The following editorial is published on the Asia Times Online:
In an apparent move to defuse a decades-old ideological debate, China’s Vice President Xi Jingping, who is widely tipped to succeed President Hu Jintao, has proclaimed that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has turned itself from a “revolutionary party” into the “ruling party”.
For observers, it is plain to see that the CCP is the ruling party of China, so Xi’s statement seems to be tautologous. But for party members and Chinese people in general, this is a new definition of the CCP which is of great significance in theory and in practice. It may even be a breakthrough for a new round of the “emancipation of minds”.
