Interview: French scholar says world needs to re-evaluate China's system merits

The world, distressed over flaws of Western democracy and social crisis, needs to re-evaluate the merits of China's political system and governance style, a famous French scholar said in a recent interview with Xinhua.

David Gosset, a global affairs analyst and a Sinologist, said it is widely recognized among Western leaders that the Communist Party of China (CPC) has a long-term vision to conduct necessary reforms.

"As a result, the country is able to implement reforms in various aspects, but it is much more strenuous and costly to carry out such (reforms) in Western countries," said Gosset, also the founder of the widely-credited Euro-China Forum.

Since the reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, China has carried out a number of major reforms, rendering the country with over three decades of spectacular economic growth and the current status as the world's second economy, said the scholar.

"This fact has fully demonstrated the efficiency and success of China's political system featuring remarkable continuity and sustainability," he said.

He added that the CPC could promote its governing style and social benefits with the "Five-Year Plans," but Western administrations have to focus on policies viable within their tenure.

The scholar said that the democratic election system in Western nations have proved problematic in terms of social governance, since parties and politicians, focusing only on how to win the elections, have become short of long-range strategies and approaches to rule their countries properly.

For example, the French society, boggled by months' confrontations within the society due to the labor law reform, has been lacking trust in the government, Gosset said, adding the situation is getting increasingly hazardous day by day.

That is part of the reason why demagogues with nationalists began to rise in the West's political arena in recent years, as in the case of the U.S. Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, Gosset said.

However, the Westerners, still stuck in the dilution that their system is "flawless" and "irreplaceable," refuse to reform or learn from other countries, he noted, adding even those with insights began to retrospect their institution, but they did not know what the real problem is or how to correct them.

What these people have relied on is still the traditional Western-style democracy thinking, and even anarchism for some, have thus limited influence on the society, Gosset pointed out.

Currently, China is making efforts to push forward its Belt and Road Initiative. The plan, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road with the aim to building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

The initiative has a global perspective and is definitely not just empty talk, Gosset noted, adding such a plan will "profoundly exert profound influence on China and reshape Eurasia in the future."

He said that the initiative, backed by the European Union and relative countries along the routes, will lead 65 percent of the world's population to the unprecedented solidarity and prosperity.

"It is a dream of Eurasia, a dream that we can pursue together," the scholar noted.

He suggested that China take the initiative as a chance to promote the country's achievements in political, economic and cultural areas, so that the world could begin to understand China and its system advantages. Endi