Debate on democracy breaks out among academics in China.

This article states that a manifesto by Xie Tao, former vice president of the People's University of China, wrote in a Beijing journal that China needs to adopt a model of democratic socialism similar to that in Northern Europe, something that runs counter to official Marxist political orthodoxy. The minifesto triggered a debate in Chinese academic circles about the need for democratic political reform, considered a forbidden topic of discussion by the ruling communist government.