{"id":14907,"date":"2007-09-30T07:49:36","date_gmt":"2007-09-30T14:49:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/09\/30\/china-communist-elder-issues-bold-call-for-democracy-chris-buckley\/"},"modified":"2009-01-30T12:04:16","modified_gmt":"2009-01-30T19:04:16","slug":"china-communist-elder-issues-bold-call-for-democracy-chris-buckley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2007\/09\/china-communist-elder-issues-bold-call-for-democracy-chris-buckley\/","title":{"rendered":"China Communist Elder Issues Bold Call For Democracy – Chris Buckley"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nFrom Reuters:\n<\/p>\n
\nIn a bold jab before a key meeting of China’s Communists, a 90-year-old former secretary to Mao Zedong<\/a> has urged the Party to embrace democracy, saying that only political freedom can end instability and corruption.<\/p>\n
Li Rui<\/a> issued his demand for citizens’ rights and legal shackles on Party power in a Beijing magazine, China Across the Ages (Yanhuang Chunqiu), just over two weeks before President Hu Jintao<\/a> opens the 17th Party Congress, which is set to give him five more years in power.<\/p>\n
Hu cautiously has signaled modest political adjustments under strict one-party limits. But in a sign that liberal reformers may feel emboldened to press for bigger steps, Li argued that tinkering was not enough. [Full Text]<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n