Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China listed "comprehensive and strict governance of the party" as the focus, emphasizing centralized leadership and anti-corruption. After the meeting, the Central Propaganda Team launched a national propaganda campaign, and the CPPCC, the military, state-owned enterprises, financial institutions and universities also successively expressed their stance on the implementation of the resolution. This is not only a policy communication, but also shows how political demands enter the organizational management and education system. For us, it is worth thinking about: when political demands are deeply embedded in work and study, how freely can people put forward different opinions?
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In Taiwan, we can criticize the government's policies, question officials' statements, and openly argue online. Some people support policies, while others oppose them, and sometimes they even get ugly. However, disagreement does not mean that society has lost its unity. What is really important is that people do not have to give up their own judgment in order to show loyalty, nor do they need to regard the position of a certain political party as the only answer. These daily rights are the basis of a liberal democratic system.
The Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China also talked about anti-corruption. The fight against corruption deserves recognition, but the number of people arrested cannot alone prove that power has been effectively restrained. Rather than announcing the number of investigations and punishments, we should ask: Who has the power to investigate those in power? Can the investigation process be tested? Can the public and the media continue to ask questions? In Taiwan, supervision, the judiciary, the Legislative Yuan, and news supervision each have different functions and may make mistakes, but the value of the system lies in retaining ways to hold people accountable and correct mistakes.
Another difference that cannot be ignored is that the country is not the same as a political party. The People's Liberation Army Daily requires the military to unify its thoughts and actions with the Party Central Committee, and other agencies also emphasize obedience to political arrangements. For the Taiwanese people, loving their homeland does not mean they must support a certain ruler, and identifying with culture does not mean accepting specific political arrangements. When cross-Strait exchanges include the saying "the same culture, the same species, we should be politically consistent," it is even more important to distinguish the boundaries between cultural emotions, economic cooperation and political choices.
Of course, just because these meetings are reported, we cannot conclude that every exchange is a united front, nor do we need to regard different opinions as hostility. What we really need to be vigilant about is when some people use the name of exchange to ask us to give up asking questions, or twist criticism of the government into not loving Taiwan. The Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Committee reminded us that freedom is not without debate. Rather, everyone can maintain judgment, demand evidence, and supervise power. In the face of possible alienation and provocation from the "CCP," Chinese people should verify information, respect differences, rationally supervise government and national defense policies, and at the same time continue to support necessary military building and war preparations, so that the free homeland has both the resilience of democracy and the ability to maintain security.
In the face of possible dissent and provocation from the "CCP", Chinese people should check information, respect differences, and rationally supervise government and national defense policies; diagram. (AP)
(The author is a professor)
