AFP: China facing growing uncertainty at home and abroad: IISS (Excerpt)

Wednesday May 16, 5:34 PM LONDON, May 16 (AFP) - China is struggling to cope with huge social change at home and a major upheaval in foreign policy caused by developments in the United States, Taiwan and Korea, a London-based thinktank said Wednesday. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said China was trying to avoid foreign problems while it sorted out domestic difficulties such as corruption, social unrest and next year's change in the [party's name omitted] leadership. ... "China's major problems are still domestic, including the fragility of its political structure and its uneven economic development," said the report. ... The report said corruption combined with the hardships brought by economic reform were fuelling unrest which was causing alarm within the leadership. It said tens of thousands of sit-ins, strikes and demonstrations were taking place each year. "The protests have so far been easily contained by the authorities but they are a potential cause of more critical instability should political instability break down," said the report. The IISS also said President Jiang Zemin's two-year campaign against the Falungong spiritual movement was creating dangerous social tensions. "Even if the movement itself is suppressed, similar [groups] are sure to emerge ... Jiang's confrontational approach risks creating a large new body of disaffected citizens." The report said that despite a crackdown on corruption with high-profile executions, the scourge of graft would likely remain unchecked. ...

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