China's Communist Party calls for better government

BEIJING -- China's Communist Party called on its members Sunday to improve their ability to run an increasingly complex nation, complaining in an unusually self-critical statement that some of its own leaders lack integrity and warning that the "life and death of the party" could hang in the balance.

The appeal came in a report issued after a leadership meeting that concluded Sept. 19 and sealed President Hu Jintao's leadership by appointing him head of China's military, succeeding former leader Jiang Zemin.

The report by the party Central Committee called on its members to "develop a stronger sense of crisis" about reform, warning that communist rule "will not remain forever if the party does nothing to safeguard it," the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Its urgent tone reflected the leadership's concern that rising anger at corruption that has cost China billions of dollars and sparked numerous protests could undermine public acceptance of communist rule.

The declaration acknowledged communist rule is "not perfect" and said corruption remains "quite serious" despite a crackdown that has punished thousands of officials in recent years.

The report affirmed the party's commitment to capitalist-style reforms that have dramatically raised urban living standards, saying it would "take economic development as the top priority."

The sections of the 36-page report cited by Xinhua didn't say how the party was to improve its ability to govern. But Hu, party leader since 2002, has made improved responsiveness to public needs a key theme of his rule. He has called repeatedly for officials to master skills needed to manage wrenching social and economic change.

The party's ability to govern has "a bearing on the success of China's socialist cause, the future and destiny of the Chinese nation [and] the life and death of the party," the report said.

After insisting for years that it was infallible, the 68 million-member party has tried in recent years to mollify public frustration by talking openly about China's problems and the party's struggle with corruption and other failings.

Thousands of corrupt officials, including some prominent communists, have been punished, and some executed. Party officials blamed for deadly fires and other major accidents have been jailed or fired.

But even by those standards, the statement Sunday was sweeping in its criticism of party members.

It said that "some leading party members don't have a strong sense of responsibility, personal integrity, a down-to-earth style of work or a close connection with the general public." Some lack "the competence to deal with complicated problems," it added.

Many outsiders cite the communist monopoly on power as the root of China's corruption, official incompetence and rural poverty.

The report called for expanded "socialist democracy," but gave no indication the party was easing its opposition to multiparty democracy. Millions of Chinese are allowed to vote in nonpartisan elections for local officials, but the government stamps out any attempt to create a political opposition.

In a speech this month, Hu rejected Western-style politics, saying it would lead China into a "dead end."

Nevertheless, Sunday's statement appeared to reflect Hu's research in recent years into foreign political systems as a possible source of solutions to China's problems.

Hu is a former president of the party school, where leading members are trained on the outskirts of Beijing. Under his direction, it sponsored study of Europe's social-democratic parties and brought in guest lecturers from the United States, Europe and elsewhere.

The report said China must "draw experience and lessons from the success and failure of other ruling parties in the world and enhance our governance capability in a more earnest and conscientious manner."