Hamilton Government Professor Cheng Li is quoted in an Associated Press article, "Fresh Crop Takes China's Leadership," about the new leaders soon to take over in China. "This will be the least dogmatic generation," Li said. "They will be more flexible, and bolder in terms of reform."
According to the AP:
The men ascending to the Chinese Communist Party's inner sanctum during the National Party Congress in coming days are less ideological than their predecessors. They inherit a land in the throes of transition — partly of its own making, partly carried along by the forces of a globalized economy.
...The People's Daily, the Communist Party newspaper, hasn't mentioned the fourth generation explicitly but has ruminated liberally on the first three.
In a recent editorial, it called the first generation of leadership — Mao's — indispensable for "integrating the basic theory of Marxism and the actuality of Chinese revolution." The second — Deng's — was lauded for "initiating the new great project of party building."
The latest generation — that of Jiang Zemin, widely expected to retire as party general secretary in the next several days — was praised for "creating fresh experiences ... and composing a glorious chapter."
Jiang has shepherded China further out of its economic isolation and begun an overhaul of the Communist Party by inviting entrepreneurs to join.
