In thePeople's Republic of China, politics functions within acommunist state framework based on thesystem of people's congress under the leadership of theChinese Communist Party (CCP), with theNational People's Congress (NPC) functioning as thehighest organ of state power and only branch of government per the principle ofunified power. The CCP leads state activities by holding two-thirds of the seats in the NPC, and these party members are, in accordance withdemocratic centralism, responsible for implementing the policies adopted by theCCP Central Committee and theNational Congress. The NPC has unlimited state power bar the limitations it sets on itself through theconstitution. By controlling the NPC, the CCP has complete state power. China's twospecial administrative regions (SARs),Hong Kong andMacau, are nominally autonomous from this system.
The Chinese political system is consideredauthoritarian.[1][2][3][4][5][6] There are no freely elected national leaders, political opposition is suppressed, all organized religious activity is controlled by the CCP,dissent is not permitted, andcivil rights are curtailed.[7][8]Direct elections occur only at the local level, not the national level, with all candidate nominations controlled by the CCP.[9][10][11][12][13][14]
The nature of the elections is highly constrained by the CCP's monopoly on power in China,censorship, and party control over elections.[15][16] According to academic Rory Truex of thePrinceton School of Public and International Affairs, "the CCP tightly controls the nomination and election processes at every level in the people's congress system... the tiered, indirect electoral mechanism in the People's Congress system ensures that deputies at the highest levels face no semblance of electoral accountability to the Chinese citizenry."[17]
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Since thefounding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the government inBeijing officially asserts to be the sole legitimate government of all of China, which it defines as includingmainland China andTaiwan. This has been disputed by theRepublic of China (ROC) government since theKuomintang (KMT) fled toTaipei in 1949. The ROC has since undergone significant political reforms.
China's population,geographical vastness, and social diversity frustrate attempts to rule from Beijing.Economic reform during the 1980s and the devolution of much central government decision making, combined with the strong interest of local CCP officials in enriching themselves, has made it increasingly difficult for the central government to assert its authority.[18]
Thepresident of China is thestate representative, serving as the ceremonialfigurehead under theNational People's Congress.[note 1] In March 2018, the NPC removed the term limits for the presidency.[20][21] As aone-party state, thegeneral secretary of the Chinese Communist Party holds ultimate power and authority over state and government with no term limit.[note 2] The offices of president, general secretary, and chairman of theCentral Military Commission have been held simultaneously byone individual since 1993, granting the individualde jure andde facto power over the country.
Central government leaders must, in practice, build consensus for new policies among party members, local and regional leaders, influential non-party members, and the population at large.[24] Even as there have been some moves in the direction of democratization as far as the electoral system at least, in that openly contested People's Congress elections are now held at the village and town levels,[25] and that legislatures have shown some assertiveness from time to time, the CCP retains effective control over governmental appointments. This is because the CCP wins by default in most electorates.[26][27][needs update]
The Chinese constitution describes the country's system of government as apeople's democratic dictatorship.[28] The CCP has also used other terms to officially describe China's system of government including "socialist consultative democracy", andwhole-process people's democracy.[29]
According to the CCP theoretical journalQiushi, "[c]onsultative democracy was created by the CPC and the Chinese people as a form of socialist democracy. ... Not only representing a commitment to socialism, it carries forward China's political and cultural traditions. Not only representing a commitment to the organizational principles and leadership mode of democratic centralism, it also affirms the role of the general public in a democracy. Not only representing a commitment to the leadership of the CPC, it also gives play to the role of all political parties and organizations as well as people of all ethnic groups and all sectors of society".[30]
The semi-official journalChina Today stated the CCP's view: "Consultative democracy guarantees widespread and effective participation in politics through consultations carried out by political parties, peoples congresses, government departments, CPPCC committees, peoples organizations, communities, and social organizations".[31] On the other hand, according to the 2023V-Dem Democracy indices China was the second least electoraldemocratic country in Asia.[32]
