Advertisement
Advertisement
Wang Yang
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more

Shenzhen chief rules out political reforms

Wang Yang
Ting Shi

Shenzhen, that pioneered the mainland's reform project 30 years ago, will not seek to experiment with political change as it did in the economic area, according to Wang Yang, Guangdong's new party chief.

Mr Wang, whose recent prominent advocating of 'thought liberation' prompted speculation on democratic reform, ruled out any such possibility.

'Shenzhen will continue to display its 'special characteristics' ... but it would not pursue any course to become a 'special political zone',' the party chief was quoted by Xinhua as saying on his two-day inspection tour in the boom town.

It was an adroit reference to the special economic zones established by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s as catalysts for economic reform. Three of the first four were in Guangdong, and Shenzhen is considered by far the most successful.

Analysts say it was also a subtle clarification of some high-profile remarks Mr Wang made in his first three months in office, which cast him in the mainland media as a bold reformer.

In his first major public speech since becoming party chief in December, Mr Wang bemoaned the loss of the entrepreneurial spirit that had propelled the province into the vanguard of reform for most of the past three decades.

He also called for a 'new round of mass discussion of ideas' to restore the province's 'prestigious' status as an icon of mainland reform.

He used the term 'liberate thoughts', highly symbolic in China's political language, at least 22 times in his speech.

In 1978, with a call to officials to emancipate their minds from Maoist dogma, Deng launched the 'reform and opening-up' programme.

Mr Wang's remarks had been interpreted by some politically progressive newspapers in Guangdong as a hint to use the 30th anniversary of that call to push for a new round of mental emancipation - this time possibly in the political arena.

But Mr Wang, 52, a Politburo member whose political star has been rising under the auspices of President Hu Jintao , wasted no time in clarifying any ambiguities on his political allegiance.

'Shenzhen does have to get back to what made this place great and 'special',' he said. 'To do that, Shenzhen needs to unfetter and innovate, to take risks, to honour responsibility and have the guts to blaze a bloody new trail.'

But that 'boldness to explore new ways' was confined to economic matters, he said. Mr Wang did not offer any striking initiatives for the city.

Post