政治严经济宽，中国改革议程难两全

choi

储百亮, 政治严经济宽，中国改革议程难两全. 纽约时报中文网, Nov 7, 2013
http://cn.nytimes.com/china/20131107/c07plenum/

, which is translated from

Chris Buckley, A Clash of Goals for China’s Leader. New York Times, Nov 7, 2013.

Quote:

(a) “'There are inescapable contradictions that Xi Jinping will have to face,' said WU Wei 吴 伟, a former aide to central party leaders who was involved in planning China’s market overhauls in the 1980s. 'In one hand, they’re holding up the leftist banner. On the other hand, they say there must be reform,' Mr Wu said. 'They don’t show any desire to take on political issues, but if you don’t take on issues at the political level, most of these economic reform measures will fall apart before they’re completed.' * * * It is this thicket of interests, not ideological conservatism or elite factional rifts, that poses the biggest obstacle to economic change, said Mr Wu, the former aide who helped design market reforms in the 1980s. 'Perhaps outwardly they’ll declare their support for reform,” he said, “but in reality they’ll resist reforms that involve them.'

(b) "If Mr Xi is serious about remaking the economy, his hard-line political positions will stand in the way of attracting ideas and support, said Minxin PEI, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in California who studies Chinese politics. 'I don’t see a political strategy,' Mr Pei said. 'If there is one, it is counterproductive. It is to limit the voices of the liberals; it is to limit grass-roots pressure for reform.'

(c) "'It’s really fundamentally about the role of the state in a modern economy,' said Fred Z HU 胡 祖六, the chairman of Primavera Capital Group 春华资本集团, who has advised the Chinese government. 'The Chinese state is still just way too powerful, with too much excessive, unchecked, opaque power occupying the commanding heights.'

(d) "Central ministries and local governments have resisted initiatives that would give farmers a bigger share of land taken for development, said TAO Ran 陶 然, director of the China Center for Public Economics and Governance at Renmin University in Beijing, who supports such changes. 'Many local government officials and central officials, they know this is not sustainable,' Professor Tao said. 'But reform would finally, maybe, reduce their power. You know what is good, but you may not want to do it.'


My comment: We all know, from the title alone, what the report will say. There is no need to read the rest.