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dominates the Chinese political landscape. Constitutionally, the party's highest body is theParty Congress, which meets every five years. Meetings were irregular before the Cultural Revolution but have been periodic since then. The National Congress elects theCentral Committee and theCentral Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI); the Central Committee in turn elects bodies such as:
In relativeliberalization periods, the influence of people and groups outside the formal party structure has increased, particularly in the economic realm. Nevertheless, in all governmental institutions in the PRC, the party committees at all levels maintain a powerful and pivotal role in the administration.[34] According to scholarRush Doshi, "[t]he Party sits above the state, runs parallel to the state, and is enmeshed in every level of the state."[35] Central party control is tightest in central government offices and urban economic, industrial, and cultural settings; it is considerably looser over the government and party establishments in rural areas, where a significant percentage of mainland Chinese people live. The CCP's most important responsibility comes in the selection and promotion of personnel. They also see that party and state policy guidance is followed and that non-party members do not create autonomous organizations that could challenge party rule. Significant are theleading small groups which coordinate activities of different agencies.State-owned enterprises, private companies and foreign-owned businesses are also required to have internal CCP committees.[36]
Chinese politics have long been defined by the competition between intra-party factions' ability to place key members and allies in positions of power within the CCP and Chinese government.[37][38][39]
Under general secretariesJiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, the two main factions were thought to be theTuanpai and theShanghai Clique.[38] The Tuanpai were thought to be cadres and officials that originated from theCommunist Youth League of China, while the Shanghai Clique were thought to be officials that rose to prominence under Jiang Zemin when he was firstmayor, and thenCCP committee secretary, ofShanghai.[39]
Xi Jinping, who became general secretary in 2012, has significantly centralized power, removing the influence of the old factions and promoting his allies, sometimes called the "Xi Jinping faction". Due to this, the old factions, including the Tuanpai, are considered extinct,[40] especially since the20th CCP National Congress, in which Xi's allies dominated the new Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee.[41]
Constitutionally, the supreme state authority and legislature of China is theNational People's Congress (NPC). It meets annually for about two weeks to review and approve major new policy directions, laws, the budget, and major personnel changes. The NPC elects and appoints important state positions such as the president, the vice president, the chairman and other members of the Central Military Commission, the premier and rest of the State Council, thepresident of the Supreme People's Court, and procurator general of theSupreme People's Procuratorate.[68]
The NPC also elects aStanding Committee (NPCSC), its permanent body which meets regularly between NPC sessions. Most national legislation in China is adopted by the NPCSC. Most initiatives are presented to the NPCSC for consideration by the State Council after previous endorsement by the CCP Politburo Standing Committee.[68]
Members of the State Council include the Premier, a variable number of vice premiers (now four), five state councilors (protocol equal of vice premiers but with narrower portfolios), and 29 ministers and heads of State Council commissions. During the 1980s there was an attempt made to separate CCP and state functions, with the former deciding general policy and the latter carrying it out.[69] The attempt was abandoned in the 1990s with the result that the political leadership within the state are also the leaders of the CCP.[69]
No legal political opposition groups exist in China. There areeight minor political parties in the country under the CCP'sunited front system. They participate in theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) but have to support the "leading role" of the CCP for their continued existence,[70] and their leadership is appointed by theUnited Front Work Department (UFWD) of the CCP.[71] Their original function was to create the impression that the PRC was being ruled by a diverse national front, not a one-party dictatorship. The major role of these parties is to attract and subsequently muzzle niches in society that have political tendencies, such as academia.[72]
Coordination between the eight minor parties and the CCP is done through the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference which meets annually in Beijing in March at about the same time that the National People's Congress meets. In addition, there are banned political parties that are actively suppressed by the government, such as theMaoist Communist Party of China,China Democracy Party andChina New Democracy Party, which have their headquarters outside of the mainland China.[73]
ThePremier of China is thehead of government, presiding over theState Council composed of fourvice premiers and the heads of ministries and commissions.
