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SCMP Reporter

While the liberal wing of the Chinese Communist Party seems to have been outmanoeuvred by the 'neo-conservative' supporters of President Jiang Zemin, it is by no means a spent force.

 Political observers in Beijing have pointed to several recent incidents to show the staying power of the 'radical Westernisers'.

 While the propaganda Establishment is solidly under Mr Jiang's control, the liberals last month put out a remarkable manifesto for no-holds-barred reform entitled The Era of the Thaw: Memorandum for China's Third Thought Liberation.

 The 381-page anthology contains works by, and interviews with, avant-garde cadres and intellectuals such as Li Rui, Yu Guangyuan, Wu Xiang, Ren Zhongyi and Gong Yuzhi.

 Published by the official Economic Daily Press, the manifesto has yet to be savaged by the censors.

 The ideals of the free-thinkers, many of whom had advised former party general secretaries Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, can be easily summarised: Deng Xiaoping's market reforms must be pushed forward without reservations; and commensurate political reform be implemented.

 The liberals also fear a return of 'leftism', or remnant Maoism. And they think the party's mainstream faction, led by Mr Jiang, has dragged its feet on reform in the name of preserving stability. In his article on 'combatting leftism', Mr Li, a former secretary of Mao Zedong, warned that only political liberalisation could rid the party of ills such as corruption and dictatorial policies.

 'It is difficult for the party to effectively monitor and supervise itself,' he wrote. In his piece on a new socialist system, economist Yu floated the ideas of 'one country, many systems' and 'one system, many formats'. The former Hu Yaobang aide has long argued that different economic and even social systems and practices could co-exist within such a complex country as China.

 A highlight of the book is a little-known speech made by elder Wan Li in support of Deng's pro-reform pronouncements during the latter's tour of southern China in 1992.

 Mr Wan warned that if the party failed to make a clean break with Maoist-style socialism, 'good things such as prosperity, democracy and freedom' would remain the monopoly of capitalism.

 No less significant than the publication of the manifesto was the widespread sympathy the nation's intellectuals accorded former Fujian party secretary Xiang Nan, who died of heart disease last month, aged 79.

 A vigorous reformer, Xiang helped bring the open-door policy to Fujian in the mid-1980s.

 The Hu Yaobang protege was forced to leave his post soon after his mentor fell from grace in early 1987. The somewhat flimsy pretext used by Xiang's opponents was that in 1986 the Fujian party boss failed to curb the manufacture and sale of fake medicine in his province.

 Upon his death, Xiang's family members blamed the party authorities for holding up a request he made early this year to go abroad for a heart operation.

 'Most of the nearly 3,000 cadres and intellectuals who attended the Xiang funeral thought the party had treated Xiang unfairly,' said a source close to the party's moderate wing.

 Xiang's friends have since circulated among Beijing's political circles an unpublished speech the reformer made in a small-group discussion at the 15th party congress last September.

 In what is now being seen as his 'political will', Xiang urged the Jiang leadership to promote real reform to curtail the special privilege of senior cadres and bring about 'scientific and democratic decision-making'.

 Xiang urged Beijing to adopt a more tolerant policy on Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang. His supporters believed the CCP leadership would soon buckle under pressure and rehabilitate Xiang's reputation by disassociating him from the bogus-medicine scandal.

 Of even more importance to the future of the liberal faction is the fate of Mr Zhao, who reportedly wrote a petition to the 15th congress presidium asking for an early reassessment of the official verdict on the June 4, 1989 crackdown.

 According to an informed source, the high-level group that the Jiang leadership set up in late September to investigate 'the circumstances behind the Zhao letter' had failed to turn up incriminating evidence against the former party chief.

 'The authorities believe Zhao either wrote or approved of the letter,' the source said. 'But sending a missive to party authorities is not against the CCP constitution.' The source added that, immediately after the 15th congress, surveillance on Mr Zhao had tightened to the point where his followers feared he might be deprived of the right to read newspapers and watch television.

 Recently, however, the former leader of the liberal faction was again allowed to indulge in an occasional brief game of golf under police supervision. The treatment of Mr Zhao's former political secretary and confidant Bao Tong is also believed to have improved slightly.

 While Mr Bao continues to live under virtual house arrest, he is permitted to make short trips within the capital escorted by public-security officers. Western diplomats in Beijing have ruled out the possibility that Hu and Zhao followers could making a comeback soon.

 Radical reformers did poorly during congress ballots for the Central Committee. They are expected to be excluded from the new cabinet that premier-designate Zhu Rongji will form in March.

 But the diplomats said the liberals would continue to command moral authority so long as Mr Jiang's mainstream faction was perceived to have slowed down the reforms.

 And, given the exacerbation of socio-economic problems such as unemployment, the neo-conservatives are unlikely to abandon their penchant for putting stability ahead of liberalisation.



Party liberals prove they're no spent force