Economic blueprint without political reform in China a ‘lethal’ step: liberals
Party's bold communiqué on market reform does nothing to address burning problems of corruption and inequality, academics say
The market reform drive set out in the Communist Party’s third plenum, coupled with the leadership’s consolidation of power, is only likely to deepen social problems in the absence of political reform, say liberal party veterans and scholars.
The effectiveness of market reform is also likely to be limited by the party’s conservative ideology, they say.
The communiqué pledged to also strengthen the independence of the judiciary and improve the anti-corruption mechanism and announced the creation of two powerful organs – one to spearhead reforms and another to formulate a co-ordinated national security strategy.
Du Daozheng, a reformist party elder and publisher of liberal political magazine Yanhuang Chunqiu, said he was relieved the communiqué pushed market reform one step forward but warned that burning issues such as corruption and inequality would remain without political reforms.
“If there is no political and democratic reform, you cannot tackle corruption,” he said.