Chinese Leaders Speak of Reform, But How Quickly? By Philip P. Pan: President Hu Jintao and the other 23 members of the ruling Politburo as well as
dozens of other high-level officials summon two scholars to deliver a briefing on reform:

One of the scholars, Li Lan, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said he and his colleague addressed the room for about an hour and a half. They suggested the party could strengthen its rule by adopting elements of Western political systems, just as it had by developing a market economy. And they singled out general elections, checks and balances, rule of law and representative democracy as practices worth studying.

None of the Politburo members objected to the presentation. Instead, Li said, they peppered the scholars with questions for 30 minutes, asking about separation of powers, for example, and the relative advantages of bicameral and unicameral legislatures...

In effect, according to party officials and scholars who have participated in internal discussions, Hu and his colleagues are searching for a new political model for China. They argue that this country, with its huge population and its history of political turmoil, is not suited for multiparty democracy. But they also appear to have concluded that China's current system is crippled by corruption and increasingly unable to manage rising social discontent or implement economic reforms needed to ensure growth...

Many party officials and scholars who favor faster political liberalization are skeptical. "They want the benefits of competitive elections without taking the risk of losing power, and that won't work," said a party official who asked not to be identified. "We haven't seen anything from the new leaders that suggests they are serious about real political reform."..

One complicating factor is the incomplete leadership transition, party officials say. Jiang has not surrendered his last remaining position as chief of the military, and Hu remains surrounded by Jiang's allies on the Politburo Standing Committee...

The divide already appears to be an important factor in the government's response to demands for universal suffrage in Hong Kong. Beijing adopted a moderate approach after 500,000 people participated in a rally on July 1, and backed off controversial anti-subversion legislation. That policy was associated with Wen, because he had just visited the territory.

Soon afterward, however, the Hong Kong issue was assigned to Vice President Zeng Qinghong, Jiang's longtime aide and Hu's main rival on the Politburo. The central government then took a harder line against political reform in the former British colony and began questioning the patriotism of democracy advocates.

A senior editor at a party newspaper said his paper had been told to prepare 10 editorials on the patriotism theme. Then, in a sign of disagreement with the harder line, after the first editorial appeared in print, he suddenly received orders to stop publishing them.