Xi Jinping seems to think he can dispense with half of this, cherry-picking the bits of reform that he thinks will generate growth while clamping down on the press, the internet, free science, and reviving Maoist "self-criticism" sessions to tighten control over the party. The Leninist reflexes are plain to see. This week's treatment of the Guangzhou Express journalist – made to utter absurdities in a staged-TV confession with police watching, and the judicial process be damned – has Cultural Revolution all over it.
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