A Year of Deepening Crisis - Liang Jing

Liang Jing: China 2009: A year of deepening crisis*

2009 was a year of accelerated deepening of China’s crises. A clear sign of this was that despite the various measures taken by the authorities to suppress and block expression, it was completely unable to prevent a variety of media, including official ones, from talking in sharper and blunter ways about worsening crises, or criticising the regime’s incompetence. On 2 December 2, Nanfang Zhoumo [Southern Weekend] China’s most influential and obviously liberal journal, published an article by columnist Ma Ke entitled “If the economy needs stimulus, reform needs even more,” which pointedly asked:

“Expanding domestic demand and boosting consumption have been the slogans for 10 years, but China is slipping further and further into the export-oriented and investment-led growth model. Where does the problem lie? In a word, reform is not in place. It isn’t a question of not knowing how to reform, but of knowing how but not doing it.” [1]

The next day, an article entitled “Failing to turn even after hitting the southern wall” was posted on China's most influential anti-liberal “leftist” website, Wuyou zhi xiang [Utopia] under the by-line “Yingchun.” It sharply criticises the authorities for taking the wrong tack in response to the economic crisis:

“Facing a 'once in a century’ world economic crisis, a sharp decline in external demand, China still tries to ‘maintain 8 [percent GDP growth],’ and also ‘promote economic growth by government investment and loans.’ Isn't this a failure to turn even after hitting the southern wall? Boosting production like this is really to ensure the bosses’ profits, or to safeguard the interests of officialdom!” [2]

Utopia’s leading anti-American, Zhang Hongliang 张宏良, recently brought out a barrage of articles fiercely attacking the Hu-Wen administration for shaming the nation and forfeiting its sovereignty, “making 1.3 billion Chinese people into slaves of GDP, into slaves...