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Chinese Health in Noncommunist Hands
Chen Zhu, new health minister of the People's Republic of China, is not a member of the Communist Party. Chinese leaders have stated that greater participation by noncommunists in the government for China. This may be a sign that gradual liberalization and dismantling of the communist regime is ahead. This is the second appointment in as many months to shake the State Council, which has been the exclusive domain of party members for more than 30 years. In April, Wan Gang was appointed minister of science and technology. Although Wan is the deputy leader of the Zhigong (Common Interests) Party, that party, like the seven other democratic parties permitted in China, is tightly controlled by the Communist Party, so he can nonetheless be considered a member of the establishment.
Wan and Chen are both from Shanghai. They were both sent to the countryside for reeducation during the Cultural Revolution, and both later studied abroad. Chen is a world-renowned expert on diseases of the blood and vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Wan was a leading executive at Audi in Germany. Healthcare reform and industrial innovation are hot topics in China today, and colossal sums of money are being spent on them – tens of billions of dollars for healthcare alone. Therefore, the desire of the country's leaders to choose the top managers in those areas by professional rather than political qualifications is logical.
Wen Jiabao, premier of the state council and second-ranked leader in the country, stated when he presented the new ministers to the council that “The experience of Comrades Wan Gang and Chen Zhu should show how important it is to advance people who are not members of the party and to include them in statecraft. The leadership of the country is giving this great attention and there will be many more examples of it in the very near future.” A closed meeting between national leaders and prominent liberals was held in Beijing in February. The next month, Wen called for political modernization at the National People's Congress.
Chinese President Hu Jintao spoke to a small circle of party leaders at the Party School on June 25 and again stresses the need for renewal in the country. All year, he has been replacing local party leaders with people loyal to him and has been holding meetings with police and military leaders, seemingly making efforts to reinforce his position before the party congress in November. That congress, which occurs every five years, is likely to be the arena for a clash between progressive and conservative elements in the party.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of July 05, 2007
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