SOURCES OF PUBLIC AUTHORITY AND POLITICAL POWER
Until the 20th century China's history was characterized by dynastic cycles - long periods of rule by a family punctuated by times of "chaos", when the family lost its power and was challenged by a new, and ultimately successful, ruling dynasty. Power was determined by the mandate of heaven, or the right to rule as seen by the collective ancestral wisdom that guided the empire from the heavens above. For many centuries public authority rested in the hands of the emperor and an elaborate bureaucracy that exercised this highly centralized power. After a time of chaos in the early 20th century, Communist leader Mao Zedong took over China in 1949, bringing in a new regime whose values often disagreed with traditional concepts of power. How different is the new China from the old? Have the changes brought instability, or have they successfully transformed the country into a modern world power?
LEGITIMACY
Under dynastic rule, Chinese citizens were subjects of the emperor. Legitimacy was established through the mandate of heaven, and power passed from one emperor to the next through hereditary connections within the ruling family. As long as things went well, the emperor's authority was generally accepted, but when problems occurred and the dynasty weakened, rival families challenged the throne, claiming that the emperor had lost the mandate. Legitimacy was not for peasants to determine, although popular rebellions and unrest in the countryside served as signs that the emperor was failing.
The Revolution of 1911 gave birth to the Chinese Republic, with western-educated Sun Yat-sen as its first president. The new regime was supposed to be democratic, with legitimacy resting on popular government. However, regional warlords challenged the government, much as they always had done in times of political chaos. Emerging from the mayhem was Mao Zedong, with his own version of authority, an ideology known as Maoism. The People's Republic of China was established in 1949, and Mao led the Communist Party as the new source of power until his death in 1976.
Maoism was idealistic and egalitarian, and even though it endorsed centralized power exercised through the top leaders of the party, it stressed the importance of staying connected to the peasants through a process called mass line. Mass line required leaders to listen to and communicate with ordinary folks, and without it, the legitimacy of the rulers was questionable.
Since Mao's death, the Politburo remains the legitimate source of power in China, but the leadership has come under a great deal of criticism in recent years. The Party is said to be corrupt and irrelevant, holding authoritarian power over an increasingly market-based economy. In truth, rebellions against the party have flared up throughout PRC history, but the rumblings have been louder and more frequent since the Tiananmen incident in 1989. How serious a threat these criticisms are to the current regime is a matter of some debate, especially as new, largely unknown Communist leaders took the helm in 2003.
One important source of power in the People's Republic of China has been the military. The military played an important role in the rise of the Communist Party, and it is represented in the government structure by the Central Military Commission. The head of this commission plays an important role in policymaking. For example, Deng Xiaoping was never general secretary of the Communist Party, but he headed the Central Military Commission.
HISTORICAL TRADITIONS
Despite the fact that the last dynasty (the Qing) fell in the early 20th century, many traditions from the dynastic era influence the modern political system:
Centralized, authoritarian power - China's borders have changed over time, but it has long been a huge, land-based empire ruled from a central place by either an emperor or a small group of people. Chinese citizens have traditionally been subjects of, not participants in, their political system.
Confucianism - This philosophy has shaped the Chinese political system since the 6th century B.C.E. It emphasized the importance of order and harmony, and encouraged Chinese citizens to submit to the emperor's power, and reinforced the emperors' responsibility to fulfill his duties conscientiously. This aspect of Confucianism may be tied to democratic centralism, or the communist belief in a small group of leaders who rule for the good of the people.
Bureaucratic hierarchy based on scholarship - The emperors surrounded themselves with highly organized bureaucracies that formed an elite based on Confucian scholarship. Government jobs were highly coveted and extremely competitive, with only a small percentage of candidates mastering the examination system. The exams were knowledge-based, and bureaucrats had to be well-versed in Confucianism and many related philosophies.
The "Middle Kingdom" - Since ancient times, Chinese have referred to their country as zhongguo, meaining "Middle Kingdom", or the place that is the center of civilization. Foreigners were seen as "barbarians" whose civilizations are far inferior to China's, not just in terms of power, but also in ethics and quality of life. All countries are ethnocentric in their approaches to other countries, but China almost always assumed that no one else had much to offer them. After the empire's 19th century weakness was exploited by the imperialist powers, these traditional assumptions were challenged, but not destroyed.
The 20th century brought the new influence of Maoism that emphasized the "right thinking" and moralism of Confucianism, but contradicted the hierarchical nature of the old regime with its insistence on egalitarianism. The late 20th century brought Deng Xiaopeng Theory, a practical mix of authoritarian political control and economic privatization.
What about those examinations?
Check out a list of China's dynasties.
Reading some of Confucius' sayings in The Analects.
POLITICAL CULTURE
China's political culture has been shaped by geographical features and by the many eras of her history: dynastic rule, control by imperialist nations and its aftermath, and communist rule.
GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCES
Today China has the largest population by far of any country on earth, and its land surface is the third largest, after Russia and Canada. Some of its important geographical features include
• access to oceans/ice free ports
• many large navigable rivers
• major geographical/climate splits between north and south
• geographic isolation of the western part of the country
• mountain ranges, deserts, and oceans that separate China from other countries
These geographic features have shaped Chinese political development for centuries. China's location in the world and protective mountain ranges allowed the Chinese to ignore the rest of the world when they wanted to until the 19th century. The rugged terrain of the western part of the country has limited population growth there. The large navigable rivers and good harbors of the east have attracted population, so that the overwhelming majority of people in China have lived in these areas. Differences in climate and terrain have also created a cultural split between the north and the south
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HISTORICAL ERAS
1. Dynastic rule - The political culture inherited from centuries of dynastic rule centers around Confucian values, such as order, harmony, and a strong sense of hierarchy - "superior" and "subservient" positions. China has traditionally valued scholarship as a way to establish superiority, with mandarin scholars filling bureaucratic positions in the government. China's early relative isolation from other countries contributes to a strong sense of cultural identity. Related to Chinese identity is a high degree of ethnocentrism - the sense that China is central to humanity (the "middle kingdom") and superior to other cultures. Centuries of expansion and invasion have brought many other Asian people under Chinese control, resulting in long-standing tensions between "Han" Chinese others groups. A modern example is Tibet, where a strong sense of Tibetan ethnicity has created resistance to Chinese control.
2. Resistance to imperialism - During the 19th century China's strong sense of cultural identity blossomed into nationalism and persistent attempts by imperialist nations - such as England, France, Germany, and Japan - to exploit China's natural resources and people. This nationalism was secured by the Revolution of 1911, and the hatred of the "foreign devils" has led China to be cautious and suspicious in her dealings with capitalist countries today.
3. Maoism - Mao Zedong was strongly influenced by Karl Marx and Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), but his version of communism is distinctly suited for China. Whereas Lenin emphasized the importance of a party vanguard to lead the people to revolution and beyond, Mao resisted the inequality implied by Lenin's beliefs. He believed in the strength of the peasant, and centered his philosophy around these central values:
• collectivism - valuing the good of the community above that of the individual. This belief suited the peasant-based communities that have existed throughout Chinese history, but scholars (valued by the old culture) have often been drawn to individualism.
• struggle and activism - Mao encouraged the people to actively pursue the values of socialism, something he understood would require struggle and devotion.
• mass line - Mao conceptualized a line of communication between party leaders, members, and peasants that would allow all to struggle toward realization of the goals of a communist state. The mass line involved teaching and listening on everyone's part. Leaders would communicate their will and direction to the people, but the people in turn would communicate through the mass line their wisdoms to the leaders.
• egalitarianism - Hierarchy was the key organizing principle in Chinese society before 1949, and Mao's emphasis on creating an egalitarian society was in complete opposition to it.
• self-reliance - Instead of relying on the elite to give directions, people under Maoist rule were encouraged to rely on their own talents to contribute to their communities.
Deng Xiaoping Theory - "It doesn't matter whether a cat is white or black, as long as it catches mice." This famous 1962 statement by Deng reflects his practical approach to solving China's problems. In other words, he didn't worry too much about whether a policy was capitalist or socialist as long as it improved the economy. The result of his leadership was a dramatic turnaround of the Chinese economy through a combination of socialist planning and the capitalist free market. His political and social views, however, remained true to Communist tradition - the party should supervise all, and no allowances should be made for individual freedoms and/or democracy. .
THE IMPORTANCE OF INFORMAL RELATIONSHIPS
Especially among the political elite, power and respect depend not so much on official positions as on who has what connections to whom. During the days of the early PRC, these ties were largely based on reputations established during the Long March, a 1934 -1936 cross-country trek led by Mao Zedong as Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist army pursued his communist followers. Today those leaders are dead, but factions of their followers still compete for power, and informal relationships define each change in leadership. This informal network - a version of a patron-client system - is not apparent to the casual outside observer. As a result, whenever new leaders come to power, such as the 2003 transition, it isn't easy to predict how policymaking will be affected. However, an important principle is to study their relationships with past leaders. For example, it probably is significant that Hu Yaobang, a reformer whose death was mourned by the students that led the Tiananmen Square protest in 1989, mentored Hu Jintao, the new general secretary of the CCP.
The 50 Places that Define China - Asia Time Magazine's tour of 50 places to visit that help you to understand China .
The CIA Factbook- Geography facts about China from the CIA.
What are the differences between Mandarin and Cantonese?
POLITICAL CHANGE
Until the 19th century dynastic cycles explained the patterns of political change in China. A dynasty would seize power, grow stronger, and then decline. During its decline, other families would challenge the dynasty, and a new one would emerge as a sign that it had the mandate of heaven. This cycle was interrupted by the Mongols in the 13th century, when their leaders conquered China and ruled until the mandate was recaptured by the Mings who restored Han Chinese control. The Manchus were also a conquering people from the north, who established the Qing (or "pure") dynasty in the 17th century. This last dynasty toppled under European pressure in the early 20th century.
Change during the first half of the 20th century was radical, violent, and chaotic, and the result was a very different type of regime: communism. Did European intrusions and revolutions of the 20th century break the Chinese dynastic cycles forever? Or is this just another era of chaos between dynasties? It is hard to imagine that dynastic families might reappear in the 21st century or beyond, but Chinese political traditions are strong, and they almost certainly will determine what happens next in Chinese political development.
