Has the Bell Begun to Toll for China?

Has the Bell Begun to Toll for China?

"Why did the Soviet Union disintegrate? Why did the Soviet Communist Party collapse? An important reason was that their ideals and convictions wavered," China's new leader, Xi Jinping, told a closed meeting of party elite in Guangdong province.

"Finally all it took was one quiet word from Gorbachev to declare the dissolution of the Soviet Communist Party, and a great party was gone," said Xi, according to notes obtained by The New York Times.

"Everyone is talking about reform, but in fact everyone has a fear of reform," said Chinese historian Ma Jong. "The question is: Can society...