From OpenDemocracy (link):
With the first public sign of dissent in senior ranks of the Chinese Communist Party, the tensions over China’s increasingly repressive approach to press freedom have burst into the open. In the last few weeks, Beijing has stepped up the pressure on China’s press, shutting down newspapers and picking off editors who resist; measures that the party leadership appears to regard as essential to maintaining “stability” in the face of a steady increase in public protest across the country.
But the response of three former senior party officials echoes the alarm, already felt by many outsiders, that the leadership’s present approach is counterproductive and could heighten tensions and lead to greater instability. The argument goes to the heart of the debate about China’s political future: will China’s continued development eventually oblige the party to share power, or can the party maintain its monopoly on power by a combination of repression and the manipulation of public opinion?
Technorati Tags: CCP, censorship, China