CHINA BEFORE 1949
China's oldest cultural and political traditions have long provided stability and longevity for the empire/country. These traditions come form the dynastic rule that lasted for many centuries. However, in recent years two disruptive influences - control by imperialistic nations (19th century) and revolutionary upheavals (20th century) have threatened that stability and provide challenges to modern China.
Control by Imperialistic Nations - During the 19th century, the weakened Qing Dynasty fell prey to imperialistic nations - such as England, Germany, France, and Japan - who carved China into "spheres of influence" for their own economic gain. This era left many Chinese resentful of the "foreign devils" that they eventually rebelled against.
Revolutionary upheavals - Major revolutions occurred in China in 1911 and 1949, with many chaotic times in between. Three themes dominated this revolutionary era:.
Nationalism - The Chinese wished to recapture strength and power from the imperialistic nations that dominated them during the 19th century. The Revolution of 1911 - led by Sun Yat-sen - was a successful attempt to reestablish China as an independent country.
Establishing a new political community - With the dynasties gone and the imperialists run out, what kind of government would modern China adopt? One answer came from Chiang Kai-shek, who founded the Nationalist Party (Gumindang) and the other from Mao Zedong, the founder of the Chinese Communist Party.
Socioeconomic Development - A major challenge of the 20th century has been the reestablishment of a strong economic and social fabric after the years of imperialistic control. During the 1920s, the newly formed Soviet Union served as a model for policymaking, but the Nationalists broke with them in 1928. Chiang Kai-shek became the President of China, and Mao Zedong and his communists were left an outlaw party.
The Legend of the Long March - Strength for Mao's Communist Party was gained by the LongMarch - the 1934-36 pursuit of Mao's army across China by Chiang and his supporters. Chiang was trying to depose his rival, but his attempt to find and conquer Mao had the opposite effect. Mao eluded him until finally Chiang had to turn his attentions to the invading Japanese. Mao emerged as a hero of the people, and many of his loyal friends on the March lived on to be prominent leaders of the People's Republic of China after its founding in 1949.
Take a look at a map that shows the path of the Long March.
THE FOUNDING OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA - 1949-1966
The Japanese occupied China during World War II, but after the war ended, the forces of Chiang and Mao met in Civil War, and Mao prevailed. In 1949 Chiang fled to Taiwan, and Mao established the People's Republic of China under Communist rule.
The People's Republic of China was born from a civil war between the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek and the Communists under Mao Zedong. After many years of competitive struggle, Mao's army forced Chiang Kai-shek and his supporters off the mainland to the island of Taiwan (Formosa). Mao named his new China the "People's Republican of China," and Chiang claimed that his headquarters in Taiwan formed the true government. The "Two Chinas", then, were created, and the PRC was not to be recognized as a nation by the United Nations until 1972.
The early political development of the PRC proceeded in two phases:
1) The Soviet Model (1949-1957) - The Soviet Union had been supporting Mao's efforts since the 1920s, and with his victory in 1949, they began pouring money and expertise into the PRC. With the help, Chairman Mao and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) quickly turned their attention to some of the country's most glaring social problems.
• Land Reform - This campaign redistributed property from the rich to the poor and increased productivity in the countryside.
• Civil Reform - They set about to free people from opium addiction, and they greatly enhanced women's legal rights. For example, they allowed women to free themselves from unhappy arranged marriages. These measures helped to legitimize Mao's government in the eyes of the people.
Five-Year Plans - Between 1953 and 1957, the CCP launched the first of its Soviet-style Five-Year plans to nationalize industry and collectivize agriculture, implementing steps toward socialism.
2) The Great Leap Forward (1958-1966) - Mao changed directions in 1958, partly in an effort to free China from Soviet domination -the spirit of nationalism is a force behind Mao's policy here - and partly because he was still unhappy with the degree of inequality in Chinese society. The Great Leap Forward was a utopian effort to transform China into a radical egalitarian society. It's emphasis was mainly economic, and it was based on four principles:
• All-around development - Not just heavy industry (as under Stalin in the USSR), but almost equal emphasis to agriculture.
• Mass mobilization - An effort to turn the sheer numbers of the population into an asset - better motivation, harder, work, less unemployment.
• Political unanimity and zeal - An emphasis on party workers running government, not bureaucrats. Cadres - party workers at the lowest levels - were expected to demonstrate their party devotion by spurring the people on to work as hard as they could.
• Decentralization - encouraged more government on the local level, less central control. The people can do it!
The Great Leap Forward was a big flop. Mao's efforts ran counter to the traditional political culture (bureaucratic centralism), and the people lacked skills to contribute to industrialization. Some bad harvests conjured up fears of the loss of the mandate of heaven.
Read a telegram from Mao to Joseph Stalin.
Read an excerpt from Mao's "Hundred Flowers" speech that launched the Great Leap Forward.
THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION 1966-1976
Between 1960 and 1966, Mao allowed two of his faithful - Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping - to implement market-oriented policies that revived the economy. but Mao was still unhappy with China's progress toward true egalitarianism. And so he instituted the Cultural Revolution - a much more profound reform in that it encompassed political and social change, as well as economic. His main goal was the purify the party and the country through radical transformation. Important principles were
• the ethic of struggle
• massline
• collectivism
• egalitarianism
• unstinting service to society (see political culture for definitions).
A primary goal of the Cultural Revolution was to remove all vestiges of the old China and its hierarchical bureaucracy and emphasis on inequality. Scholars were sent into the fields to work, universities and libraries were destroyed. Emphasis was put on elementary education - all people should be able to read and write - but any education that created inequality was targeted for destruction.
Mao died in 1976, leaving his followers divided into factions:
• Radicals - led by Mao's wife, Jiang Qing, one of the "Gang of Four," who supported the radical goals of the Cultural Revolution.
• The Military - Always a powerful group because of the long-lasting 20th century struggles that required an army, the military was led by Lin Biao, who died in a mysterious airplane crash in 1971.
• The Moderates - led by Zhou Enlai, who emphasized economic modernization and limited contact with other countries, including the United States. Zhou influenced Mao to invite President Richard Nixon to China in 1972. He died only a few months after Mao.
DENG XIAOPING'S MODERNIZATIONS (1978-1997)
The Gang of Four was arrested by the new CCP leader, Hua Guofeng, whose actions helped the Moderates take control. Zhou's death opened the path for new leadership from the Moderate Faction. By 1978, the new leader emerged - Deng Xiaping. His vision drastically altered China's direction through "Four Modernizations" invented by Zhou Enlai before his death - industry, agriculture, science, and the military. These modernizations have been at the heart of the country's official policy ever since. Under Dung's leadership, these policies have helped to implement the new direction:
• "Open door" trade policy - Trade with everyone, including capitalist nations like the U.S., that will boost China's economy.
• Reforms in education - higher academic standards, expansion of higher education and research (a reversal of the policy during the Cultural Revolution)
• Institutionalization of the Revolution - restoring the legal system and bureaucracy of the Old China, decentralizing the government, modifying elections, and infusing capitalism.
Read more about the Four Modernizations.
SOCIETY AND POLITICS
China's ethnic population is primarily Han Chinese, the people that historically have formed the basis of China's identity, first as an empire, and eventually as a country. China's borders have long included other ethnicities, primarily through conquest and expansion of land claims in Asia. Minority groups now comprise about 8 percent of the PRC's population. There are 55 officially recognized minority groups, and no one minority is very large. Even so, the Chinese government has put a great deal of time and effort into its policies regarding ethnic groups.
Most minorities live on or near China's borders with other countries, and most of their areas are sparsely populated. For example, Mongols live in both Mongolia and China, and Kazakhs live in both the Kazakh republic and China. Because of their distance from areas of dense population, China worries that dissidents may encourage independence, or join with neighboring countries. Tibet &endash; with its long history of separate ethnic identity &endash; has been especially problematic for China since they conquered it in the early days of the PRC. The former government of Tibet never recognized Chinese authority, and some Tibetans today campaign for independence.
Even though the percentages are not high, China does have about 100 million citizens who are members of minorities groups, a huge number by anyone's calculations. By and large, the government's policy has been to encourage economic development and suppress expressions of dissent in ethnic minority areas. Ethnic dissent continues into the present, although many groups appear to be content to be part of the Chinese empire.
Visit the website of the Tibetan Government in Exile.
CITIZEN AND STATE
According to Chinese tradition before 1949, citizens are subjects of government, not participants in a political system. The communist state redefined political participation by creating a relationship between the Communist party and citizenship, and by defining the economic relationship between citizens and the government. Nevertheless, old traditions that governed personal ties and relationships still shape China's political processes, and influence the actions and beliefs of elites and citizens alike. In recent years popular social movements that support democracy, religious beliefs, and community ties over nationalism have influenced Chinese politics and helped to define China's relationships with other countries.
PARTY AND PARTICIPATION
The Chinese Communist Party is the largest political party in the world in terms of total formal membership, with about 58 million members at the turn of the century. However, as was true in the USSR, its members make up only a small minority of the country's population. Only about 8 percent of those over eighteen (the minimum age for joining the party) are members of the CCP. Only those that are judged to be fully committed to the ideals of communism and who are willing to devote a great deal of time and energy to party affairs may join. Party membership is growing, with new members recruited largely from the CCP's Youth League. About 68 million Chinese youths belonged to the Youth League by the late 1990s.
The economic reforms begun by Deng Xiaoping paved the way for a milestone transition in the backgrounds of party members. During the Maoist era (before 1976) revolutionary cadres whose careers depended on party loyalty and ideological purity led the CCP at all levels. Most cadres were peasants or factory workers, and few were intellectuals or professionals. Since Deng's reforms, the party has been led increasingly by "technocrats," people with technical training who have climbed the ladder of the party bureaucracy. All seven members of the current Standing Committee have academic and professional backgrounds in technical fields, and five of them were trained as engineers.
Today less than 40 percent of party members come from the peasantry, although peasants still make up the largest single group within the CCP. The fastest growing membership category consists of officials, intellectuals, technicians, and other professionals. Women make up only about 20 percent of the membership and only about 4 percent of the Central Committee.