Each local Bureau or office is under the coequal authority of the local leader and the leader of the corresponding office, bureau or ministry at the next higher level. People's Congress members at the county level are elected by voters. These county-level People's Congresses have the responsibility of oversight of local government and elect members to the Provincial (or Municipal in the case ofindependent municipalities) People's Congress. The Provincial People's Congress, in turn, elects members to the National People's Congress that meets each year in March in Beijing.[74] The ruling CCP committee at each level plays a large role in the selection of appropriate candidates for election to the local congress and to the higher levels.[citation needed]
The CCP created and leads the People's Liberation Army. After the PRC was established in 1949, the PLA also became a state military. The state's military system upholds the principle of the CCP's absolute leadership over the armed forces, often referred to under Mao's maxim that "the Party commands the gun." The CCP and the state jointly established theCentral Military Commission that carries out the task of supreme military leadership over the armed forces.[75]
Nationality is granted at birth to children with at least one Chinese-national parent, with some exceptions. In general,naturalization or the obtainment of the People's Republic of China nationality is difficult. The Nationality Law prescribes only three conditions for the obtainment of PRC nationality (marriage to a PRC national is one, permanent residence is another). PRC nationals who acquire a foreign nationality automatically lose Chinese nationality.[76][non-primary source needed] State functionaries and military personnel on active service are not permitted to renounce their Chinese nationality. If a citizen wishes to resume PRC nationality, foreign nationality is no longer recognized.[77][non-primary source needed]
In 2020, widespread public reporting detailed the Chinese government's pattern ofhuman rights violations in its continuing maltreatment ofUyghurs.[78][79][80][81] These abuses include forced labor,arbitrary detainment, forced political indoctrination, destruction of cultural heritage, and forced abortions and sterilization.[82][83][84] Critics of the policy have described it as theSinicization ofXinjiang and called it anethnocide orcultural genocide, with many activists,NGOs, human rights experts, government officials, and theU.S. government calling it agenocide.[85][86][87][88][89] The Chinese government denies it is committing human rights violations in Xinjiang.[90][91]
Some scholars have drawn comparisons between the current governance of the CCP and certain aspects of the ancient Chinese philosophy ofLegalism.[92][93][94] As articulated byThe Book of Lord Shang, Legalism emphasizes centralized authority, strict laws, harsh punishments, and a merit-based bureaucratic system.[95]
The PRC maintains diplomatic relations with most countries in the world. In 1971, the PRC replaced theRepublic of China, commonly known as "Taiwan" since the 1970s, as the sole representative of China in theUnited Nations and as one of the five permanent members of theUnited Nations Security Council.[96] China had been represented by the Republic of China at the time of the UN's founding in 1945. (See alsoChina and the United Nations.)
Under theOne-China policy, the PRC has made it a precondition to establishing diplomatic relations that the other country acknowledges its claim to all of China, includingTaiwan, and severs any official ties with the Republic of China (ROC) government. The government actively opposes foreign government meetings with the14th Dalai Lama in a political capacity, as the spokesperson for a separatist movement in Tibet.[97]
The PRC has been playing a leading role in calling forfree trade areas and security pacts amongst its Asia-Pacific neighbours. In 2004, the PRC proposed an entirely newEast Asia Summit (EAS) framework as a forum for regional security issues that pointedly excluded the United States.[98] The EAS, which includesASEAN Plus Three,India,Australia andNew Zealand, held its inaugural summit in 2005. China is also a founding member of theShanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), alongsideRussia,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan, andUzbekistan.[99]
Much of the current[when?] foreign policy is based on the concept of "China's peaceful development".[needs update] Nonetheless, crises in relations with foreign countries have occurred at various times in its recent history, particularly with the United States; e.g., the U.S. bombing of the Chinese embassy inBelgrade during theKosovo conflict in May 1999 and theHainan Island incident in April 2001. China's foreign relations with many Western nations suffered for a time following the1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. A much troubled foreign relationship is that betweenChina and Japan, which has been strained at times by Japan's refusal to acknowledge its wartime past to the satisfaction of the PRC, such asrevisionistic comments made by prominent Japanese officials, and insufficient details given to theNanjing Massacre and otheratrocities committed duringWorld War II inJapanese history textbooks. Another point of conflict between the two countries is the frequent visits by Japanese government officials to theYasukuni Shrine, which honors not only Japanese World War II dead but also many convicted World War II war criminals, including 14 Class A convictions.[citation needed]
After the establishment of thePeople's Republic of China under the CCP in 1949, China joined the international community in providing foreign aid. In the past few decades, the international community has seen an increase in Chinese foreign aid. Specifically, a recent example is theBelt and Road Initiative (BRI), a global infrastructure project that was launched in 2013 by Chinese leader Xi Jinping.[100] The stated goal of the program is to expand maritime routes and land infrastructure networks connecting China with Asia, Africa, and Europe, boosting trade and economic growth.[101] It involves a massive development of trade routes that will create a large expansion of land transportation infrastructure and new ports in the Pacific and Indian oceans to facilitate regional and intercontinental trade flow and increase oil and gas supply.[102]
