Chinese Party-State and the Rise of Soft-authoritarianism: Motorcycle Bans in the Pearl River Delta

Abstract

China has undergone dramatic social change in the past thirty years. The social stability and the fate of the Party-State are also under heated debate in recent years. Some scholars predict its impending demise, others emphasize the regime’s resilience, and still others try to promote the idea of the “China model”. With the case study of banning motorcycles in three cities of the Pearl River Delta (PRD), Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan, I explore how local governments promote and implement this policy, and how society resists it. In particular, I examine the nature of the current Party-State implied in the process of banning motorcycles in the PRD. The current Chinese Party-State works like “an iron fist with a velvet glove”. In its core, it still remains authoritarian with hard-line strategies, but on the surface, it may show some care and kindness with soft-line strategies to reduce resistance from a rising civil society. However, these soft-line strategies will not change its ultimate goal. The nature of the current Chinese Party-State can be best understood as soft authoritarianism. Any prediction of its future should bear the regime’s new feature in mind.