This was remarked by Wei Jianxing, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, at a plenary meeting held by the delegation of Liaoning Province, northeast China, to the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature.

"Correctly handling non-antagonistic contradictions has a direct bearing on the issues of reform, development and stability, " he said.

This has been a major political subject and an imperative political task for Party committees and governments at all levels, said the Party official, who is concurrently a member of the CPC Central Committee Secretariat, secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and chairman of the All- China Federation of Trade Unions.

Along with the deepening of reforms and the development of a socialist market economy, the number of non-antagonistic contradictions has been rising, which has become an outstanding issue in some areas, Wei said.

Some of these contradictions have come along with the restructuring of enterprises, the laying off of factory workers, delays in wage payment, failure in establishing social security, increasing financial load on farmers, environmental pollution, and disputes over resources, according to the official.

The majority of these problems are non-antagonistic and come about when people fear that their interests may come under threat, Wei said. He accused some local official of bureaucratism, rough work-style, or corruption which sometimes results in serious incidents.

He urged leading officials at different levels to inherit and display the good tradition and experience of the Party, when dealing with non-antagonistic contradictions. "Safeguarding social and political stability serves the fundamental interests of the people," he said.

While making policies, Party committees and governments must take into consideration the potential impact of the policies on the people, so as to prevent contradictions that may break out due to wrong policy-making, the official said.

He proposed that efforts be made to study and set up a mechanism to correctly handle non-antagonistic contradictions and safeguard social and political stability under new circumstances. He also called for bringing socialist democracy into full play, especially expanding grassroots democracy, to let people enjoy greater rights of knowledge, participation and supervision.

(People’s Daily 03/14/2001)