WHILE attention was fixed on Beijing for the June 4 anniversary, a pro-democracy group in Nanjing issued a statement calling for a complete reform of the political system.
The three-page statement sent to foreign journalists in the capital said China had no alternative but to overthrow its 'feudal system' and become a 'truly democratic' society.
Although China's capital was the centre of the 1989 democracy movement, supporters demonstrated in hundreds of other cities and towns. The statement, released by a small group of activists called the United Front, is a sign that embers of the fires lit in 1989 are still smouldering in other parts of the country.
As in 1989, the activists charge the ruling classes with abuse of power.
'The governing class does very little good for our country's development but enjoys most benefits.' It alleges that the ruling elite had inherited huge privileges from their parents and that these are used to exploit the labouring classes.
'The elite undermines the economic benefits from the introduction of competition by price-fixing, and similarly destroys any legal and democratic measures by putting themselves above the law,' it said.
