In a country that regularly censors opposing viewpoints, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s push for "common prosperity” has triggered something unusual: a spirited public policy debate.
On the one side are those sharing the views of blogger Li Guangman, whose commentary last month calling Xi’s regulatory crackdown a "profound revolution” was published widely by major state-run media outlets. It proclaimed "the capital market will no longer become a paradise for capitalists to get rich overnight” and "all those who block this people-centered change will be discarded.”
Countering that argument are those like Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the nationalistic Global Times newspaper, who rebutted Li’s piece by saying the planned changes were a result of unified policies from top leaders. The goal, he said, was gradual social progress rather than a sweeping campaign that amounted to some sort of second Cultural Revolution.