China does have the mechanisms in place to transition out of one
party rule just as has happened throughout South East Asia. In my
mind, it is not if it will happen but a question of when it will
happen.
The good news here is that it appears that the cadres will be
forgiven for now and allowed to retire gracefully. This really
allows a clean sweep from top to bottom and the introduction of fresh
blood.
This also makes it an ideal time to introduce democratic reforms. But
if not, the way is quite clear for a future transition. Everyone
waits out the decade and prepares for the next transition. Sooner or
later the people's will will be accepted slow as it may seem.
The miracle of China, not seen elsewhere, is that it is so large that
even the most egregious thief is small potatoes. This means all our
assumptions are suspect. I wonder how many thieves actually made the
calculation that they could be forgiven?
Chinese Economist:
Corruption Will Kill Regime, But Not China
By Veronica Wang
December 27, 2012
A former Peking
University professor, Zhang Weiying, told a public forum last week
how corruption could be solved in China, and emphasized that it only
poses a serious threat to the Communist Party and not the nation.
Zhang, who was head of
the Guanghua School of Management, spoke about the “two
difficulties of anti-corruption” at The Observer Forum in Beijing
on Dec. 19, where China’s new political and economic direction for
the next decade was discussed following the leadership change in
November.
Zhang commented that
deeply entrenched corruption in the Chinese Communist Party has been
worsening, and he believes few officials would be found free of
corrupt behavior if they were all put under investigation.
He therefore proposed
using the recent 18th National Congress as the start of a new
timeline, and suggested only punishing those Party officials who
continue to commit such crimes, while overlooking those who have
corrected their behavior since the start of the new leadership.
In reference to the
report of the 18th National Congress, Zhang opposed former leader Hu
Jintao’s comment that if corruption continues, it will ruin both
the Party and the country, saying only the Party will be threatened
if the new anti-corruption campaign is unsuccessful.
Recently, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, Wang
Qishan, was appointed as the Secretary of the Central Commission for
Discipline Inspection (CCDI). This was widely seen as an attempt to
emphasize the importance being given to the campaign.
Insiders revealed this
as the new Party leader Xi Jinping’s idea because the two men had
already reached a mutual understanding on anti-corruption efforts.
Analysts believe that
Wang, who previously had portfolios in finance and economics, will
continue his forceful style in his role as CCDI secretary, and is
likely set to focus on corruption in China’s financial sphere—where
there is plenty of it.
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