The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...

China’s modernization is a monumental mission.
It has made impressive progress in the last 30 years.
However, its eventual success is still not a foregone
conclusion. Among the big challenges in the years to
come, China must face squarely its long-shirked political
modernization. For thousands of years, China has
not had a political system that can promote harmony
with diversity and difference and ensure lasting peace
and stability in China. The CCP relied on the old rules
to maintain stability in China in the last 30 years. It
would be increasingly difficult to do so over the next
30 years.
It is fair to note that the CCP has made some political
changes in the last 30 years. 43 However, most
of those changes have been reluctant (the CCP’s anti-West
orientation dictates that political change be
taken only to the extent that economic reform can
continue) and cosmetic (administrative restructuring
but not fundamental political change). 44 Now China’s
overall development has reached the point that more
substantive political reform is in order. There are already
noted signs of Chinese people longing to have a
more democratic way to choose their representatives
to the People’s Congress, and eventually their local
and national leaders, a true rule of law in China (not
dictated by Party lines and with no exception for the
CCP members), a more effective (i.e., independent)
check on the government officials’ rampant corruption,
and so on.
The CCP leaders understand that China eventually
needs a democratic government. They have no
alternative but to make changes. However, the CCP
has two requirements for political reform: it must
preserve the CCP’s rule of China, and there should
be no political chaos. In fairness, these are not unrea-
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