Anyone opposing the highest leader is opposing the party center and must bear the charge of "splitting the party." Deng, who had suffered heavily under the charge of being "China's number two capitalist roader," nonetheless inherited the old system and applied it doubly against Zhao.
Law and institutions must faithfully reflect political reality -- not impose restrictions on reality when developments go awry. This kind of legal culture fully explains the bizarre paradox of China's current political reforms. The establishment of institutions is the key vaccination against political atrophy. The design of China's governmental and party structures, however, with their deeply ingrained institutional and anti-institutional contradictions, has created a situation in which, after 20 years of debate about the rule of law as opposed to the rule of man, continued debate seems probable.
Finally, The Tiananmen Papers reveal once more that the old tradition of ideology creating a split within the party is very difficult to wipe out. Appearing just as the CCP's 16th Central Committee meeting is about to convene, the book has fueled speculation and added to the outside world's concern about the transfer of political authority in the post-Deng era. It's not easy to establish a "model." After finishing reading the book, this is my strongest impression.
Chao Chien-min is a professor at the Sun Yat-sen Graduate Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, National Chengchi University.
Translated by Ethan Harkness
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