Australia’s prime minister, Tony Abbott, has lauded a brief aside about democracy in Chinese president Xi Jinping’s speech to the Australian parliament as a commitment that China would be fully democratic by 2050.
In a wide-ranging address on Monday, Xi referenced democracy in explaining “the Chinese dream,” the slogan he has adopted to describe his goal of national rejuvenation and growing wealth.
Experts said the comment was no different from his previous remarks on democracy in China, and suggested Abbott had misunderstood. Xi has dismissed western-style political changes and suggested this year that adopting foreign political systems would not fit and might lead to “catastrophic” consequences.
Xi said during the parliamentary address in Canberra that the Chinese dream was about enhancing the strength and the prosperity of the country, and the wellbeing of its people.
“We have set two goals for China’s future development,” he said. “The first is to double the 2010 GDP and per-capita income of urban and rural residents and build a society of initial prosperity in all respects by 2020. The second is to turn China into a modern socialist country that is prosperous, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious by the middle of the century.”
The Australian prime minister referred to Xi’s democracy comment at a state dinner held to mark the president’s visit. “I have never heard a Chinese leader declare that his country would be fully democratic by 2050,” Abbott said on Monday night.
