Since 1988, China has been running a huge experiment in village democracy. The results have been mixed. More than 3 million village-level officials have been elected—sometimes, however, in contentious circumstances. There are few signs that such elections will occur at higher government levels. But this process encapsulates many of the challenges that face China as it looks to build on its dramatic economic experiments with political reform. This talk will link what is happening at the most basic level of governance in China with the fate of the nation as a whole.
DATE: Tuesday, August 31
TIME: 4:30-6:00pm
VENUE:
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Liangmahe Nanlu 4
荷 兰王国驻华大 使馆 – 北京
中 华人民共和国北京市亮马河 南路4号
Phone: 010 85320200
Website: click here
ENTRANCE: free to FCCC members, 50 RMB on the door to non-members
REGISTRATION: email fcccadmin@gmail.com so we know numbers and for security clearance
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Kerry Brown is Senior Fellow at Chatham House on the Asia Programme. His book on village elections, “Ballot Box China,” will be published in early 2011. Kerry has worked in the China Section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, as First Secretary in Beijing, and as head of the Indonesia East Timor Section at the FCO. His books include “The Cultural Revolution in Inner Mongolia” and “Friends and Enemies: The Past, Present and Future of the Communist Party of China”.