Critic Leaves Beijing Red-faced

Asia Times writes about the political impact of a widely-circulated article, which contains a sharp critique of China’s current political system, allegedly written by an anonymous former senior official. (Some say the official is former National People’s Congress chairman Wan Li, though that has yet to be proven). A full translation of the article is available via CDT here. From the Asia Times article:

The government has reasons to fear the impact of such a critical essay, whoever its real author may be. Against the backdrop of rising unemployment, a widening rich-poor gap and widespread social discontent, it would not welcome such a candid appraisal of its performance.

“The People’s Republic of China does not have a modern political party system … even now, although 60 years have gone by, a truly competitive system of elections has not been established,” the article says.

The author laments that 60 years on, China is still under one-party rule and the state is still regarded as “the party’s state”. He also lambastes the party for clinging onto power in the government as well as over the military – even now, he says, the army is the party’s army, not the country’s army.

“Is ‘no change’ a good thing in politics? Or a kind of political inertia? Or a kind of political stagnation?” the article asks.