Moscow: Nearly two decades after the collapse of the Communist Party, Russia’s rulers have hit upon a model for future success: the Communist Party.
Or at least the one that reigns next door.
Like an envious underachiever, Vladimir V. Putin’s party, United Russia, is increasingly examining how it can emulate the Chinese Communist Party, especially its skill in shepherding China through the financial crisis relatively unbowed.
United Russia’s leaders even convened a special meeting this month with senior Chinese Communist Party officials to hear first-hand how they wield power.
Looking east: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (left) talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing. Senior Putin aide Aleksandr D. Zhukov at a meeting with Chinese officials in the border city of Suifenhe said the accomplishments of China’s Communist Party in developing its government deserve the highest marks. Kyodo / Reuters
In truth, the Russians express no desire to return to communism as a far-reaching Marxist-Leninist ideology, whether the Soviet version or the much attenuated one in Beijing. What they admire, it seems, is the Chinese ability to use a one-party system to keep tight control over the country while still driving significant economic growth.
It is a historical turnabout that resonates, given that the Chinese Communists were inspired by the Soviets, before the two sides had a lengthy rift.
For the Russians, what matters is the countries’ divergent paths in recent decades. They are acutely aware that even as Russia has endured many dark days in its transition to a market economy, China appears to have carried out a fairly similar shift more artfully.
The Russians also seem almost ashamed that their economy is highly dependent on oil, gas and other natural resources, as if Russia were a Third World nation, while China excels at manufacturing products sought by the world.
“The accomplishments of China’s Communist Party in developing its government deserve the highest marks,” Aleksandr D. Zhukov, a deputy prime minister and senior Putin aide, declared at the meeting with Chinese officials on 9 October in the border city of Suifenhe, China, north-west of Vladivostok. “The practical experience they have should be intensely studied.”
Zhukov invited President Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, to United Russia’s convention, in November in St Petersburg.
The meeting in Suifenhe capped several months of increased contacts between the political parties. In the spring, a high-level United Russia delegation visited Beijing for several days of talks, and United Russia announced that it would open an office in Beijing for its research arm.