The New Yorker has published an opinion piece intimating that the rule of law in China may be threatened by ever wealthier technocrats and state owned enterprises..
Here’s the introduction to the piece
WHAT DOES CHINA?S DISPUTE WITH JAPAN TELL US ABOUT RULE OF LAW?
China is unveiling a wide spectrum of plumage in its dispute with Japan over a group of islands in the Pacific. The latest: telling travel agencies to stop offering tours of Japan, and detaining four Japanese nationals who are suspected, according to the state-run press, of illegally making videos of military targets in China. But one of the most interesting puzzles in all of this is less overt: Who is piloting the boat?
That is, in political terms, who is running China?s handling of the crisis? The Chinese military has been notably out front on this, which is a break from previous cases, and John Pomfret, writing in the Washington Post today, raises the vital point that a ?new generation of officials in the military, key government ministries and state-owned companies? has left diplomats in Washington and around the world straining at ?how difficult it is to contend with the explosion of special interests shaping China?s worldview.?
The rise of special interests has become the signature issue of Chinese politics in 2010. A country once known for its sheer lack of special interests?Mao didn?t have much interest in lobbyists?has become defined by the ways that powerful companies and individuals can step across the formal policymaking structure to shape the country in ways that are suited to their interests, if not necessarily the country?s. That has fuelled a growing appeal inside government and academia for bolder reforms to reduce the power of personal politics. It is not just about foreign affairs. Last week, I spent time with a well-regarded Chinese scholar at Peking University who explained, in vivid terms, why he believes that special interests such as state-owned companies are ?hijacking the government.?
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2010/09/what-does-chinas-dispute-with-japan-tell-us-about-rule-of-law.html#ixzz10b5X5o7e
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