ABSTRACT
A basic uncertainty in China’s politics is the transition to the post- Deng era. Deng Xiaoping may hold no formal position of power in the structures of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or the state, but he has remained the undisputed “paramount leader” since the start of the reform era in December 1978. Events since mid- 1989 in both China and the former communist party states of Eastern Europe have foregrounded the prospects of more cataclysmic change, including both the end of CCP rule and political disintegration. The recognition of partial interests is perhaps the most interesting of reforms for a CCP which previously brooked no qualification to its monopoly of political power. The reform process in the USSR demonstrated parallels and lessons to be learnt, and the CCP leadership itself is extremely conscious of the impact developments there may have on the People’s Republic of China.
