Repression or reform? How China is being torn by opposing forces

The fictional Dr John Dolittle travelled from England to Africa and discovered a rare creature called the pushmi-pullyu. It looked something like a gazelle, but with no tail. Instead, it had two heads, one at each end of its body. As one head slept, the other was awake and watching. One head did most of the talking, allowing the other to eat. How such an amazing animal could walk, much less run, must have been a problem. Of course, it existed only in the imagination of Hugh Lofting, who wrote books for children.

Today’s China is something like this impossible animal with two heads facing in opposite directions. One looks towards openness and reform – freedom of expression, unfettered access to the internet and an independent legal system. It thinks that China’s continued development depends on wider acceptance of liberal values and norms. The other head believes, to the contrary, that China’s paramount need is unity and stability, guided by the Communist Party. The leadership must do whatever it takes to avoid the fate of the former Soviet Union or, for that matter, the chaos of the Cultural Revolution. To maintain its internal sovereignty and external security, Beijing must be assertive in guarding its interests.

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China is pushed and pulled in both directions, but now appears to be moving on a perplexing path of more control than reform. If the continued success of its economy depends on greater creativity and innovation, isn’t it counterproductive to restrict its citizens’ access to ideas and information? If China needs to maintain smooth relations with the rest of the world for the sake of its growth and development, why run the risk of antagonising other nations with aggressive behaviour?

There are multiple theories for China’s more authoritarian domestic policy and assertive foreign policy:

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