Don't believe the hype over Third Plenum
Chang Ping says no amount of media and public cheerleading for the Communist Party's third plenum can drown out the fact economic reforms cannot go far without political change
Leaders of Western countries may well be jealous at the excited attention being heaped on a plenary meeting of the Communist Party's Central Committee, which starts this weekend. Ever since the date of the third plenum was announced, it has been the top news item in mainland newspapers big and small. There is no end to the upbeat coverage, it seems.
Once again, a people starved of hope are going overboard with their expectations of change.
No one seems to doubt Beijing will roll out effective reform in many sectors and areas at the policy meeting, guiding China towards fairer and more efficient development.
In the run-up, Yu Zhengsheng , the fourth-ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee promised "unprecedented" reforms. "The reforms this time will be broad, with major strength, and will be unprecedented," Xinhua quoted the chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as saying. "They will strongly push forward profound transformations in the economy, society and other spheres."
Just this week, party general secretary Xi Jinping said that "reform and opening up are a never-ending process" and promised a "comprehensive plan to give overall instructions on the widely deepened reform and opening up".
Hype comes easily to politicians, particularly those in the Communist Party. Words like "unprecedented" and "never-ending process" may seem impressive, but every generation of party leaders uses them to dress up their pet "revolution" and "reform movement". Ignore the hyperbole unless you want to hypnotise yourself.
