Chinks in the Armour of Hu Jintao Administration: Can a Harmonious Society Emerge in the Absence of Political Reform?

The leitmotif of the much-anticipated Seventeenth CCP Congress in October 2007 was how to give substance to the goal of "constructing a harmonious society." However, the Hu-Wen leadership's refusal to undertake real political reforms, especially sharing power with "disadvantaged" socio-economic groupings, has exacerbated differences across disparate classes and sectors. This article argues that "harmony" can hardly be attained while the Party "which is in cahoots with monopolistic business groups" refuses to yield the tight grip it has on power and its ironclad control over the nation's resources.

The Politicisation of China's Law-Enforcement and Judicial Apparatus

The Chinese Communist Party has politicised the judicial and law-enforcement apparatus despite Beijing’s avowed commitment to global norms. This paper shows how, in the wake of the 4 June 1989 crackdown, the CCP leadership enhanced its control over the courts and procuratorates so as to boost its capacity to punish dissidents, separatists, and other destabilising elements. Despite President Hu Jintao’s slogan of “running the country according to law,” the prospect for rule of law and judicial independence remains illusory.

Beijing's policy towards Hong Kong and the prospects for democratisation in the SAR

Five days after the Tiananmen Square massacre, Deng Xiaoping indicated that this "counter-revolutionary turmoil" was bound to happen because of trends in the da qihou (literally, the larger climate; figuratively, major domestic and global developments. To understand the intriguing changes that have taken place in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) ten years after 1 July 1997, it is instructive to assess changes in not only Hong Kong itself but also Beijing-Hong Kong relations. China's precipitous rise to within striking distance of attaining "quasisuperpower status also has to be taken into account.

The Maoist Revival and the Conservative Turn in Chinese Politics

 ABSTRACT: This paper evaluates the revival of Maoism in China as major factions of the Chinese Communist Party take a conservative turn in ideology and politics. While the changhong (“singing red songs”) campaign spearheaded by the ousted party chief of Chongqing, Bo Xilai, has attracted the most attention in and outside of China, power blocs ranging from the Communist Youth League Faction under President Hu Jintao to the Gang of Princelings headed by Vice-President Xi Jinping have also resuscitated different aspects of the teachings and values associated with the Great Helmsman. For this reason, the political demise of Bo does not mean the cessation of the revive-Maoism phenomenon. This study also assesses the impact of the restoration of Maoist norms on aspects of Chinese politics such as the future of political reform.

KEYWORDS: Maoism, conservatism, dissent, princelings, political reform.