ABSTRACT
News and analyses from China point to growing internal unrest, an increasing number of strikes, upheavals, protests and other signs that the authority of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is being questioned. Yet, there exists no credible alternative to the CCP and no signs that the Party is experiencing divisions or indecisiveness from within that could threaten its control of the country. On the contrary, the leadership transition in Beijing from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao has been successfully and smoothly completed, a significant change from such transitions in the past. Moreover, the performance of the Chinese economy, which has dazzled the world since 1978, once seen as an example of success in poverty alleviation is now perceived as an economic juggernaut about to dominate the world economy. In the wake of liberal economic reforms begun by Deng Xiaoping in the late 1970s, their continuation under Jiang Zemin, and their acceleration in the rst years of the Hu Government, China is positioning itself as the potential “number one” in the twenty-rst century’s global economy.
