My own view is rather simple. The Communist Party apparatus really appears to be gearing up for what the final end of the economic miracle might really mean. You crack down on opposition before the opposition becomes trouble. It’s hard not to guess that in looking at China’s future political and social state absent the growth many have become accustomed to, Communist officials sit aghast at the very real possibilities. Their economic options have run out on them….The global economy is booming, so say Western economists. The Chinese Communists are outwardly smiling along in agreement with them, all the while battening down the (political) hatches at home. We still talk about 2008 because, sadly, it isn’t yet over.
