Here's a little VERY GOOD NEWS about my home away from home for our readers on this other side of the globe, courtesy of The New York Times
BEIJING, Oct. 1 — President Hu Jintao has made a vague but insistent call for more democracy in China on the eve of the country's National Day holiday, raising expectations that he may support introducing greater pluralism in the one-party state.
In an address to the governing Politburo delivered Tuesday and released by China's official news service on Wednesday, Mr. Hu said the Communist Party must undertake a 'sweeping systemic project' to increase public participation in government and enforce the rule of law. He repeatedly emphasized the need for democracy.
'We must enrich the forms of democracy, make democratic procedures complete, expand citizen's orderly political participation, and ensure that the people can exercise democratic elections, democratic decision-making, democratic administration and democratic scrutiny," Mr. Hu said.
Even so, Mr. Hu's National Day speech was his boldest call for accelerated political change since he became general secretary of the Communist Party last November. He became president in March.
"Hu is focusing on improving the operation of the existing system, not changing the system itself," said Wu Jiaxiang, a former government official who is now a leading political analyst in Beijing. "But he is making very clear that he is in favor of political reform. People's hopes will be raised that he intends to do some significant things."
The speech contained no specifics. But people who follow politics closely in Beijing universities and research centers are expecting him to broaden the role of elections within the Communist Party, meaning that multiple candidates might compete for positions and the party rank and file might have a say in who gets promoted.
Mr. Hu may also consider allowing people to begin choosing township or county leaders, expanding local elections that have been permitted at the village level for many years.
