Wait for President Xi Jinping to pick a path as a reformer or a conservative

Will President Xi Jinping turn out to be a reformer in the vein of Taiwan's Chiang Ching-kuo? Or will he walk a more conservative path, becoming a leader in the mould of Communist Party helmsman Mao Zedong ?

The question has preoccupied China watchers everywhere since Xi completed his ascent to the posts of president and party chief in March amid soaring hopes for political change. The debate has only intensified after a series of actions to consolidate power and limit dissent under Xi that some say smack of Maoism.

"The prospect for political reform is doom and gloom," former deputy editor Zhou Ruijin , recently told a gathering of fellow liberal-leaning intellectuals in Shanghai. "We have to wait until the day when those returnees who have lived and studied in Europe or America come to power."

For many in the mainland's liberal circles, whether Xi intends to put China on the road to political reform - like Chiang, who ushered in democracy as Taiwan's president in the late 1980s - is a question of great urgency.

Many believe the president has a small window of opportunity to enact serious political change in his first five-year term, before a successor is chosen. Some worry that further inaction could, in the face of a slowing economy, lead to mass unrest that may potentially topple the party.

Xi's rise was initially greeted with optimism among reformists. He was at first named to succeed Hu Jintao as president because he was seen as acceptable to both to both Hu and his predecessor, Jiang Zemin .