PROTESTS
In recent years the control mechanisms of the party has loosened as new forms of associations appear, like Western-style discos and coffeehouses. Communications through cell phones, fax machines, TV satellite dishes, and internet have made it more difficult for the party-state to monitor citizens.
The Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 showed the limits of protest in China. Massive repression was the government's way of letting people know that democratic movements that defy the party leadership will not be tolerated. In recent years, major protests have been staged by religious groups, but none have risen to the level of conflict apparent in 1989. Village protests have made their way into the news, and thousands of labor strikes have been reported. Some observers believe that protests will pose serious threats to the party in the near future.
POLITICAL FRAMEWORK
China's political regime is best categorized as authoritarian, one in which decisions are made by political elites &endash; those that hold political power &endash; without much input from citizens. Leaders are recruited through their membership in the Communist Party, but personal relationships and informal ties to others are also important in deciding who controls the regime. However, this authoritarian regime has the same problem that emperors of past dynasties had &endash; how to effectively govern the huge expanse of land and large population from one centralized place.
The political framework of the People's Republic of China is designed to penetrate as many corners of the country as possible through an elaborately organized Chinese Communist Party (CCP). As in the old Soviet Union, government structures are controlled by party personnel. Unlike the Soviet Union, however, the CCP also integrates its military into the political hierarchy. Political elites are often recruited from the military, and the head of the Central Military Commission is often the most powerful leader in China.
THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY (CCP)
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CCP
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is organized hierarchically by levels - village/township, county, province, and national. At the top of the system is the supreme leader (Deng Xiaoping's phrase was "the core"), who until 1976 was Chairman Mao Zedong. The title "chairman" was abandoned after Mao's death, and the head of the party is now called the "general secretary." The party has a separate constitution from the government's constitution of 1982, and its central bodies are:
National Party Congress - This body consists of more than 2000 delegates chosen primarily from congresses on lower levels. It only meets every five years, so it is obviously not important in policy-making. It usually rubberstamps decisions made by the party leaders, although in recent years it has acted somewhat more independently. Its main importance remains in its power to elect members of the Central Committee.
Central Committee - The Committee has about 340 members (some of them are alternates) that meet together annually for about a week. They carry on the business of the National Party Congress between sessions, although their size and infrequent meetings limit their policy making powers. Their meetings are called plenums, and they are important in that they are gatherings of the political elites, and from their midst are chosen the Politburo and the Standing Committee.
Politburo/Standing Committee - These most powerful political organizations are at the very top of the CCP structure. They are chosen by the Central Committee, and their decisions dictate government policies. The Politburo has 24 members and the Standing Committee - chosen from the Politburo membership - has only 7. They meet in secret, and their membership reflects the balance of power among factions and the relative influence of different groups in policy making.
NONCOMMUNIST PARTIES
Even though China effectively has a one-party system, the CCP does allow the existence of eight "democratic" parties. Each party has a special group that it draws from, such as intellectuals or businessmen. Their total membership is about a half million, and they are tightly controlled by the CCP. They do not contest the CCP for control of the government, but they do serve an important advisory role to the party leaders. Some members even attain high government positions, but organizationally these parties serve only as a loyal non-opposition. Attempts to establish independent democratic parties outside CCP control have been squashed, with the party doling out severe prison sentences to the independent-minded leaders.
Reading about the PNC's 2002 meetings - the 16th Congress.
ELECTIONS
The PRC holds elections in order to legitimize the government and the CCP. The party controls the commissions that run elections, and it reviews draft lists of proposed candidates to weed out those it finds politically objectionable. The only direct elections are held at the local level, with voters choosing deputies to serve on the county people's congress. The people's congresses at higher levels are selected from and by the lower levels, not directly by the people. Since the 1980s the party has allowed more than one candidate to run for county positions, and most candidates are nominated by the people. One move toward democracy has occurred at the village level, where local officials are no longer appointed from above, but are chosen in direct, secret-ballot elections
GUANGXI AND FACTIONS
Mao Zedong's place in Chinese history was sealed by the Long March of 1934-36. He emerged from the ordeal as a charismatic leader who brought about great change. His compatriots that made the journey with him became known as the "Old Guard," a group of friends that networked with one another for many years through guanxi, or personal connections. These personal connections are still the glue that holds Chinese politics together today.
China, like the USSR, recruits its leaders through nomenklatura, a system of choosing cadres from lower levels of the party hierarchy for advancement based on their loyalty and contributions to the well-being of the party. However, Chinese leaders communicate with one another through a patron-client network called guanxi. These linkages are similar to "old boys' networks" in the West, and they underscore the importance of person career ties between individuals as they rise in bureaucratic or political structures. Besides bureaucratic and personal ties, Guanxi is based on ideology differences and similarities, and as a result, has been the source of factions within the party. Guanxi is also pervasive at the local level, where ordinary people link up with village leaders and lower party officials.
