The Government has been urged to speed up political reforms by an article that has split Beijing's top thinkers.
The piece, 'Civilisation's Deterioration and Deteriorated Civilisation', was written by an unknown author last December but has only recently been circulated among Beijing cadres and liberals.
It urges China's leaders to abandon their 'saviour' style of leadership and bring in political reforms.
The article says: 'The party has forgotten its promise of liberalising thoughts and democratisation.
'However, nothing can stop China from modernisation, democratisation, liberalisation and legalisation.' The author used the pseudonym Shangguan Yanqing.
Although political reform is not on the official agenda of the 15th Communist Party Congress this autumn, sources among the capital's intellectual circle said the article had rekindled the debate.
