China: Leveraging the Shanghai Pension Scandal

Chinese President Hu Jintao might be able to use the Shanghai pension scandal to begin a wave of change in China's largest city. Shanghai is a bastion of Jiangist power, and its network of officials represents one of the largest obstacles to Hu's policies. If he replaces the Shanghai officials with his own followers, it will send shivers throughout the Shanghai economy and signal to other provinces the price of noncompliance.