Great Party, but Where's the Communism?
The Chinese Communist Party's rule is likely to become increasingly unsustainable as economic growth slows and a growing middle class protests against the party's single-minded focus on maintaining power.
experts
Minxin Pei
Adjunct Senior Associate, Asia Program
about
Minxin Pei is no longer with the Carnegie Endowment.
Minxin Pei was an adjunct senior associate in the Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment. He is the Tom and Margot Pritzker ‘72 Professor of Government and the director of the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at Claremont McKenna College.
His research focuses on democratization in developing countries, economic reform and governance in China, and U.S.–China relations. He is the author of From Reform to Revolution: The Demise of Communism in China and the Soviet Union (Harvard University Press, 1994) and China’s Trapped Transition: The Limits of Developmental Autocracy (Harvard University Press, 2006). Pei’s research has been published in Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, the National Interest, Modern China, China Quarterly, Journal of Democracy, and many edited books. Pei is a frequent commentator on CNN and National Public Radio; his op-eds have appeared in the Financial Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek International, and the International Herald Tribune. He is a columnist for L’espresso, a major Italian news magazine and a regular contributor to the Diplomat, a leading online international affairs journal. Pei received his Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University.
Selected Publications: “Think Again: Asia’s Rise,” Foreign Policy (July–August 2009); “The Color of China,” the National Interest (March 2009); “How China is Ruled, the American Interest (Spring 2008); “Corruption Threatens China’s Future,” Carnegie Policy Brief No. 55 (2007); China’s Trapped Transition: The Limits of Developmental Autocracy (Harvard University Press, 2006).
affiliations
areas of expertise
education
B.A., Shanghai International Studies University; M.F.A., University of Pittsburgh; M.A., Ph.D., Harvard Universitylanguages
English, Mandarin ChineseAll work from Minxin Pei
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195 Results
Peace, Democracy, and Nightmares in China
A gradual democratic transition in China would promote a more peaceful Chinese national security policy by enabling greater checks and balances, stronger civil society, and improved civil-military relations.
How China Can Avoid the Next Conflict
Recent tensions between China and Vietnam over islands and energy exploration in the South China Sea have demonstrated the need for Beijing to implement more intense diplomatic initiatives to forge a multilateral solution to the South China Sea disputes.
China Has Another Way To Defuse Ethnic Strife
Recent unrest in China's Inner Mongolia province and simmering resentment of Han majority control in other western provinces suggests that China should give more local political autonomy to ethnic minority groups.
Why China's Leaders Fear Inflation
Inflation poses a particularly significant challenge to China's leadership, since it can both incite broad-based dissatisfaction among diverse social groups and create fissures among the ruling elite.
Small Change
China must not only reform its income tax system, but also enact policies to increase labor wages, redistribute wealth, and fight corruption if it is to significantly reduce income inequality.
Why China's Crackdown Is Selective
When popular protests occur in China, Beijing’s official response is shaped by a number of factors, including the level of organization of the protesters, the media coverage the protests receive, the demands the protesters make, and the location of the protests.
Three Reasons for Beijing's Current Campaign Against Dissent
China's ongoing crackdown on domestic dissidents stems from a number of factors, including Beijing's fears about potential broader unrest and political posturing ahead of the upcoming leadership transition.
Reconciliable Differences
Although President Hu Jintao's state visit to Washington helped stabilize U.S.-China relations, Beijing needs to prevent future bilateral tensions by pressuring North Korea to change its behavior, scaling back its own economic protectionism, and reassuring its neighbors.
China’s Bumpy Ride Ahead
Many of the significant domestic and foreign policy challenges facing Beijing in the coming year were compounded by the policy decisions made in 2010.
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