China Moves Toward an Open Vote

Shu Kexin has been called an egomaniac, an opportunist, a carpetbagger. By his own admission, he had no chance of winning a seat in local elections to be held Wednesday -- nor was he sure he wanted the job. But just being able to mount an independent candidacy in district elections was a victory in its own right, he said.

“My main objective is to test the election law,” the businessman and homeowners activist said while canvassing. “I’m testing the law with my body.”

For the first time in more than two decades, Beijing voters are being offered candidates who were not all handpicked by the Communist Party. Although the district People’s Congress doesn’t wield much power, analysts see this modest opening as a potentially significant step toward democracy.

“This is an important development to watch,” said Mao Shoulong, a public administration professor at People’s University. “While the changes are small compared to the vast size of China, the impact will be long-term and important.”

China has flirted with village elections since the 1980s. The central province of Hubei held more-open district elections in 1998. The southern city of Shenzhen followed this year. And a few labor unions are mulling open leadership contests.

Still, even a modest dose of political competition in the nation’s capital is enough to turn heads this year in a process that will see 4,403 deputies selected from more than 40,000 nominees.

Don’t be mistaken. This is not high-powered electioneering.

Campaigning is strictly limited. Candidates aren’t allowed to print leaflets without a permit, which isn’t easy to obtain, they add. They can’t put up billboards or buy television time. They can’t mail campaign literature or openly solicit funds. Shu’s “electioneering” consisted largely of handing out copies of China’s election law with his name card attached. Even that required a special review.

As he tromped through a neighborhood of rickety single-story houses in Beijing’s northeastern district of Chaoyang, Shu carried a message that would make American civics teachers proud: Weigh your decision carefully. Then vote.

Shu was fighting more than apathy and couch-potato inertia, however. Several residents in the dirt alleys lined with upturned flower pots and old mops recounted past election practices: A member of their danwei, or work unit, would tell them which handpicked party member to vote for -- or would just collect their blank ballots in advance.

“Our boss would just tell us to vote for the boss of his boss,” said a 63-year-old Beijing resident who identified himself only as Li. “That was it.”

China has experienced periods of relative openness in the past, only to see the door slam shut. Steps for the first and only previous local election in Beijing involving independent candidates were taken in 1980. After early public excitement, however, local party officials pulled the plug when campaigning became too animated.

Shu believes that there’s no going back this time. Even the staid government-run People’s Daily said independents would make local assemblies livelier.

“I haven’t been put in jail yet,” he said. “I want to show that the system works.”

At a meeting Thursday in a basement coffee shop, several nonaffiliated candidates -- including lawyers, students and retirees -- outlined their platforms and concerns.

“I’m very excited,” said Nie Hailiang, a member of another homeowners committee. “This election is a real sign of progress in democracy.”

Wang Hai, another candidate and a well-known consumer rights activist, said he considered suing the local election office, given its power to disqualify candidates without apparent cause. He dropped that idea upon learning that its powers included vetting lawsuits against itself. “It’s like being an athlete and a referee at the same time.”

In Shu’s district, the election office early today selected four candidates from 66 based on a set of unknown criteria. Shu was not among those left standing. Expecting this, he had told people that they could still write in his name in Wednesday’s election.

Local election officials were not immediately available to comment about their procedures. But Fang Ning, a scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says the selection process is open and fair. He says that the pressure residents say they have felt to vote for a particular candidate is rare and restricted to marginal areas.

Beijing’s district assembly, which handles issues such as approving bus routes, zoning and the selection of local officials, has tended to rubber-stamp the decisions of higher party officials.

China has embraced competition in many sectors to improve efficiency and accountability. A notable exception has been the political arena where the Communist Party holds a monopoly.

Analysts say senior party officials find themselves in something of a bind. Officials want to maintain their grip on power without subjecting themselves to the vagaries of an open election. At the same time, they’re trying to attract support from the middle class, elites, homeowners and other groups demanding a larger voice.

The officials’ strategy so far has been to gradually allow more-open contests in limited areas that don’t directly threaten the system.

The prospect of independent candidates comes as more people are being pushed out of their homes by economic development and high-end real estate projects. A series of recent self-immolations in Tiananmen Square by people losing their land rights has sent shudders through the system.

Shu made money running his own trading company in Hong Kong in the mid-1990s, then returned to Beijing and bought several apartments in a luxury complex. There were so many problems with the construction that he organized other tenants and took on the developer.

His campaign platform was modest. He would issue monthly reports, set up a citizen hotline and try to oversee other officials.

Out on the street, his foreign-sounding ideas were greeted with curiosity -- and skepticism. A local street committee member tried to chase him away before backing down.

Shu took it all in stride.

“There’s zero chance I’ll be picked, but ... We’re letting everyone know the situation in China -- that’s my goal.”