Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Political and property reform in China

Asia Times Online has published a two-part article on the politics of reform in China. It seems to me that they could be condensed, but there are some good ideas there to check out as events unfold between now and the next Party Congress (in just over a year).

The first article is Hu Jintao and the new China.

It begins, "With just one year left before the 17th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress in autumn 2007, Hu is shaping his grand strategy that will sail him through the congress, possibly with a new team of leaders all loyal to him. The moment is crucial because the party has to appoint one person or a group of persons to take the lead after Hu's retirement. The congress could also initiate new political mechanisms for the promotion of leaders..."

The article goes on to discuss the roles of Taiwan, religion, and the economy in the calculus of politics.

The second article is Hu Jintao's reform tightrope

It begins, "China seems to be moving in the direction of a new property law...

"The approval of such a law has been postponed for almost two years because of strong opposition and the great difficulty of setting in order the present chaos of all that could be defined as property in China. One sticking point is the definition of collective property, in which a village controls the local land..."


The article outlines the complexities of creating a property law in the rural communal society and the difficulties of dealing with the vast Party and government bureaucracies when promoting reform.

The articles are probably best for teacher background reading, but the portion of the second one about what issues surrounding communal property need to be dealt with would be illuminating for students too.

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