Liu Junning, a former fellow at the Institute of Political Science of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, is an independent scholar and the editor of the journal Res Publica and of a series of books on democratization. An earlier version of this essay was presented at a September 1999 conference, “Whither China? The PRC at 50,” sponsored by the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. It will appear along with the other conference essays in Ted Galen Carpenter and James A. Dorn, eds., China’s Future: Constructive Partner or Emerging Threat (Cato Institute, 2000).
Although China has achieved extraordinary economic success without the CCP regime loosening its authoritarian grip, can the country continue its growth without political reform?
