The 17th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party ended on 21 October 2007. It is too soon to appreciate its true consequences, particularly for the power struggles between the ‘Shanghai Group’, who believe in growth at any price, and President Hu Jintao, defender of ‘social harmony’ and ‘scientific development’. Yet quite apart from this specific event, Chinese attitudes have changed, and in this article the author sets out to analyse the main features of this change.
China under Hu Jintao, or, the End of Timidity
Over the last two years or so, the world has changed greatly and power balances have evolved, generally in the direction of greater danger. With the decline of the American empire and the real or presumed growth of Russia no one can consider the balance of power in the world today without placing China near the centre of contemporary issues.
To understand this development, it must be repositioned in the historical approach which has today brought the ‘fifth-generation’ leaders to power and which marks the end of a certain timidity on China’s part on an international level.
The Main Periods of Communist China’s History
This outline approach essentially aims to highlight the balance between politics and economics which China’s leaders have been obliged to observe in order to project China on the world scene, while maintaining the all-embracing power of the Party.
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