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本帖最後由 buweizhai 於 2012-3-18 20:05 編輯
One Cheer for the Departure of Bo Xilai
By TOM ORLIK
Give one cheer for the departure of Chongqing Communist Party chief Bo Xilai. A demagogue who threatened the status quo has been ousted, but the party system that has reasserted itself still needs serious reform.
Over the last five years, Mr. Bo shook up China's politics. The son of a founding father of the Communist Party, and a charismatic leader with a populist appeal, he stood out amongst the ranks of grey bureaucrats who run the country.
Bo Xilai at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on March 3. Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang will replace Mr. Bo as Chongqing party chief.
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In Chongqing, he achieved popularity and notoriety with a strong man style of leadership that harked back to the Mao era, and a fierce crackdown against mafia-type corruption.
Other leaders sometimes appeared impotent in the face of corruption and unable to deliver basic public goods. Mr. Bo presented himself as an alternative with clean hands and a can-do attitude, getting results even if he cut corners along the way.
Now he has been ousted. On Thursday, China's state media announced that Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang will replace Mr. Bo as Chongqing party chief. Mr. Bo's campaign for a place on the Standing Committee of the Politburo—China's top political table—is almost certainly over. It's not hard to see why he is gone.
His careerism, openly campaigning for a place on the Standing Committee, upset the orderly process of leadership succession, shattering the facade of unity leaders have maintained since Tiananmen. His anti-mafia campaign sparked controversy, with ruthless methods cutting against attempts to bring some order to China's legal system.
The bureaucrats have reasserted themselves by kicking Mr. Bo out. But the system remains far from perfect. The rule of law is stymied by the refusal of the party to submit itself to the legal system. The pace of reform on the economy is glacial, and on governance nonexistent. The social discontent that Mr. Bo's demagoguery fed on remains.
All of that is bad news for China's political stability, and its long-term growth prospects. In Transparency International's 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index, China scores below Tunisia and Rwanda. Investors have started to demand a bigger premium for the risk of fraud at Chinese firms. Mr. Bo's case is a reminder that corruption, and political instability, are a risk at the country level as well.
But for all the flaws with the current system of party rule, the alternative of rule by man was even worse. So give one cheer for Mr. Bo's departure, and reserve a second till something better comes along. |
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