FACTIONALISM
Factionalism in the years before Mao's death in 1976 is demonstrated in the splits among the radicals (led by Jiang Qing and the Gang of Four), the military under Lin Biao, and the reformers under Zhou Enlai. All three men were part of the "Old Guard" that went on the Long March in the 1930s, but by 1976, all were dead. Deng Xiaoping emerged as the new leader of China, partly because he was able to unite the factions in a course toward economic reform.
Even before Deng's death in 1997, however, factional strife was apparent within the leadership, most notably during the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. In general, the factions have split in at least three ways:
• Conservatives - Although all factions supported economic reform, conservatives worry that perhaps the power of the party and the central government has eroded too much. They are particularly concerned about any movement toward democracy and generally support crackdowns on organizations and individuals who act too independently. Their most prominent leader is Li Peng, the former premier and chair of the National People's Congress. His retirement in 2003 leaves the leadership of this faction in doubt.
• Reformers/open door - This faction supports major capitalist infusion into the PRC's economy and generally promote an open door trade policy. These leaders have pushed for membership in the World Trade Organization and have courted the U.S. to grant "most-favored trading" status to China. They don't necessarily support democratic reform, but their focus is on economic growth and development, so their political attitudes tend to be pragmatic. Two important leaders of the reformers are Jiang Zemin - the PRC President and CCP General Secretary until 2003 - and Zhu Rongji - the former governor of the central bank and PRC Premier.
• Liberals - This faction has been out of power since the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident, but they are generally more accepting of political liberties and democratic movements than are the other factions. They support economic and political reform. The two most famous leaders of this faction are Hu Yuobang - whose death started the protests in 1989 - and Zhao Ziyang - the Premier and General Secretary who was ousted for being too sympathetic with the Tiananmen protestors.
• The factions follow the process of fang-shou - a tightening up, loosening up cycle - a waxing and waning of the power of each. In some ways, the cycle is similar to the old dynastic cycle, when ruling families were challenged when they lost the mandate of heaven.
Which faction does the new Chinese leader Hu Jintao belong to? Opinions vary, partly because no one is sure how much political reform he may tolerate or encourage. However, his montor, Hu Yaobang was a liberal.
CORRUPTION
The combination of guanxi and the economic boom of the past twenty years has brought about rampant corruption within the Chinese economic and political system. Bribes are common, and corruption is widely regarded as a major problem. President Jiang Zemin acknowledge in 1997, "The fight against corruption is a grave political struggle vital to the very existence of the party and the state...If corruption cannot be punished effectively, our Party will lose the support and confidence of the people."
INTEREST GROUPS
Organized interest groups and social movements are not permitted to influence the political process unless they are under the party-state authority. The party-state tries to preempt the formation of independent groups by forming mass organizations in which people may express their points of view within strict limits. These mass organizations often form around occupations or social categories. For example, most factory workers belong to the All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and women's interests are represented in the All-China Women's Federation. In urban areas, the party maintains social control through danwei - social units usually based on a person's place of work. People depend on the units for their jobs, income, and promotion, but also for medical care, housing, daycare centers, and recreational facilities.
INSTITUTIONS
The political structure of the People's Republic of China can best be seen as three parallel hierarchies that are separate yet interact with one another
• the Communist Party
• the state or government
• the People's Liberation Army
The party dominates the three yet the organizations are separate. The relationship between the party and the government is controlled by the principle of dual role - vertical supervision of the next higher level of government and horizontal supervision of the Communist Party at their own level.
The organization of party and state are similar on paper to those of the former USSR, largely because the PRC's structure was designed by the Soviets during the period between 1949 and 1958. In reality, China's policy making is governed more directly by factions and personal relationships.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE GOVERNMENT
The government structure of the People's Republic of China has three branches - a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary. But all branches are controlled by the party, so they are not independent, nor does a system of checks and balances exist. All top government positions are held by party members, as are many on the lower levels.
The People's Congresses
Government authority is formally vested in a system of people's congresses, which begins with a People's National Congress at the top and continues in hierarchical levels down through the provincial, city, and local congresses. Theoretically they are the people's legislatures, but in reality they are subject to party authority. The National People's Congress choose the President and Vice President of China, but there is only one party-sponsored candidate for each position. Although the Congress itself has little power, its meetings are important to watch because the Politburo's decisions are formally announced then. For example, duing the 10th National People's Congress in 2003, China's new president and general secretary (Hu Jintao) and chief of Parliament (Wu Bangguo) were announced. Although their appointments were widely known before the meeting began (partly because their leadership had been announced at the 2002 CCP meeting), the PNC meeting was the chosen format for introducing the new leaders to the world.
Executive/Bureaucracy
The President and Vice President serve five year terms, are limited to two terms, and must be at least 45 years old. The positions are largely ceremonial, though senior party leaders have always held them. Currently, Jiang Zemin is both the president and the general secretary of the CCP.
The Premier is the head of government, formally appointed by the president, but again, the position is always held by a member of the Standing Committee. Zhu Rongji has held this position since 1998. He directs the State Council, which is composed of ministers who direct the many ministries and commissions of the bureaucracy. These are controlled by the principle of dual role - supervision from higher bodies in the government and by comparable bodies in the CCP.
