CHINA: an International Journal

September 2004: volume 2, number 2

The political and social changes that have occurred in China since 1989 are quite different from those which have occurred in other post-communist regimes. Exactly how political participation might broaden remains unclear, but stable evolutionary change is a real possibility.

China's civil service reform programme was aimed at institutionalising the principles of merit, competition, fairness and transparency in staffing, performance appraisal and compensation. The response of different levels of government varied.

Contemporary artists in China seek to improve the environment for artistic creation and publicity. Horizontal linking has compensated for the inability to rely on the resources and opportunities distributed through the state-run artist organisations.

With the first, and eventually largest number of SARS cases, the Chinese scientific community should have been the first to determine the nature of the pathogen, sequence its genome and establish how this lethal disease was being transmitted.

The Chinese government finally recognises HIV/AIDS as a potential threat to national security. Its military is training and deploying abroad, tourists are arriving by the thousands and workers throughout the country are moving around as never before.

The Chinese have a deep-rooted ancient culture of values, but are now tending to opt for secular alternatives coming directly or indirectly from the West. Whilst China is itself struggling to come to terms with these, its influence in the region is more likely to be felt in terms of its political and economic cultures than its culture of values.

Do Chinese workers, after three decades of central planning typically seek the same job security, egalitarian compensation, participation in decision-making, rule enforcement, factory welfare, etc., that their counterparts around the world demand?

Taiwan's independence issue is now being used as a strategic weapon against the Chinese Communist Party, with the awareness that the Party has a current membership of some 66 million and is a much more formidable and ruthless opponent.

compiled by YOW Cheun Hoe