Three Represents

The Three Represents or the important thought of Three Represents is a guiding socio-political theory within China credited to Jiang Zemin, which was ratified by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the Sixteenth Party Congress in 2002. The Three Represents defines the role of the CCP, and stresses that the Party must always represent the requirements for developing China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people. Jiang Zemin first introduced his theory on February 25, 2000 while on an inspection tour in Maoming, Guangdong province.

Throughout the years, the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has changed together with the change in party leadership. And between all the changes in the party history, the most well-known and significant period would be the reform and opening up which pursue socialist modernization by incorporating elements of capitalism. Aftet Deng Xiaoping, the leader who tried to avoid theoretical debates, Jiang Zemin invented a new theory to define the new relationship between party and the people, which is made "Three Represents." Since then, the CCP identified itself as representatives in three levels:

1. Representing the development trend of Chna's advanced productive forces.
2. Representing the orientation of China's advanced culture.
3. Representing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people.

Class Nature of the CCP

The idea of CcP becoming a "whole people's party" that represents all people regardless of the class backgrounds had brought strong criticism from the left conservatives even before Jiang Zemin made his speech. A leftist journal "Quest for Truth" published a harsh attack that the sort of party that would admit capitalists is transforming from the vanguard of the working class and thus abandoned its "class character." Interestingly, Jiang himself also agreed with this opinion from his speech in 1989:

A comrade talked about the issue of millionaires joining the party, and many people are discussing this after the newspaper was published. The documents of this meeting stated that those who are exploiting cannot join the party. I agree with this opinion. Our party is the vanguard of the working class. If we allow those who are unwilling to give up exploitation and rely their lives on exploitation to join the party, what sort of party will we build? In the primary stage of socialism, various economic components are allowed to coexist upon the foundation of public economy. However, the individual economy can only be a supplement to the public economy, it can't be reversed. Large and medium-sized enterprises are still the backbone of an economy owned by the whole people, and this must not be changed.

Justification of the "Three Represents"

After Jiang Zemin delivered his groundbreaking speech about his theory on February 25, 2000,  it had brought a wide attention and many interpretations of the meaning of the speech. Jiang said that by representing the Chinese people in three levels, the party used the interests and demands of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people to replace the specific interests of people from different quarters, especially the class nature of the working class. As defender Xiao Gongqin argues, the innovation of the "three represents" theory was mean to complete the historical ideology transformation of the CCP from a revolutionary party to a ruling party. The Party can keep its legitimacy under the "socialist market economy" or any system that is conducive to the development of advanced productive forces, without promoting any revolutionary movement or keeping the ideal of egalitarianism.

Some observers speculated that the CCP will drop its "communist label" in favor of the more internationally accepted "social democratic" tag eventually. On the other hand, some observers worried the CCP would fall into a trap set by foreigners if it failed to maintain its clear-cut class nature. Zheng Bijian, the executive vice president of the Central Party School who has been active in helping to create the "three represents," argued that a party of the whole people would be a catch-all party that would include diverse and conflicting interests. To include all of the broad mass of contemporary Chinese intellectuals, science and technology workers, cultural workers, and economic managers, in the category of the so-called "middle class" would weaken or even obliterate the working class.

The party rejected both speculations. In Jiang's speech on the "three represents" on the 80th anniversary of the foubding of the Party, he claimed that the expansion of "working class" would help the party remain advanced as vanguard of the working class by expanding its popular support and increasing its social influence. Jiang made a clear statement on the concept of working class that includes intellectuals:

With intellectuals being part of the working class, the scientific, technical and educational level of the working class has been raised considerably... Consequently some workers have changed their jobs. But this has not changed the status of the Chinese working class. On the contrary, this will serve to improve the overall quality of the working class and give play to its advantages as a group in the long run. The Chinese working class has always been the basic force for promoting the advanced productive forces of China. Our Party must remain the vanguard of the working class and unswervingly and wholeheartedly rely on the working class.

It is in such ways that Jiang and the theoriticians who wrote the speech have tried to stretch the traditional understandings of the meaning of the "proletariat." This makes it possible for the ruling party to change the party policies and goals in different periods, overseeing the overall interests of people to keep the Party in power and maintain social stability.

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