Will China Implement Some Democratic Reforms
Threee of the most influential leaders of the Chinese Communist Party are going to step down. This prompted reactions in the American press that retirement of the 3 of the top communist officials would open the door for a new generation of Chinesee politicians. Washington Posts reported that this may even include a replacement of the China’s President Hu Jintao.
New Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party Elected
The 17th National Congress of Communist Party of China (CPC) elected Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin and Li Changchun as members of the Central Committee, top decision-making body of the party.
The Western press commented that the Congress might pave a way for reforms in China’s communist system. All we can stay at this point however is that the party delegates reshuffled China’s top leadership and enhanced Hu Jintao’s authority.
The 2,200-members of the Congress revised the CPC constitution and included paragraph “scientific development,” as a Hu Jintao’s contribution to Marxism. The party has endorsed Mr. Jintao’s contention that the China must conduct a social welfare policy and environmental protection in conjunction with the economic growth.
The top threee that steped down from the Central committee of the party are 68-old Zeng Qinghong, 69-year old Wu Guanzheng and 72-year old Luo Gan. They have been not only members of the outgoing Central Committee but held seats at 9-member Political Bureau Standing Committee of the CPC, the most powerful institution in China’s Communist regime.
Zeng is also a vice president of China. Wu Guanzheng was a secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist party. Luo has served as secretary of the party’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Committee.
The new Chinese top communist officials face at least two significant problems. The first one is the widening gap between country’s urban rich and rural poor areas. The other one is the lack of internal pluralism inside Communist party which is becomeing more authoritarian according to many observers.
The liberalized Chinese economy might not function too long alongside with the lack of pluralism in the public affairs, censorship in media and with the communist political system.
The economi growth in China produces a huge income disparity between contry’s richest social groups and nudreds of millions very poor peasants, migrant workers and pensioners. The enormous differencies in econimic status in the chinese society makes China a communist country only on paper.
The political corruption within the Communist party can not be concealed from 1.3 billion ordinary chinese people. The Hu Jintao’s government passed some amendments in the contitution that introduced pritave property rights. Those are considered as major change in the Maoist communist regime.
But the change brings social tensions because it favours mostly the residents of big Chinese cities where a fast-growing middle class emerged after a two decades of economic growth. Will those people demand democratic reforms withing the following years?
