STORY: International scholars on Chinese democracy
SHOOTING TIME: March 20, 2024
DATELINE: March 23, 2024
LENGTH: 00:03:03
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of China
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): STEPHEN PERRY, President emeritus of Britain's 48 Group Club
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JOSEF GREGORY MAHONEY, Professor, East China Normal University
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (English): DAVID BARTOSCH, Research Fellow of Research Institute for Globalization and Cultural Development Strategies, Beijing Normal University
5. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): MIRVAISOV MAMURDZHON, Head of Department of International Cooperations of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan
6. SOUNDBITE 5 (English): IGNACIO VILLAGRAN, President, Latin American Association of China Studies

STORYLINE:

Experts attending an international forum on democracy in Beijing have said that Chinese democracy and governance, characterized by being responsive to people's voices, have proved effective.

More than 200 guests from home and abroad joined the forum.

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): STEPHEN PERRY, President emeritus of Britain's 48 Group Club
"I think China is on its way to a good form of democracy. It hears its people, and it tends to do what its people want. There's a lot about it that we can learn from."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): JOSEF GREGORY MAHONEY, Professor, East China Normal University
"It's the fact that the Chinese (democratic) system unites the people.
The Chinese democratic system is designed to be win-win, where everyone can work together to achieve objectives like national rejuvenation."

According to a report published during the forum, nearly 10,000 people surveyed in 2023 in 23 countries, covering Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Oceania, agree strongly with the rich connotations of China's whole-process people's democracy and consider it a benchmark for human political systems.

A German scholar said he's impressed with China's democratic system, as it's rooted in China's history spanning thousands of years. 

SOUNDBITE 3 (English): DAVID BARTOSCH, Research Fellow of Research Institute for Globalization and Cultural Development Strategies, Beijing Normal University
"There is a lot of stored information how to govern such a large country, such a vast civilization. I think this pool of influence and ideas and solutions for practical problems, is one of the elements that makes Chinese modern development towards this whole-process democracy very special. It contains features of various ancient and various modern, very different civilizations in one context where these features were brought to fruition." 
Some scholars have noted that people's welfare is fundamental to democracy, and the consistent improvement of Chinese people's wellbeing over the past decades is a manifest of the functioning democracy in China. 

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): MIRVAISOV MAMURDZHON, Head of Department of International Cooperations of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan
"I have been about 20 years ago here (in China) and I see by myself, by my eyes that everything is going to the higher level, and the life of the Chinese people is in a very high level. And I admitted I am very glad to see it everywhere."

SOUNDBITE 5 (English): IGNACIO VILLAGRAN, President, Latin American Association of China Studies
"China has managed in the last decades to continuously improve the life of the people. And that is something that has made the government to have the approval of the people. You see that the people are content with the way that things work.
I was able to live in China in Beijing in 2010, 2011. And then I was able to come back for the first time after that in 2017. So the changes had been huge. 
The life conditions have improved in many senses and that I think has to do with a form of leadership that takes from the people, what are their needs, listens and has the people participate in that decision making process. And that's a way of democracy that really works."