HU JINTAO: CHINA'S GORBACHEV?

摘要

A mid-autumn fantasy: The year 2012 is drawing to a close, and China is preparing to inaugurate its first democratically elected President. World leaders are gathered in Beijing to congratulate its outgoing leader, Hu Jintao, for paving the way to democracy. Hu got the ball rolling back in 2003. That was the year he took over as President from Jiang Zemin, the year China sent its first astronaut into space, and the year Hu presided at his first annual plenary session of the Communist Party's Central Committee. At that October 11-14 meeting, the 60-year-old Hu pushed through a series of modest changes that created momentum for political reforms that have blossomed into full-fledged democratic institutions.