Testing China's economic climate

By Hugh Sykes, BBC News, Tiananmen Square, Beijing

Will corruption undermine China's aim of a "harmonious society"? (Pictures: Hugh Sykes)

The name Tiananmen Square conjures up either the memory of a slaughter of hundreds of pro-democracy campaigners by the Chinese authorities on 4 June 1989, or denial by the Chinese authorities that it happened.

Mentioning 4 June 1989 is still prohibited in the Chinese media and the Chinese government maintains that it responded "appropriately" to organised rebellion.

A huge portrait of Chairman Mao still looks out across Tiananmen Square.

The polished black boots of crisply uniformed People's Liberation Army soldiers still echo across the square every day at sunrise and sunset - as they raise and lower the red flag of the People's Republic of China.

In perfect unison - and perfect pitch - the soldiers sing: "We are marching in high spirits on the wide road, guided by the Communist Party of China leading us to a bright future."

Down almost every nearby street, where protesting students were cut down by that army's bullets in 1989, there are now Starbucks, Pizza Hut, McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Pro-democracy

In the square, I met a man happy to be candid about democracy, and about globalisation in China.

I will call him Mr Cheng. "Can I use your real name on the BBC?" I asked. "Better not!" he laughed.

No need to translate the Golden Arches, just the name

"Better not" because he was scathing about the Chinese Communist Party and its 'economic liberalisation'.

"This is not globalisation," he complained, "this is Americanisation". He added: "What this country needs most is democracy."

I felt nervous hearing him say that so openly. A man was sitting rather too close to us, listening.

"We should walk on a little," said Mr Cheng. "He may be trying to improve his English - this is most likely - but he may be one of the 'monitors' who check on us."

I think he was just listening to an English conversation, not a 'monitor'. In nearly four weeks here, I have never felt any sense of surveillance. The authorities are not so crude.

When he felt comfortable, Mr Cheng continued with his theme: "All these so-called representatives of the people," he said, "they are not elected by the people - and they should be."

Culture of Corruption

In a comfortable flat full of books and his grandchildren's toys, in the suburbs near the end of the smart Shanghai Metro underground railway, Xia Yexin told me the Chinese authorities should be robust enough to accept constructive criticism.

He emphasises 'constructive'. This is a man who cares deeply about the state of his society, who worries about the forces that might undermine it.

Xia Yexin: His articles cannot appear in the press but can be found online

Xia Yexin has written trenchant articles about two of the main problems facing China: "Culture of Propaganda" and "Culture of Corruption".

He believes suppression of free speech and censorship of the media remain powerful tools of Chinese propaganda - preventing people from accessing information.

And Xia Yexin says there is startling evidence of corruption eating away at Chinese society at every level.

"It starts with the youngest children in a kindergarten, " he told me, "where they give a Hong Bau - a red envelope containing money - to their teachers. This happens in banks, in the army, in courts, in supermarkets, in the docks - even in hospitals."

'Surgeons are bribed'

Mr Xia says patients about to have an operation will think they need to give a Hong Bau to the surgeon "or the surgery won't go as well as it should".

He says that tackling corruption - which the Chinese president says he wants to do - is severely hampered by restrictions on the freedom to speak out about it more widely.

Mr Xia's articles cannot appear in the press. But they are available on the internet, where he has a substantial readership.

A single posting of his investigation into corruption - on a website at just one of the many universities in Beijing - achieved more than 10,000 hits.

Will he keep the red flag flying?

Harmony

Chinese President Hu Jintao is trying to promote what he calls a 'harmonious society'. Corruption could dangerously undermine that ambition.

Xia Yexin says pervasive corruption makes people unhappy and nervous. It literally 'corrupts' relationships between individuals - relationships that should be unambiguous.

The student protest in 1989 began as a demonstration against...corruption.