Yang Yao, Director of the China Center for Economic Research at Peking University, reports in a Foreign Affairs article that Beijing's ongoing efforts to promote growth are infringing on people's economic and political rights. In order to survive, the Chinese government will have to start allowing ordinary citizens to take part in the political process.
"The reforms carried out over the last 30 years have mostly been responses to imminent crises. Popular resistance and economic imbalances are now moving China toward another major crisis. Strong and privileged interest groups and commercialized local governments are blocking equal distribution of the benefits of economic growth throughout society, thereby rendering futile the CCP's strategy of trading economic growth for people's consent to its absolute rule. ... ultimately, there is no alternative to greater democratization if the CCP wishes to encourage economic growth and maintain social stability."
Read the full article here.
