relations and major international issues. The following is an excerpt on China’s political reform.
中国的经济改革发展迅速，使得中国在短期内取得高速发展。中国的政治改革是否需要跟上经济改革的步伐？
China embarked on the road to reform and opening up in 1978. Our reform is a comprehensive one which includes both economic and political restructuring. Precisely as Mr. Deng Xiaoping pointed out, without political reform, economic reform would not be successful. In essence, political restructuring in China aims at integrating the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, the people’s role as masters of their own affairs, and the rule of law in the conduct of public affairs.
At present, it is particularly important to do a good job with regard to the following. First of all, we should develop democracy to safeguard people’s democratic rights and to respect and protect their human rights. Secondly, we should improve the legal system through better legislation, better administration according to the law, greater judicial reform. Thirdly, we should run the country according to the law, making our socialist democracy more institutionalized, standardized and regularized, and in this way we can make sure that it will not change because of changes in the leadership or changes in the views and priorities of leaders. Fourthly, we must strengthen supervision, and we should make
sure that the government is placed under the supervision of the people. We have to develop democracy and strength supervision. Only in this way can we make sure the government will not relent in its efforts, and this would help avoid a situation whereby the government would be a failure.
China is a big country with 1.3 billion people, so political reform should be pressed ahead in an orderly fashion and in a well-organized manner. Now there exist many misunderstandings. For instance, with regard to freedom of religious belief, freedom of religious belief is clearly written into China’s constitution. China currently has over 100 million religious followers and over 100,000 religious sites.
Since the beginning of the reform and opening up, one religious site has been either built or restored every three days. There are quite a number of religious sites around the Zhongnanhai compound. For instance, to the east of Zhongnanhai, there is the Wangfujing Catholic church. To the south, there is the Islamic mosque on Niujie Street. To the north, there is the Yonghe Buddhist Monastery. To the west is the Baiyun Taoist Temple. Nearest to Zhongnanhai is the famous Xishiku Catholic Church, which has a long history in China. If you visit these religious sites, I’m sure you will see people practicing their religious faith.
今后中国在政治改革方面还会有什么步骤？比如说现在的直接选举，是否会从基层推进到乡镇？
At the moment, we have introduced the practice of self-administration and direct elections in 680,000 villages. This is a great innovation, and it is also very good practice for Chinese farmers. We have also introduced suffrage for the election of people’s deputies at the level of townships, counties and urban cities without districts. Indirect elections are held for the leadership of provinces, and of municipalities with districts, as well as for the central authorities. Why? This is because China is such a huge country with such a large population. It is still underdeveloped, and economic development is uneven between regions, so conditions are not ripe for direct elections at the higher levels. The first hindrance in my view is the inadequate education level of the population.
8.4 《华盛顿邮报》总编谈中国
有人说，《华盛顿邮报》经常把中国描绘成一个“共产主义的专制国家”，那里的人“没有民主，没有自由”。他们问，为什么《华盛顿邮报》对这些负面的字眼如此感兴趣呢？对此，我不能赞同。首先，包括《华盛顿邮报》和《纽约时报》在内，几乎所有美国大报都不再将中国称为“专制国家”。 《华盛顿邮报》已经有很长时间不再使用类似这样的字眼了。今天，我们依然称中国为“共产党国家”，那是因为这是一个事实，中国的确是由共产党所统治的。
今天，《华盛顿邮报》正在努力尝试去理解中国的复杂性。去年，本报就发表了好几篇有关中国市民社会的长篇报道。这些报道的主题多种多样，涉及到网络、工人、政府与个体的冲突等等。这些报道全面反映了中国的复杂性。
中国是个大国，每天都在发生很多不同的事情，这些事情很多是自相矛盾的。比如，中国的经济成就在短时间内让成千上万的老百姓脱贫，这是其他国家望尘莫及的。但同时中国也面临很多矛盾。全世界都在拭目以待，看中国领导人如何解决这些矛盾。
我们都应该向中国学习。中国对我们未来生活的影响将会越来越大。在过去50年中，在美国发生的一切影响了全世界众多地方。今天，中国的作用跟美国有异曲同工之妙。作为正在崛起的经济大国，中国将对世界-包括美国-发挥越来越大的影响力，尤其是在经济领域。中国人民将很快接受这样一个现实，那就是中国发生的事将对世界产生巨大的影响。
我到过中国三次。第一次是在1999年.第二次是在2001年3月，期间我有幸采访了中国国家主席江泽民。第三次是2003年11月，期间我又采访了中国国务院总理温家宝。中国有令人难以置信的活力，中国文化也是如此丰富多彩。每次到中国，我都看到和学到了一些新东西。中国的景色无与伦比，发展潜力巨大。我认为，中国如何应对今后的挑战将决定这个星球的未来。
我认为我没有资格来评价中国的领导人。每次当我采访中国的领导人的时候，我都感到他们准备充分，应答自如，知识渊博，富有远见，