Iran's rulers look to Beijing as role model

NICOSIA -- The Islamic Republic of Iran regards communist China as a role model.

The reason, Iranian officials say, is that China has succeeded where the much larger Soviet Union has failed. China has kept the communist leadership intact while it has reformed the economy, attracted Western investment and built its military.

Some officials said this has been the model for Iranian President Mohammad Khatami since his election in 1997. Khatami plans to run for a second term next year.

"They [Chinese] consciously control the pace of domestic reforms and did not let Americans deflect the trend [of reforms] from its right path," said Habibollah Asgarowladi, secretary-general of the Society of Islamic Coalition. "China is one of the most powerful states in the world; with a population of over 1.2 billion it is able to command a strong army and also has a strong say in politics."

The Chinese experience has not been lost on Iran's Arab neighbors either. Arab diplomatic sources said China is often cited by Egyptian and Syrian leaders of a country that has not been swept away by Western norms. They said China has cracked down on corruption without changing its doctrine.

As Asgarowladi put it, the former Soviet Union was deceived by the West. "Its incompetent heads fell victim to the West's fake green light and did not let their political and scientific elites to accomplish the reforms," he said.

Asgarowladi proposed an Iranian state body that would control the pace and content of reforms. Such a body would be aligned with Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and operate above the feuding parliament, government and judiciary.

"If the three bodies were not agreeable to such an entity, the responsibility could be entrusted to the Expediency Council," he added.

Khamenei, who on Sunday quashed a parliamentary bid to introduce press freedom, is said to have also promoted the Chinese model. He has dismissed the appeals by Britain and the United States for reform in Iran.