China's 'masses' vocal about politics – for a change

Largely out of fear or habit, ordinary Chinese – the masses often referred to as "laobaixin" or "old one hundred names" – usually shy away from showing too much interest in political questions.

But ahead of China's Central Party Congress in Beijing next month – a once-in-five year event that could bring a major change in China's leadership – things are different. While foreign investors build tennis-shoe and auto factories along China's east coast, and Beijing pumps billions of development dollars in China's far west, the country's vast middle reaches have little to cheer about.

Take this rumpled provincial capital and fading textile center in Hebei Province, where people are keenly aware of the upcoming congress.

"We all watch TV. We read the papers. We talk," says a young appliance salesman working in a shareholder owned company. "In Hebei, you can't afford to ignore Beijing. We are extremely interested in what happens."

Hard times, along with an awareness of new wealth in other parts of China, are creating a bit of stir among the normally deferent "old one hundred names." As a result, many are expressing opinions on the evolution of power in Beijing that are slightly sharper and a bit more raw. The shift is especially evident on the streets here.

By contrast, on China's prosperous east coast, the country's premier political event is far from compelling conversation. There, families "feel secure," as one Western analyst puts it.

Chinese here say they want essentially two things: more opening to foreign investment and a crackdown on corrupt officials.

"We care whether changes in Beijing will help ordinary people, or just benefit government officials," says Jin, who runs a storefront photo shop. "Here, it is hard to do business. Beijing has many five star hotels. We have one."

"My friends and I, we want a new generation of rulers. It is their turn," says Liu, a young man hawking water purifiers from a small table outside a shopping center.

For more than a year in Beijing, speculation has built over whether the reins of power will shift to a "new generation" of leaders, represented by the relatively young and quite unknown Hu Jintao, or whether current President Jiang Zemin will stay on, despite an agreement five years ago to retire. The outcome has enormous implications for China's future foreign policy, for its economic and military future, and even for morale inside the Party, sources in Beijing say.

Yet after a summer of meetings at the Party hideaway in Beidaihe, the lineup of China's next Standing Committee, the state's highest collaborative body, is less clear. Last month the Wall Street Journal ran a story announcing with near certitude that Mr. Jiang would stay. A day later, the Washington Post cited US scholars working with high level Party sources, who stated with equal assurance that Jiang – a consummate politician whose has steadily expanded power over his tenure – would step down.

Jiang's forces have mounted an effort to keep him as head of the party. But even he does step down from office, it won't be known immediately if Jiang will still control the levers of power.

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