【原文地址链接】http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/3195370/China-will-be-a-democracy-by-2020-says-senior-party-figure.html
【译者】妩人少将
China will be a democracy by 2020, says senior party figure
China will transform itself into a working democracy in just over a decade, according to one of the country's most influential reformers.
By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai
Last Updated: 12:56PM BST 14 Oct 2008
Zhou Tianyong, an adviser to the Communist Party's Central Committee and one of its most liberal voices, told the Daily Telegraph that "by 2020, China will basically finish its political and institutional reforms".
He added: "We have a 12-year plan to establish a democratic platform. There will be public democratic involvement at all government levels."
Mr Zhou also predicted "extensive public participation in policy-making, such as drawing up new legislation".
Mr Zhou is deputy head of research at the Central Party School, the most important institution for training senior leaders. President Hu Jintao is among its former directors.
After two weeks of heightened tension between China and Taiwan because of a £3.5 billion American arms sale to the island, Mr Zhou said the transition to democracy was "essential for relations with Taiwan and a possible peaceful reunification".
His comments appear to rebuff the widespread belief that Chinese political reform had stalled after the riots in Tibet in March and a security clampdown before the Olympic Games in Beijing.
Instead, Mr Zhou said the government was determined to reform itself, but that there had been some infighting between different departments. He called for the number of ministries in Beijing to be halved to between 19 and 21 in order to form a "modern government structure".
Mr Zhou added that civil society in China would also play an important role. "There will be many more non-governmental organisations, chambers of commerce, industry associations and other social groups. Religion should also be given a wider platform to play a positive role. We should protect religious freedom," he said.
"People should not follow the traditional mindset," he added. "We should recognise that the government should serve the people and society."
But Mr Zhou did not predict the end of the one-party state, nor the demise of the Communist Party's monopoly of power.
Any transition to democracy is likely to be a slow process. China already has grassroots elections in over 660,000 villages, although these contests are often rigged. However, there are already small signs of change, with larger cities, such as Nanjing and Guangzhou, recently opening more important posts to public competition.
中文译文：
资深共产党员说2020年中国将变成民主国家
中国最有影响力一位社会改革家声称中国将在短短的十几年内转变成一个民主国家。
马尔科姆摩尔 上海
上次更新时间：下午12时56 BST 08年10月14日
周天勇是中国共产党中央委员会顾问，并且是其中最开放和自由的一位。他告诉每日电讯报说：“到2020年中国将基本完成其政治和体制方面的改革。 ”
他补充说道：“我们拥有一个构建民主平台的12年计划，并且在政府的所有层面上都将会有公众的民主参与。”
周先生还预测“公众将能广泛参与诸如新立法制定之类的决策”。
周先生担任着培训高级领导人才的最重要机构中央党校的研究室副主任。值得一提的是中国国家主席胡锦涛也是这个研究室的前主任之一。
在中国和台湾之间的关系因为一项美国对台35亿英镑的军售案而经历了两个星期的加剧紧张之后，周先生声称中国向民主的过渡对“与台湾的关系来说是必不可少的，并且将有可能实现中国的和平统一。”
人们对中国的政治改革已经在今年3月西藏发生骚乱及北京奥运会举行之前进行安全压制后停滞不前有着广泛猜测，而他的评论似乎就是为了回应这些疑问。
周先生声称，恰恰相反，中国政府自身就有改革决心，若非各部门之间出现了一些内部纠纷的话。他同时呼吁为了实现“现代政府架构”的目标，北京应将部委的数目减半至19和21个 。
周先生补充说，中国的民间社会也将于此发挥重要的作用。“我们将会拥有更多的非政府机构、商会、行业协会和其他的社会团体。宗教也应得到能发挥其积极的作用的更广泛平台。我们应该保护宗教自由”。
他补充说：“人们不应该死守传统的思维方式，我们应该认识到政府应该服务于人民和社会。”
但周先生并没有预示中国国家一党制的结束，也没有提到共产党权力垄断的消亡。
任何向民主的过渡可能都是一个缓慢的过程。中国已经在超过66.0万的村庄进行基层选举，尽管这些竞争往往被操纵。然而还是已经有了一些微小的变化迹象，在较大的城市如南京、广州，最近正开放公众公开竞争更多重要的政府职位。
