This article is the result of an interview series done by the author in summer 2000. The analysis tries to take a historical stance in looking to the development of intellectual discourses about political reform and democratization. To the author it seems that one of the main problems can be identified as the self definition and identity of the intellectuals themself. This article will feature the main discourse strategies and structures along which we can differ four different types of discourses, which again can be splitted in different sub-types. The author concludes with the hypothesis that Chinese intellectuals currently are trapped in a discoursive vacuum and ask if the Chinese situation is typical for postsocialist development.