Beijing Social Contract is Starting to Fray

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In The Media

Beijing Social Contract is Starting to Fray

By Minxin Pei

Published on Jun 7, 2004

Source: Carnegie

Beijing's Social Contract is Starting to Fray

by Minxin Pei

Financial Times, June 3, 2004

Now fifteen years since the Tiananmen democratic uprising, the Chinese Communist Party has showed incredible resilience. The Party's perseverence is largely attributable to its ability to maintain high-growth with only minor social reforms. However, this neo-authoritarian approach is unsustainable, breading state predation and endemic corruption. The Party must rewrite its social contract with Chinese citizens and pursue real political reform before it self-destructs.

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About the Author

Minxin Pei

Former Adjunct Senior Associate, Asia Program

Pei is Tom and Margot Pritzker ‘72 Professor of Government and the director of the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at Claremont McKenna College.

Recent Work

In The Media
How China Can Avoid the Next Conflict
- Minxin Pei
In The Media
Small Change
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Democracy China

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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