BEIJING -- Communist Party leader Jiang Zemin pledged in a nationally televised interview Sunday that China will ultimately triumph in its pursuit of socialism, despite 'difficulty' the system is encountering elsewhere.
Jiang reiterated the official hard line that China will continue to pursue its own course of development without being influenced by the recent political upheaval in Eastern Europe.
In a veiled reference to the collapse of the old communist order throughout the East Bloc, Jiang acknowledged recent 'disturbances' in the world, adding that socialism 'will face all kinds of twists and turns and encounter all kinds of difficulty in its development.'
But he emphasized that China would remain unaffected by the crisis of communism in other countries.
'The Chinese people will unswervingly follow their own path and create a new socialist life for themselves,' Jiang said, concluding China 'will surely be able to grasp the rules of history and win the final victory.'
Jiang's New Year's Eve remarks, presented in the form of a stiffly-worded interview with a senior reporter from China Central Television, came several days after the Communist Party chief expressed 'concern' to a visiting Soviet official over events in Eastern Europe.
The official Chinese reaction to political liberalizations sweeping the East Bloc has already moved beyond concern to criticism. An internal policy document lambasted Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev for 'subverting socialism' by encouraging the changes in Eastern Europe, informed Chinese sources say.
Chinese and foreign sources also say the violent fall of hardline Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu has worried Chinese leaders more deeply than previous peaceful changes occurring throughout Eastern Europe.
The conservative Chinese leadership's reaction to events in Romania has included reinforced security at the national television and radio stations and new regulations forbidding 'gatherings, rallies or demonstrations' in central Tiananmen Square, the center of last spring's massive student-led protests.
The moves reflect officials' worries over a possible flare-up of domestic dissent, still simmering in Beijing since the pro-democracy movement was crushed by the army last June.
Police presence has also been stepped up at college campuses, where posters supporting Ceausescu's overthrow have appeared. A top government official was sent to Beijing University Saturday to drive home the official government line to students, stressing the need to support China's socialist system.
But Jiang's public remarks presented an outward picture of confidence and control that contrasted markedly with ongoing efforts to clamp down on internal dissent.
The party chief pledged success in building 'socialism with Chinese characteristics,' a recurrent phrase which now appears to imply a greater contrast between China and toppled communist regimes in Eastern Europe.
Jiang stated that the Chinese Communist Party has been 'tempered' by its ongoing struggle against 'bourgeois liberalism' and 'can stand all kinds of tests.'
Bourgeois liberalism is a catchphrase for Western political concepts such as democracy and political pluralism.
