Inside China Today

Democracy activist Gao Hongming: Governance System Must Change to Achieve Real Results

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Recent exposure of the poisonous milk powder manufactured in China has triggered heated response from the mainland and international communities. Renowned Beijing democratic activist Gao Hongming accounts the problem to abuses and failing by many government officials in fulfilling their duties. Moreover the current governance system of the Communist regime determines the difficulties in resolving these issues.

Mr Gao Hongming said the issue will not be resolved by sacking the Mayor of Shijiazhuang or the Sanlu Group Co.’s CEO.  According to Mr Gao the fundamental problem is the failings and wrongdoings of government officials responsible for food and pharmaceutical quality control.

Mr Gao felt the quality control procedures needed to be made transparent and open to the public,   and the supervision and administration of government officials need to be stricter. If a problem is found, Mr Gao said severe consequences must be carried out the the person in direct responsibility must undertake administrative and civil liability.

Those who are indirectly responsible should also face demotion. If this isn’t done, then government officials would not take these issues seriously. Gao suggests that food standard issues relate to the health of every citizen. He also states that it is connected with the lives and safety of the entire Chinese population. And that it is 100 times more important than the Olympic Games, and even 100 times more important than political issues.

Gao Hongming further said that due to the current communist system, it’s not possible to resolve the fundamental issues with poisonous foods and pharmaceutical products. He said that despite what the officials say, solving this issue is very difficult, namely because this form of leadership and the current auditing system is not open to the public. Thus, the Chinese government operates in a so-called ‘black box’. Within the ‘black box’, government officials and businesses collude, giving rise to false information and lowering quality standards. When problems arise propaganda is used to divert attention towards other issues.

Gao Hongming originated from Beijing. Because of his involvement and leadership role in the establishment of the China Democratic Party, he was arrested on June 26^th, 1999. Under the accusation of “undermining the nation’s political authority”, Gao was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment. During his time of incarceration, Gao suffered severe persecution for refusing to admit to the crimes he was accused of committing. Mr Gao Hongming was arrested once again in 2008, for openly publishing online articles supporting Falun Gong. The articles he published condemned the Chinese Communist regime, while asking the CCP to compensate Falun Gong for the persecution.