China’s Hu may be a breath of fresh air after years of Deng Xiaoping’s folly

China’s new leader Hu Jintao, may not be a real revolutionary, but he is trying to overturn some of the corruption and nepotism of Deng Xiaoping, probably one of the most brutal and revisionist leaders China has ever had. While Hu’s reforms may be only a small step, he is a more populist leader trying to clean up China’s disastrous environmental problems and corruption. That should count for something.

From the BBC:

BEIJING (AFP) - President Hu Jintao opened China's biggest political event in five years on Monday with pledges to curb the worst excesses of breakneck economic growth and implement cautious political reforms.
Addressing the ruling Communist Party's elite gathered in Beijing for their five-yearly Congress, Hu acknowledged China's modernisation drive since the late 1970s had also caused huge environmental and social problems.
"Our economic growth is realised at an excessively high cost in resources and to the environment," Hu told more than 2,200 delegates at the cavernous Great Hall of the People in a nationally televised address."There remains an imbalance in development between urban and rural areas, among regions and between the economy and society," he added, promising that "development patterns will be significantly transformed."