And in one of the most talked-about books of the year, author He Qinglian delivers a scathing critique of China's economic reforms, alleging that their effect has been to allow an elite class of Communist cadres and high-ranking families to enrich themselves through corruption and practices tantamount to highway robbery. The result: not condemnation, but near-official adulation of He's book, which became mandatory reading in government circles.
"There are issues that are clearly within the domain of acceptable difference and offering of opinions, but then there's a domain in which political correctness with Chinese characteristics carries the day," Pollack said. "Just beneath the radar there's a fair amount of ferment, a fair amount of debate, but there seems to be an effort to enforce the basics," which includes undisputed Communist Party rule.
