Tuesday, 3 November 2009

Bo Xilai's anti-mob campaign and Chinese elite politics

Bo Xilai's political career has taken a dramatic turn since he embarked on a high-profile crackdown on organized crime in Chongqing.  Since June 2009, some 1,600 people have been detained in a major campaign targeted at gangsters in the city.  A noteworthy difference in Bo's efforts - as compared to similar campaigns elsewhere in China - is that government officials who provided support to the Chongqing mob were also detained.  Some of them were officials in Bo's administration, while others were from the Chongqing's police force.  Due to the success of the campaign, Bo's popularity has risen drastically, as evinced by the amount of praise he has gathered from state media as well as netizens.  However, it was pointed out that while the general public is more than happy with Bo's campaign, reactions from senior officials and the party elite have been less than clear.  Bo had made use of the campaign to boost his public image, and made comments to the news media that allegedly raised eyebrows among fellow senior officials.  Also, the concern that such problems of corruption are localized and effectively contained has not been addressed.  As with all other institutions and organizations in China, the Chinese mafia is not entirely autonomous.  Connections to major law enforcement and political figures are typical, and the line between mob-related and legal activity is not always clearly drawn.

Regional Inequality in Guangdong Province: Trends, Lessons, and Causes

By Dr Yu Hong

Friday, 13 November 2009   Dr Yu Hong's presentation focused on the current phenomenon of regional inequality in the province of Guangdong, China, during the post-1978 period. Specifically, the notion of equality as discussed by Dr Yu includes ensuring the development of human well-being as well as national welfare. Pointing to Brazil as an example, Dr Yu highlighted the fact that economic growth and development can result in unwanted effects such as social unrest and poverty if the problem of regional inequality is not sufficiently ameliorated. This in turn threatens political instability and may even lead to the rise of widespread health problems such as HIV (as in the case of the economically successful Botswana).

Guangdong is one of China's key industrial centres and economic powerhouses. However, its remarkable growth is also accompanied by an upward trend in its Gini coefficient, which underlines a growing gap between the Pearl River Delta region and the peripheral region. This regional economic inequality in Guangdong has intensified over the last decade. Dr Yu identified the main causes of the inequality as geographical location and economies of agglomeration. The coastal location of the Pearl River Delta region and its proximity to resources needed for production (thereby reducing transport costs) has led to the region becoming richer than the peripheral regions which are comparatively much poorer and backward. In addition, economic agglomeration has led to similar firms and related industries clustering in the Pearl River Delta region.

Dr Yu concluded by examining the plans for the future development of Guangdong as outlined by Party Secretary Wang Yang. While it is encouraging that Wang has addressed the issue of Guangdong's regional disparity by indicating plans to move labour-intensive and value-added industries to the periphery, the regional imbalance could potentially be worsened if this is not achieved.