ABSTRACT
People from different groups had different motivations and purposes in the process of political reform, but all participants tended to maximize their own interests. The reason why Beijing municipal leaders became active in political reform and even took the lead in implementing local-level political reform plans was their calculation regarding the higher-level power struggle. Political reform was put on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agenda when Zhao became head of the Political Reform Research Group, established in September 1986. The group was to present its plan to the thirteenth party congress. Accordingly, Beijing's policy research office argued that political reform was probably Zhao's top priority. The political reform plan for Beijing was highly controversial from the outset. The whole process of internal debate, verification, and actual implementation was one of continual conflict and grudging compromise. As a result, Beijing was plunged into a power struggle.
