The Two meetings are almost over. This year so far they have been especially slow, nothing like last year when some were predicting delegates would voice dissatisfaction with Xi and the end of term limits by voting against it, or the NPC in 2012 when Bo Xilai was clearly about to go down and then-Premier Wen hinted at the risks of a return of Cultural Revolution-like policies:

“Although our party has made resolutions on a number of historical issues, after the implementation of reform and opening up, the mistakes of the Cultural Revolution and feudalism have not been completely eliminated...

Reform has reached a critical stage. Without the success of political reform, economic reforms cannot be carried out. The results that we have achieved may be lost. A historical tragedy like the Cultural Revolution may occur again. Each party member and cadre should feel a sense of urgency.”

At the time everyone assumed Wen was warning about Bo Xilai. With seven years hindsight I wonder if Wen was re…