China Under Reform (Politics in Asia and the Pacific : Interdisciplinary Perspectives)

Discussing whether China's unique combination of economic reform and political dictatorship is likely to keep it from the fate of the former Soviet Union, this book traces the momentum for reform back to the 1950s and looks at three central policy arenas of the reform era - political leadership, the mass public, and foreign policy. In each category, the author highlights the vivid contrast between the universal revolutionary impulses that laid the foundation for the Communist Party and the various piecemeal compromises that have been adopted to sustain momentum and control. He argues, finally, that although the revolutionary impulse has been transcended and often forgotten, its lingering influence continues to disrupt, inspire and shape the progress of the continuing Chinese reform effort.