Posted on 01/03/2009 4:04:39 PM PST by bruinbirdman
An elite dissident has split party leaders with criticism of their ‘sham’ reforms
THE most prominent dissident still living in China has attacked the Communist party’s economic reforms and compared Deng Xiaoping, its late leader, to Louis XIV.
His essays are the second public challenge to the leadership after the appearance of Charter 08, a manifesto for political change that has been signed by more than 7,000 prominent citizens.
The essayist is Bao Tong, 76, who was the highest-ranking official imprisoned after the 1989 crackdown on China’s democracy movement. He served a seven-year sentence and now lives under house arrest in Beijing.
The essays contain devastating language. They will agitate China’s leaders because of Bao’s status as a veteran comrade speaking out while thousands of workers lose their jobs as a result of the world recession. The essays appeared as the party was celebrating 30 years of the “reform and opening-up” policy instituted by Deng, who died in 1997.
Bao says true economic reform died in 1989 when Deng turned against political liberalism and backed rule by a strong state. He argues that the party has merely transferred economic privilege to a corrupt bureaucratic elite. “The price we have paid for it today has been too steep: a cheap labour force, added to massive plunder of natural resources, poisoned air and polluted water,” Bao writes.
The essays were broadcast on the Chinese-language service of Radio Free Asia, a US-funded station, and have been posted on the internet.
The fact that Bao has apparently not been punished suggests to Chinese analysts that the reformist faction inside the party remains influential enough to protect him.
One comrade who worked alongside him, Wen Jiabao, is now the prime minister.
Bao has published criticism in the past but the timing and vigour of his
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Gotta hand it to him, he’s got brass ones.
I remember reading somewhere (can't remember where and can't find the source) that a society has the ethics it can afford. China is becoming wealthier. Maybe the time is coming when they can afford an environmental ethic.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.