A group of retired minister, academics and army officers publish an open letter against reforms and capitalism. Upcoming party congress will see an open clash between its conservative and liberal wings.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – In an open letter published yesterday on the Mao Zedong's Flag website, a group of 17 retired ministers, diplomats, army offices and academics wrote that “party secretaries have become capitalists and capitalists join the party, while workers and farmers have lost their status of state masters.”  What is more, “Foreign corporations are plundering domestic markets and crushing our national economy.” In their view, current economic and social reforms should be stopped; instead, the country should revert to orthodox Marxism. In a sign of escalating ideological warfare between the Communist Party's liberal and conservative camps key, the party’s congress is being prepared for this autumn.

“Our socialist cause has been severely hindered and [has] lost its direction,” the letter said. “Frankly speaking, the current reform model is trying to replace public ownership with private ownership and to transform China from a socialist country into a capitalist country. We're going down an evil road. The whole country is at a most precarious moment.”

For those who signed the letter, China’s main enemies are foreign investments and the admission of capitalists into the party.

These two factors have spawned a dangerous mix of rampant corruption, unemployment, a wide wealth gap and potential social unrest.

“Just putting several corrupt officials into jail and rolling out a few welfare programmes aren't going to change the fundamental ills.”

Instead what is needed for them is to restore orthodox Marxism and “purge” other revisionist socialist ideologies such as social democracy.

For this reason they want competitive elections for central committee membership, even for the post of party secretary—an indication of their unhappiness with the leadership of President Hu Jintao.

The protest letter comes after the Communist Party’s liberal wing criticised the leadership for failing to introduce liberal political reforms and properly tackling the country’s social problems.

Analysts note that the party congress this fall will not only determine who will rule but also China’s main direction for the next few years.

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