Demonstrations in the Chinese city of Chongqing flared up again over the weekend, mirroring protests held a month earlier. According to the Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China, 2,000 demonstrators took to the streets demanding that the local government take responsibility for losses in illegal investment schemes. The demonstrations took on a new feel Nov. 15 as protestors waved pictures of Mao Zedong and chanted "Down with corruption."

The resurgence of the demonstrations against the local government – coupled with the change in tactics – suggests that this is not a spontaneous demonstration of public dissatisfaction as the October demonstrations likely were. Instead, the symbolism employed now is likely a message to the central government by interests opposed to China’s economic reforms and its opening to the West. The symbolic use of Mao imagery could very well appear in economic protests in other cities.

Ironically, the protest in Chongqing occurred on the same day Chinese and United States officials agreed to a bilateral deal which would further open Chinese markets while paving the way for Chinese entry into the World Trade Organization. The deal, while long in the works, brings China to a decision point. If it fully embraces the economic and structural aspects of the agreement, a political shift will necessarily follow. China cannot fully open its markets and adopt a Western economic model, while maintaining centralized control.

It is this problem that underlies the ongoing struggle within China’s government. While President Jiang Zemin, resplendent in his Mao suit at the Oct. 1 celebration of China’s fiftieth anniversary, firmly established himself as the core of the third generation leadership, the question remains as to whom will replace China’s aging leaders. However, the moderates and economic reformers, typified by Premier Zhu Rongji, a key author of China’s economic reforms, are fighting the hard-liners for leadership of the fourth generation.