In the past four
months, the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) has experienced four shocks that
could materially affect, if not eventually end, its “leading role” in Chinese
society.
First, on December
13 of last year, a mob of villagers forced out local party leaders and the
police and took control of the town of Wukan.
Enraged by illegal land grabs and police brutality, the villagers installed
their own representatives after gaining concessions from national authorities.
The Wukan uprising is symbolic of the two hundred thousand mass protests
reported for 2010.
The Chinese people
are fed up with the corruption, indifference, and incompetence they encounter
from local government.
Second, on February 27, a key government think tank issued
its
China
2030 report in conjunction with the World Bank. Rapid growth could only be
sustained, the report argued, by giving free rein to the private sector and ending
the preferential treatment of the state economy: The role of the government “needs
to change fundamentally” from running the state sector to creating a rule of
law and the other accoutrements of a market economy. A month later (o
n March 28), the state council approved a financial reform
pilot experiment to legalize private financial institutions and allow private
citizens to invest abroad.
China 2030 is an open warning
that China’s vaunted state
capitalism model cannot sustain growth and usher China to the next level. A
faltering economy would pose an imminent threat to the CPC’s claim to its
leading role.
Third, on April 10,
charismatic regional party leader, Bo Xilai, was fired as party boss of Chongqing and expelled
from the Politburo. Bo Xilai embodied the party faction favoring state-led
economic development and Maoist ideology. Bo’s status as the son of one of China’s “Eight
Immortals” did not save him from charges of political deviation and corruption.
Bo’s influential wife was arrested under suspicion of murder of an English
business associate.
The ringleader,
cheerleader, and most visible practitioner of China’s party-led state capitalism is
no longer a power broker.
Fourth, on April
27, blind dissident and noted civil rights lawyer, Chen Guangcheng, evaded the security
guards guarding his house in his home village and made it to Beijing,
where he gained refuge in the U.S.
embassy. Guangcheng’s escape shows the sophistication, dedication, and
coordination abilities of the dissident community and is an embarrassment to
the CPC and its security forces.
go to forbes.com
Dr. Gregory's latest book can be found at
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