The bureaucracy exists on all levels - national, provincial, county, and local. These lower level positions are held by cadres, people in positions of authority who are paid by the government or party. Many are both government officials and party members, but not all. In all, about 30 million cadres around China see that the leaders' policies are carried out everywhere.
The Judiciary
China has a 4-tiered "people's court" system, organized hierarchically just as the people's Congresses are. A nationwide organization called the "people's procuratorate" provides public prosecutors and defenders to the courts.
During the Cultural Revolution the judicial system came under attack as a bastion of elitism and reform. In recent decades, the judiciary has been revitalized, and more than 100,000 new judges and lawyers have been trained. New law codes have also been instituted. However, no structure exists for judicial review.
The criminal justice system works swiftly and harshly, with a conviction rate of more than 99% of all cases that come to trial. Prison terms are long and subject to only cursory appeal. Hundreds, perhaps 1000s of people have been executed during periods of government-sponsored anti-crimes campaigns. Human Rights organizations criticize China for its extensive use of the death penalty.
THE PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY (PLA)
"Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun."
The military grew hand in hand with communism, as Mao's famous statement reflects. The People's Liberation Army encompasses all of the country's ground, air, and naval armed services. Although plans for a cutback were announced in 1998, the army is huge, with about 3 million active personnel and about 12 million reserves. Yet in proportion to its population, the Chinese military presence is smaller than that of the United States. China has about 2.4 military personnel for every 1000 people, whereas the U.S. has 6.1. Military spending is only about 4 percent of that of the U.S., although some analysts suspect that the government deliberately underestimates the military budget.
The military has never held formal political power in the People's Republic of China, but it has been an important influence on politics and policy. All of the early political leaders were alsomilitary leaders. For example, Mao and the other members of the "Old Guard", led the Long March of the 1930s primarily by military moves.
The second half of Mao's famous quote above is less often quoted:
"Our principle is that the party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the party."
Clearly, the military has never threatened to dominate the party. It is represented in the government by the Central Military Commission, which has been led by many prominent party leaders, including Deng Xiaoping.
The Tiananmen crisis in 1989 greatly harmed the image of the PLA, since the military was ordered to recapture the square and do so with brutal force. But the PLA continues to play an important role in Chinese politics. In 2002 two of the 24 members of the Politburo were military officers, and PLA representatives make up over 20 percent of the Central Committee membership. In 2003, Jiang Zemin's retention of his position as head of the Central Military Commission, despite his stepping down as president, indicates that he still has significant policymaking power.
See a Russian missile, Chinese style.
POLICYMAKING PROCESS: FANG-SHOU
Deng Xiaoping's carefully balanced blend of socialist central planning with a capitalist market economy has not been without its critics. The tensions within the system - both economic and political - are evidenced in fang-shou, a letting go, tightening-up cycle evidenced even under Mao in his reaction to the Hundred Flowers Campaign. The cycle consists of three types of actions/policies - economic reform, democratic movements (letting go), and a tightening-up by the CCP. With each new economic reform, liberal factions react with a demand for political reforms, which the Party responds to with force. Some examples through time are as follows:
FANG-SHOU IN MODERN CHINA
ECONOMIC PROGRAM DEMOCRACY MOVEMENTS CCP RESPONSE
Four Modernizations (1978-1985)
Democracy Wall Movement (1978-1979)
De-Legalization of Protest (1979-80)
Socialist Spiritual Civilization (1981-83)
Second Revolution (1986-1001)
Student Democracy Protest (1986-1987)
Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization (1987-1988)
Tiananmen Democracy Demonstrations (1989)
"Massacre" (1989)
Arrests (1989-1990)
Anti-Bourgeois Liberalization (1987-1988)
Attacks on political dissidents (1993-present)
Falun Gong Demonstrations (1999 - 2000)
Outlaw of Falun Gong; arrest/execution of leaders (1999-2000)
DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
The Tiananmen Crisis began as a grief demonstration for the death of Hu Yaobang - a liberal who had earlier resigned from the Politburo under pressure from the conservatives. Most of the original demonstrators were students and intellectuals, but they were joined by other groups, and the wake turned into democratic protests. They criticized corruption and demanded democratic reforms, and hundreds of thousands joined in. Protests erupted all over China, and Tiananmen became the center of international attention for almost two months. How would the Politburo react?
The answer came with guns, as Deng sent the People's Liberation Army to shut down the protests, using whatever means necessary. The army made its way to the square, killing hundreds of protesting citizens. They recaptured control, but the fatalities and arrests began a broad new wave of international protests from human rights advocates. Unofficial estimates of fatalities range from 700 to several thousands.
Since then, China has been under a great deal of pressure from international human rights organizations to democratize their political process and to abide by human rights standards advocated by the groups. Deng Xiaoping showed little impulse to liberalize the political process, as did the government that followed under Jiang Zemin, at least publicly. Factional disagreements are kept from the public eye, and most discussion of the direction the government will take under Hu Jintao is still largely speculative.
ECONOMIC POLICY
Agricultural Policy
The People's Communes - During the early days of the PRC - in an effort to realize important socialist goals - virtually all peasants were organized into collective farms of approximately 250 families each. During the Great Leap Forward, farms were merged into gigantic people's communes with several thousand families. These communes were one of the weakest links in Mao's China, with production and rural living standards showing little improvement between 1957 and 1977. Many communes were poorly managed, and peasants often didn't see the need to work hard, contrary to Mao's hopes of developing devotion through the mass line.
