Asia Times reports on rumblings of democracy in China:
Spring has not proved to be a hopeful season in the politics of China’s past, but that could be changing. These days, there is democracy as well as pollen in the air. All this seems to pave the way for the introduction of a more democratic election system in the all-important 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) this autumn.
Start with the fact that both President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have recently spoken positively about democratic development both in Hong Kong and on the mainland. In addition, a number of articles on political reform have appeared in the state-controlled media and Communist Party journals. There has also been speculation by veteran commentators overseas on the possibility of a democratic future for China.
And all this comes at a particularly sensitive time. This month marks the 18th anniversary of the death of the reform-minded Communist Party general secretary Hu Yaobang, which inspired tens of thousands of students to pour into the streets in mourning. But that mass exercise in grief soon transformed into a mass demonstration for democracy that ended in the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4, 1989. [Full text]
