Journalism of Courage
Xis policy vision is vague and omits key reforms,but the disappointment follows from high expectations.
The disappointment with the first policy blueprint from Chinese President Xi Jinping,released at the end of the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC),results from the myth the third plenary has built around itself. Ever since Deng Xiaopings opening up of the economy in 1978 and the reinvention of China as a socialist market economy in 1993,the CPCs third plenary has been the forum where every new Chinese leadership unveiled its decadal policy. In Xis case,the session had acquired a stature almost rivalling 1978 and 1993 because of the all-round conviction that a new economic direction based on largescale reforms was necessary.
Chinas challenge,not least as the global economic driver,is formidable. Its a maturing economy threatened by the middle-income trap,an ageing population,mounting debt and corruption. An increase in localised protests,a suicide attack at Tiananmen Square and a bombing outside a CPC office have exposed the dangers of instability. Plans to set up a National Security Committee,modelled perhaps on the KGB,could see Xi Jinping emerge more powerful than his predecessors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. However,on the economy at least,more and less ambiguous details are expected to emerge over the next few weeks.
