THE NOTION OF POLITICAL REFORM AND POLITICAL STRUCTURAL REFORM
In the PRC, the notion of political (structural) reform is not new. It dates back to the late 1970s, when the reform era started. Nonetheless, there seems to be a cognitive gap between the interpretations of Western students of chinese politics and the Chinese official interpretations. For the former, political reform involves introducing a multiparty system and running periodic elec tions for the top political leaders. In other words, democratization of the politi cal system leading to the rotation of party rule should be the essence of political reform. On the contrary, the Chinese leaders (whether conservatives or reformists in the 1980s or 1990s, or the present leadership) perceive the term differently. In fact, the Chinese leadership rarely used the term 'political reform' (zhengzhi gaige). In fact, they have always used the term 'political structural reform' (zhengzhi tizhi gaige),. especially since the mid-1980s. In the