http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/11/201211874017885987.html
Shanghai: Birthplace of China's communists
Ninety-one years after Communist Party held its first Congress in
Shanghai, secrecy continues to shroud its leadership.
Jennifer Duggan Last Modified: 08 Nov 2012 08:21
Mao Zedong was one of a small group attending the secret 1st Party
Congress in 1921 in Shanghai [Getty Images]
Shanghai, China - A stone plaque outside a modest two-storey home on a
tree-lined street in Shanghai's former French Concession marks the birthplace
of the Chinese Communist Party.
A small group of men, including the future leader Mao Zedong, met in
secret in this house over a couple of days in July 1921 for the party's 1st
Congress. It was a humble beginning for what has become the world's largest
political movement.
The political descendents of that small group of men meet in Beijing on
Thursday for the beginning of the Party's 18th National Congress. With more
than 2,000 delegates in the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square, it is
a far cry from that first meeting - but much secrecy still remains.
"First thing I want is to improve my salary. Also I hope the
government can control corruption."
- Wang Zaijie, Shanghai waiter
The next leaders of China and the make-up of the Politburo Standing
Committee - the country's highest decision-making body - will be unveiled
during the Congress, but the process to decide the appointments takes place
behind closed doors. The membership of the top bodies is likely to have been
decided ahead of time, with political posturing taking place behind the scenes
for many months.
Show me the money
While Thursday is a politically significant day for China, many ordinary
Shanghai citizens who work and live near the home where the first party meeting
took place 91 years ago are mostly apathetic about politics, or are reluctant
to talk about it.
A street away, Wang Zaijie takes a cigarette break from his job as a
waiter in an upmarket restaurant. While he has heard about the congress and
sometimes takes notice of politics, he isn't really interested in it.
However, there are a lot of things Wang wants the new leaders to change.
"First thing I want is to improve my salary," he says. "Also I hope the
government can control corruption."
Wang says he is from Yunnan province, which was hit by an earthquake two
months ago that destroyed his parents house. He says the central government
gave a lot of money to help the local citizens, but a lot of it was "cut or
taken by local officials". He hopes the government will control corruption
strictly so that citizens could benefit more.
These sentiments are echoed by Cao, a retired worker who doing his daily
exercises by a large artificial lake. He also isn't that interested in
politics, but has opinions about what he wants to change for ordinary Chinese.
He hopes the country "could give common people more rights, like the freedom to
be able to talk more freely". He says the whole world is developing in this
area and China should, too.
"Before, the country covered everything. If you are sick, the country or
your company covers it. If you get married the country or the company will give
you a house to live in, and if you have children they go to school for free or
for a low cost. But now, everything you have to pay for yourself … It is very
expensive for people," he says.Cao doesn't think the living standards of most
people are that good. He would like the government to make improvements in
housing, education and healthcare.
Two smartly dressed young women sitting outside a popular coffee shop
smoking and texting on their smart phones give their names as Lu and Cai. Both
say they are not interested in politics.
"Chinese people are interested in politics, older people and taxi
drivers, but young people are not interested, they don't read news," says Lu.
Money is an issue for both of them, and when asked what they would like
their leaders to change, the answer is "higher salaries". Cai also says the
healthcare system and food safety are big issues that need to improve. Cai says
she thinks the reason people are not interested in politics in China is
"because not everyone can play a role". If that changed, "some would be more
interested", she says.
"They [Chinese people] don't have the experience of being involved in
political decision-making, so many people see it as remote from their ability
to have a say in it. It is something that happens to them rather than something
they are involved with," says Patrick Chovanec, a business professor at
Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management in Beijing. But he
says that people do care about politics, and there is an awareness of it.
The great unknown
The identity of the next leaders of the world's second-biggest economy is
not likely to be a surprise, with Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang expected to take
the top posts. But little is known about the leaders and their political
agendas. Unlike the recent US election, there have been no debates, campaigning
or press scrutiny of those vying for leadership positions.
"I think that the personalities here, while they may in truth be quite
important, it is hard to read into," says Chovanec. "We tend to read something,
a titbit of a biography or something they wrote or said three years ago, and we
define them from that as reformers or conservatives."
Chovanec says one reason the leaders are so enigmatic is because people
aren't privy to the internal political discourse. "We don't see debates on
policy and we don't know who are the winners and losers in those debates. The
party places importances on face and on uniformity and consensus."
"We are trying to read the tea leaves about these people. We are
glimpsing through a very dark window and trying to see what is inside."
- Patrick Chovanec, Beijing professor
Much speculation has been arisen about the final make-up of the Politburo
Standing Committee. Many predictions have been made about the possible line-up,
and whether certain appointments give hints about China's future direction, or
the likelihood of political and economic reforms.
But in reality, it is impossible to predict what the new leadership will
mean for China, Chovanec says.
"We are trying to read the tea leaves about these people. We are
glimpsing through a very dark window and trying to see what is inside," he
says.
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