The PRC is in a number ofinternational territorial disputes, several of which involved the Sino-Russian border. Although the great majority of them are now resolved,[103] China's territorial disputes have led to several localized wars in the last 50 years, including theSino-Indian War in 1962, theSino-Soviet border conflict in 1969 and theSino-Vietnam War in 1979. In 2001, China and Russia signed theTreaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation,[104][better source needed] which ended the conflict. Other territorial disputes include islands in theEast andSouth China Seas, and undefined or disputed borders with India,Bhutan andNorth Korea.[citation needed]
On 26 October 1971, theUN General Assembly adoptedResolution 2758 to transfer the seat from the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan to the People's Republic of China (PRC).[105]
Today, not only is China a part of many UN organizations, it is also one of the fivepermanent members of the UN Security Council. A memo done by theU.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission identified Chinese nationals serving in leadership position within international organizations signifies China's increasing involvement in the international arena.[106] For instance, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU),International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and so on are all organizations that Chinese nationals are currently in position of (The memo is updated on a semi-annual basis).[106]
Although NGO development in China is relatively slow compared to other countries, a Harvard University academic study reveals that China had NGOs as early as during the Dynasties. Specifically in the forms of American missionaries, which assisted in rural reconstruction programs and ideological reforms locally.[107] After the establishment of The People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, Mao banned any NGOs that were related to counter revolutionary goals. During the reform era under Deng beginning the 1970s, NGOs although not completely banned, three laws were implemented to keep relatively tight control over them––the Regulations on the Registration and Management of Social Organizations, the Regulations on the Registration and Management of Foundations, and the Interim Provisions for the Administration of Foreign Chambers of Commerce in China.[108] The latter two were implemented after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, and the general tone of all the regulations emphasized government control. For instance, the regulations require a two-tiered management system, in which before being legally registered by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, a government agency must sponsor the organization; thus, two governmental agencies must be monitoring the day-to-day operations of the NGO.[108] However, in the 1990s, NGOs began to regain momentum despite restrictions in place.[108] Today, the number of registered organizations in China has grown to over 700,000, "... including many professional and friendship associations, foundations working in the fields of education, science, and culture, and a large number of nonprofits engaged in poverty alleviation, social work with people with disabilities, children, and the elderly. The number of nonprofits and environmental education and climate action groups has also significantly grown".[109]
In 2017, a policy called "Management of Overseas NGOs' Activities in Mainland China Law" (FNGO Law) was enacted, which creates registration barriers that, for instance, require a Chinese partner organization to sign on. The reaction from the West has widely been that the space for NGOs to conduct work in may be shrinking.[110]
Many NGOs in the PRC have been described asgovernment-organized non-governmental organization (GONGOs) that are organized under the CCP'sunited front system.[111][112][113]
TheAll-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) is apeople's organization andchamber of commerce established in 1953.[114]: 167 The ACFIC was established to advance the CCP's interests and promote the party's policies among private entrepreneurs.[114]: 167 It seeks to influence policy through submitting proposals to the CPPCC, a process which requires relevant government ministries to investigate the proposals and prepare a formal response.[114]: 167
TheAll-China Federation of Trade Unions (ACFTU) advocates for workers' interests within the CCP and the government.[115]: 130 It also seeks to address occupational health and safety issues and carries on industrial policy oversight.[115]: 84 It is the country's sole legal workers union.[114]: 161 The CCP controls the appointment of ACFTU officials at the regional and national levels.[114]: 161
Various ideological groupings exist in China, often with hybrid and varying beliefs on political, economic, and cultural matters.[116]: 41–45 The "Old Left" support pre-1978 Maoist socialism.[116]: 44 TheNew Left represents a broad range of political currents which are critical of economic liberalization, neoliberalism, market economics; it ranges from Maoists to those who advocate something more like the European welfare model.[117][118][116]: 44 (Initially, the term was propagated by liberal opponents who contended that there was no fundamental difference between diehard Maoists and the New Left).[119]: 10
Liberalism in China covers a significant range of ideologies.[119]: 9 Among others, varieties of liberal thought in the PRC include the liberal Marxists of the 1980s (who opposedultra-leftism and supported a reformist socialism) and theneoliberals of the 1990s (who sought market reform and contended that this would necessarily increase political rights).[119]: 9 Academic Hang Tu summarizes, "[A] common thread that runs through these heterogenous intellectual dynamics is the call for the condemnation of Mao's revolutionary legacy in particular and the abandonment of radical approaches to Chinese history and politics in general."[119]: 9
