In China, the 17th Party Congress will start on October 22. And while it would test Hu against Jiang, India should watch out, for in communist dictatorships power struggles sometimes result in foreign adventures.
The flow of rumours and counter-rumours in the run-up to the congress offers a sober reminder that, after nearly 30 years of Chinese reforms, politics in Beijing remain opaque and not open to change.
What purpose did Mamata Banerjee's bandh achieve other than inconveniencing lakhs of people and inflicting a loss of an estimated Rs 600 crore? Contrast this with another protest: by ordinary citizens over Rizwanur Rahman's...
