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{
  "authors": [
    "Evan A. Feigenbaum"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "asia",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "AP",
  "programs": [
    "Asia"
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  "regions": [
    "East Asia",
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  "topics": [
    "Political Reform"
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}

Source: Getty

In The Media

A Test of Political Will for China’s Leaders

China’s new leaders have an intellectual understanding of the challenges of economic reform, but changing the status quo will require real political will to overcome opposition from vested interests.

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By Evan A. Feigenbaum
Published on Nov 13, 2012
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Asia

The Asia Program in Washington studies disruptive security, governance, and technological risks that threaten peace, growth, and opportunity in the Asia-Pacific region, including a focus on China, Japan, and the Korean peninsula.

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Source: CNBC

Speaking on CNBC, Carnegie's Evan Feigenbaum explained that Chinese leaders understand intellectually that the task of economic rebalancing is important. This tough reform process will be intrinsically political, he said. Vested interests, many of them state actors who have benefited from economic growth and become more powerful in the last ten years, will oppose changes to the status quo. Such domestic struggles will also shape China’s actions on the international stage, Feigenbaum concluded.

About the Author

Evan A. Feigenbaum

Vice President for Studies

Evan A. Feigenbaum is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he oversees work at its offices in Washington, New Delhi, and Singapore on a dynamic region encompassing both East Asia and South Asia. He served twice as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and advised two Secretaries of State and a former Treasury Secretary on Asia.

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Evan A. Feigenbaum
Vice President for Studies
Evan A. Feigenbaum
Political ReformEast AsiaChina

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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