A FIERCE internal debate in China between economic reformers and new leftists opposed to the rush to embrace capitalism finally burst into the public eye yesterday.

The People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party that has ruled China since 1949, ran a commentary that left no room for questions over the direction of 28-year-old market reforms. “Unwaveringly keep to the path of reform,” read the headline.

A decision to publish such a prominent article in the newspaper, which is charged with reflecting party policy, could only have been made with the blessing of the party’s leader, President Hu Jintao. While the piece makes reference to the most pressing concerns of the new leftists, such as the widening gap between rich and poor, it is aimed at ending opposition to the pace of reform.

The fact that Mr Hu felt a need for a commentary is testament to the intensity of the most serious debate over the future of economic reform since the conservative backlash that followed the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

Yesterday’s commentary, written under a pen name that appeared to be a play on words to represent the powerful Propaganda Department, also underscores the extent of popular support for the new leftists.

Tens of millions of Chinese, including farmers in rural areas, blue-collar workers in cities and the jobless, have become disaffected with reforms that have made millions rich. Nostalgia is widespread for the days of Chairman Mao Zedong when everyone was equally poor. Zuo Dapei, a left-leaning economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: “I think reform has gone far beyond the ability of the masses to endure.”

China watchers said that such a commentary would appear only when the debate was white-hot and the leadership felt it had no option but to put an end to the discussion by making the divisions public. In typical party style, the reform debate has raged for months, mainly behind closed doors.

However, it has claimed one prominent casualty — a property rights law that was due to be passed by the parliament in March but was removed at the last minute after a relatively unknown academic charged that the Bill violated Marxist principles. He accused the legal experts who drafted the legislation — which would for the first time have given clear protection for the assets of ordinary Chinese — of giving equal importance to “a rich man’s car and a beggar man’s stick”.

The commentary may not, however, completely silence leftist dissenters, who range from those who feel that the party’s grip may be weakening to moderates concerned at corruption and the inequities created by a free-market economy. But it does pay lip service to the ruling party’s fundamental ideology, opening with a pledge that China can never abandon the socialist system.

But the commentator emphasised: “The glorious achievements in the past 28 years demonstrated that reform is the only road for China to achieve prosperity. Without reform China could not make further progress, nor could it keep the achievements that have been scored.”

Detractors have criticised the listing of China Construction Bank for reaping huge gains for its foreign partners. The former head of the National Bureau of Statistics said recently that foreigners had already gained a strong foothold in the economy and that China should act to prevent more domestic firms falling prey to multinationals.

But the People’s Daily message was unambivalent. “The urgency and complexity of reform calls for absolute determination to advance the reform. A balance should be realised between reform, development and social stability. Reform should be the driving force, development the goal, and stability the prerequisite.”

Li Fan, director of the World and China Research Institute in Beijing, said: “The debate has been very fierce. But I think this is the final answer.”

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