The termconservativism has been used to characterize multiple intellectual trends, including Confucian revivalists, cultural nationalists, and proponents ofrealpolitick.[119]: 10 A common theme among the diverse trends of conservatism in China is the continuity of the Chinese civilizational tradition and opposition to Western secular modernity.[119]: 10
Summarizing research in the Chinese political context, academic Chenyang Song writes that theleft-wing/right-wing dichotomy is not an essential criterion for differentiating Chinese ideological stances, nor is it a pro-CCP or anti-CCP attitude.[116]: 45
Academic debates on whether China has acivil society are ongoing.[120]: 62
Within China, academic debate regarding theories of thepublic sphere began in the 1980s.[120]: 62 There is no consensus and academic debates involve disagreements in the applicability of concepts like "civil society," "private sphere," and "state" in the Chinese context.[120]: 62 Among the issues is that the terminology developed byJürgen Habermas was developed in discourse on Germanbourgeois society.[120]: 63–64 The major groups in Habermasian theory include merchants, bankers, manufacturers, and entrepreneurs, which is not consistent with Chinese views of the "general public."[120]: 64
The majority of research on Chinese civil society from the early 1990s to the early 2010s has been to examine "the organizational independence of civic associations from the state".[121] Researchers have argued that the western driven definition of "civil society" is too narrowly fixed, which does not allow for a full understanding of Chinese civil society. Taru Salmenkari, an associate professor specializing in contemporary China and issues of democracy and civil society in East Asia at Tallinn University, has argued in her "Theoretical Poverty in the Research on Chinese Civil Society" that to understand Chinese civil society, one must "...go beyond the question of the degree of autonomy from the state. It must address the nature of horizontal contacts through which civil society is constituted".[121]
A 2013 study by Harvard University found that while the censorship exists, the purpose of the censorship is not to silence all comments made about the state or any particular issues, but rather to prevent and reduce the probability ofcollective action.[122] As the study illustrates, allowing social media to flourish also has allowed negative and positive comments about the state and its leaders to exist.[122] According to another study, the development oftechnology and theinternet has also allowed certain civil society advocacy, such as theWeiquan movement, to flourish.[123]
Surveys have shown a high level of the Chinese public's satisfaction with their government.[124]: 137 [125]: 116 These views are generally attributed to the material comforts and security available to large segments of the Chinese populace as well as the government's attentiveness and responsiveness.[124]: 136 Academic Klára Dubravčíková writes that a majority of the Chinese middle class are satisfied with the CCP and are among those who tend to credit it for the increase of living standards in China since reform and opening up.[126]: 61
A 2009 study by academic Tony Sachs found that 95.9% of Chinese citizens were relatively satisfied or extremely satisfied with the central government, with the figure dropping to 61.5% for their local governments.[127] A study published inThe China Quarterly on attitudes from 2003 to 2016 found that people in coastal regions were particularly satisfied with government performance.[128]: 301
Survey data compiled by academic Bruce Dickson and published in 2016 concludes that approximately 70% of China's population supports theChinese Dream.[129]: 148
According to theWorld Values Survey covering 2017 to 2020, 95% of Chinese respondents have significant confidence in their government.[124]: 13 Confidence decreased to 91% in the survey's 2022 edition.[124]: 13
A 2020 survey byHarvard University found that citizen satisfaction with the government had increased since 2003, also rating China's government as more effective and capable than ever before in the survey's history.[130]: 163 The survey also showed that trust in government had increased since 2003, particularly following theanti-corruption campaign of Xi Jinping.[128]: 300 Satisfaction with interactions with local officials had also increased from 47.9% in 2011 to 75.1% by 2016.[128]: 300–301 Publishing in 2024, academics Alfred Wu et al. conclude that survey data show that Chinese people in all segments of society tend to trust the government.[128]: 301
A 2020 study byUniversity of Southern California researchers affiliated with theHoover Institution found that more anonymous surveys show 50 to 70 percent support for the CCP, much lower than what direct surveys show at above 90 percent.[131][132] The same survey found thatHan Chinese are more supportive of the CCP than areethnic minorities and that minorities tend to conceal their views of the CCP.[132][133]
According to a survey byPew Research Center in 2020, Chinese citizens are among the most optimistic in the world.[134]: 130
Survey results from 2014 to 2020 show no clear alignment along the left-right spectrum or pro-government or anti-government positions. Wealthier and more educated Chinese tend to prefer market liberalization, political democratization, and are less nationalistic, while poorer and less educated citizens show the opposite trend. This may be a reflection of how the former group has benefited more from China's market reforms.[135][136]
Summarizing survey data developed from 2003 to 2020, academic Lan Xiaohuan writes that overall satisfaction is approximately 83% for the central government, 78% for provincial governments, and 70% for county and township governments.[125]: 116 Lan also concludes that the anti-corruption campaign of Xi Jinping was successful in raising public confidence in the ethics of government officials.[125]: 116
The results suggest that when the survey was conducted in June and November 2020 between 50% and 70% of Chinese people supported the party. (This is an upper bound, say the researchers, because concerns about online surveillance may still have spooked some respondents into giving positive responses.)
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