China Aims at 'Rotten Regions'

t is safe to say that China has a local governance problem. How the central government deals with this problem - or fails to deal with it - may be decisive in determining how ugly political life can get in the People's Republic of China (PRC) over the next few years.

The latest local disturbance, in the mountain municipality of Shifang in southwestern Sichuan province, has apparently given the government and party considerable food for thought.