There was a great piece in last weeks' Washington Post on China's Charter '08.' The pro-democracy petition has been creeping up in email (and snail mail) inboxes across China, and has gathered over 8,000 signatures.
What first began as a document written by Chinese lawyers and intellectuals commonly associated with pro-democracy stances (and thus already on the government's 'to watch' list), has now grown to become a list containing the signatures of journalists, students, teachers, businessmen, and a host of other individuals who have never been associated with any such movement. This is also the first time a political stance has been issued by anyone outside of the CCP(!).
The Charter lays out an extensive overhaul of the current political system by ending one-party rule, introducing freedom of speech, an independent court system and direct elections. In short, it stands opposed to juuuuust about everything the CCP stands for (just about), and calls the government's attempted modernization project downright abominable, reprehensible, and defunct (in not so many words, of course).
It's no secret that political revolutions - on whatever scale - have occurred in times of economic strife. In that sense, the time is ripe for a political upheaval, if there is to be one. China's labor unrest is even worse than expected, India has recently moved to ban imports of Chinese toys for six months - a move with grave ramifications for China's already suffering toy industry - and attempts at a Chinese stimulus appear dubious. I couldn't possibly think of a better time to press for political reform. Hopefully the Charter will gain even more momentum before the government moves in to quench it (*fingers crossed*).