HONG KONG -- Two weeks ago, China issued a 23,000-word white paper on democracy, the first time the Communist government had ever done so. However, instead of being a blueprint for the development of representative government, the white paper turned out to be a defense of the perpetuation of the monopoly of power by the Communist Party.

The white paper, titled "Building of Political Democracy in China," terms democracy vital, saying "without democracy there could be no socialism, much less socialist modernization." However, its bottom line is that "upholding the unity of the leadership" of the Communist Party is "the most important and fundamental principle for developing socialist democracy in China."

Repeating a slogan that is a standard part of Chinese propaganda, it says, "Without the Communist Party there would be no New China," adding: "Nor would there be people's democracy." Party leadership, the document said, "is needed for making the state power stable."