Foreign Affairs Focus: Challenges for China With Elizabeth Economy
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The scandal surrounding the downfall of Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai has revealed the problems with President Hu Jintao's unrelenting emphasis on harmony among the country's top leaders. Unless things change soon China's legendary economic growth could grind to a halt.
As popular discontent and citizen activism have spread online in recent years, they have also broadened in scope to include demands not only for political reforms, but also for official accountability on environmental crises, rampant corruption, tainted consumer products, theft of community land, dangerous workplaces, and increasing social and economic equalities.
Chinese leaders are preparing for a once-in-a-decade turnover in leadership. But unlike past transitions, today there are no respected elders to mediate among the communist party's squabbling cliques. This time, jockeying for powerful positions in the new Politburo's lineup could be more combative. And with the leadership preoccupied, policy confusion has become the order of the day.