Household Responsibility System - In the early 1980s, Deng dismantled the communes and replaced them with a household responsibility system, which is still in effect today. In this system individual families take full charge of the production and marketing of crops. After paying government taxes and contract fees to the villages, families may consume or sell what they produce.
"Private Business"
In 1988 the National People's Congress officially created a new category of "private business" under the control of the party. It included urban co-ops, service organizations, and rural industries that largely operate as capitalist enterprises. Private businesses have grown by leaps and bounds since that time, and are far more profitable and dynamic than are the state-owned ones.
The fastest growing sector of the Chinese economy is rooted in township and village enterprises (TVEs), rural factories and businesses that vary greatly in size, and are run by local government and private entrepreneurs. Although they are called collective enterprises, they make their own decisions and are responsible for their profits and losses. The growth of the TVE system has slowed the migration of peasants to the cities, and has become the backbone of economic strength in the countryside.
FOREIGN POLICY AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE
Since 1998 Chinese foreign policy has undergone profound changes that have brought the country closer into the mainstream of international politics. China still resists pressure from other countries to improve its human rights record, and Chinese leaders continue to threaten to invade Taiwan now and again. However, especially in the areas of trade, China has integrated itself into the world community in almost unprecedented ways.
FOREIGN POLICY UNDER MAO
Until Mao's death in 1976, the PRC based its foreign policy on providing support for third world revolutionary movements. It provided substantial development assistance to a handful of the most radical states. Examples are Korea and Vietnam. Under Mao, China's relationship with the USSR changed dramatically in the late 1950s from one of dependence to independence.
During the 1920s and 1950s, the USSR gave large amounts of money, as well as technical and political advice to China. The countries broke into rivalry during the late 1950s when Mao decided that the Soviets had turned their backs on Marx and revolution. The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution affirmed China's independent path from Moscow's control.
US/CHINESE RELATIONS
The chill in China/USSR relationships encourage the U.S. to eye the advantages of opening positive interactions with China. As long as Mao was in control, his anti-capitalist attitudes - as well as U.S. containment policy - meant that the countries had no contacts until the early 1970s. Then, with Mao sick and weak, reformist Zhou Enlai opened the door to western contact. President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger engineered negotiations, and Nixon's famous 1972 visit to China signaled a new era. Relations opened with a ping pong match between the two countries, but after Deng Xiaoping's leadership began in 1978, his open door policy helped lead the way to more substantial contact.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND BUSINESS TODAY
Another integral part of the economic reform of the past quarter century has been the opening of the Chinese economy to international forces. Four Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were established in 1979. In these regions, foreign investors were given preferential tax rates and other incentives. Five years later fourteen more areas became SEZs, and today foreign investments and free market mechanisms have spread to most of the rest of urban China.
Since 1978 China's trade and industry have expanded widely. With this expansion has come a rapidly growing GDP, entrepreneurship, and trade with many nations. A wealthy class of businessmen has emerged, and Chinese products have made their way around the world. They seek - and are close to getting - membership in the World Trade Organization, as well as "most favored nation status" for trading with the U.S. A monumental recognition of China's new economic power came in 1997, when the British officially "gave" the major trading city of Hong Kong back to Chinese control.
Deng Xiaoping emphasized economic reform, but he continued to believe that the Party should be firmly in command of the country. In general, he did not support political reforms that included democracy and/or more civil liberties for citizens. Freedoms and incentives were granted to entrepreneurs, but they have operated largely under the patron-client system (guangxi).
China: A World Power Again? An article from the Atlantic Monthly magazine that assesses China's place in the world today.
POLICYMAKING SINCE 1997
The Chinese leaders that came to power after Deng's death in 1997 did not stray significantly from Deng's path of economic reform and resistance to political reform. Jiang Zemin was the General Secretary of the CCP from 1989-2003 and the President from 1993 to 2003, but he did not consolidate his power until after Deng's death in 1997. Zhu Rongji - Premier from 1998 to 2003 and former governor of the central bank - also emerged as an influential leader. Jiang was often criticized for being a weak leader and did not have the same stature as Deng or Mao - the two men who dominated China during the second half of the 20th century.
Despite the continuing tensions between economic and political policy, some democratic reforms can be seen in these ways:
• Some input from the National People's Congress is accepted by the Politburo
• More emphasis is placed on laws and legal procedures
• Village elections are now semi-competitive, with choices of candidates and some freedom from the party's control
Will the new leadership announced in 2003 change Deng's policy of political conservatism? Will China continue to expand its international contacts and its free market economy? If so, will tensions increase between economic and political sectors of the country? During the 20th century many countries have struggled to define the relationship between free market economies and political leadership styles. Most obviously, the Soviet Union collapsed rather than reconcile market liberalization with centralized political power. Will the same thing happen to China, or will their policy of introducing market principles gradually work out in the end? This challenge and many more await answers from Hu Jintao and his new leadership team.
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