How does the Chinese Communist Party govern the country?

Chapter 9

China is a country with thousands of years of cultural tradition, and the image of China is different in the eyes of different people.In the eyes of explorer Marco Polo, it is a country full of wealth and mystery; in the eyes of philosopher Russell, it is an empire full of wisdom and culture; in the eyes of scientist Needham, it is a country with advanced technology but backward agriculture. ? ?But none of them denies that China is a unified country with a long tradition of centralized power.Since ancient times, those in power have always considered how to properly handle the relationship between the central government and the local government.As the ruling party, the Communist Party of China is also working hard for this.

On the eve of the founding of New China, the most important thing before Mao Zedong and other leaders of the Communist Party of China was what kind of China to build and what kind of state structure to adopt.They set their sights on their neighbors, the Soviet Union, and were ready to ask them for advice on how to govern the country.

During the revolutionary years, the Chinese Communist Party had some considerations about whether to establish a federal system or a unitary system.The background is: after the First World War, a wave of national self-determination appeared in the world, and the Federation of Soviet Socialist Republics was established after the October Revolution in Russia.Affected by this, the CCP's early program emphasized the self-determination of all ethnic groups in the country, and put forward the slogan of "establishing the Federal Republic of China".The party constitution adopted by the Seventh National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1945 also required Communists to "strive for the establishment of an independent, free, democratic, united and prosperous new democratic federal republic that is an alliance of all revolutionary classes and a free union of all nationalities." In January 1946, the Chinese Communist Party delegation put forward the "Draft Program for Peaceful National Construction" at the Political Consultative Conference in Chongqing, proposing that "the authority of the central government and local governments should be equal, so as to save the province from establishing its own provincial constitution." Obviously, the "provincial constitution" is a typical example. federalism clause.As the preparations for the establishment of a new China were intensified, what kind of state structure to adopt became a major issue that had to be resolved.

After living in Zhongnanhai, Mao Zedong and other leaders sought opinions from people in the party who were familiar with and presided over ethnic affairs for a long time on whether to implement a federal system.Li Weihan, head of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China at the time, conducted a serious comparative study of the ethnic issues in China and the Soviet Union according to Mao Zedong's request. In September 1949, during the CPPCC plenary meeting held to prepare for the establishment of a new China, Zhou Enlai raised the question of "whether our country is a multi-ethnic federal system" to all representatives, and proposed that "the name of our country should be the Chinese People's Republic of China". A republic, not a Federation".After extensive consultations, the Common Program adopted in 9 formally proposed the establishment of a unitary republic. The Constitution enacted in 1949 also clearly stipulates: "The People's Republic of China is a unified multi-ethnic country." The implementation of a unitary system and centralized power system is in line with China's historical traditions. Successive governments, striving to maintain a unified country and a unified culture across a vast and diverse subcontinent, became adept at central control and large-scale bureaucratic rule; the Chinese Communists inherited the great legacy of unified governance from Beijing. Tradition.” At the same time, the implementation of unitary system and centralized power system is also an effective way of governing the country to overcome the overall social crisis formed in China in the past 1954 years.

The main characteristics of the unitary system in China are as follows: First, in terms of the legal system, the country has only one constitution and a legal system based on the constitution. It is the basic state policy of the country to maintain the authority of the constitution and the unity of the legal system.Second, in terms of state institutions, there is only one central state organ system including the highest state power organ, the highest state administrative organ, and the highest state judicial organ.Third, in terms of the relationship between the central government and the local government, whether it is an ordinary province, county, or township administrative region, or an ethnic autonomous region, or a special administrative region, they are all local administrative regions under the leadership of the Central People's Government and cannot be independent from the central government. ; Taiwan is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China. In order to effectively curb the attempts of "Taiwan independence elements" to separate Taiwan from China, the Third Session of the Tenth National People's Congress held in March 2005 passed the "Anti-Secession Law".Fourth, in terms of foreign relations, the People's Republic of China is a unified subject of international law. Citizens only have the nationality of the People's Republic of China, and China does not allow dual nationality.

Today, China's unitary system has undergone many changes. In the 20s, Hong Kong and Macao returned to the motherland one after another, and the system of special administrative regions was implemented in these regions. Hong Kong and Macao maintained a high degree of autonomy.This is the result of the continuous adjustment of China's state structure.

The early determination and relative stability of the state structure laid the political foundation for China's future development.

In July 2012, Tung Chee-hwa, China’s first Hong Kong chief executive, said in an interview with Hong Kong’s Phoenix Satellite Television that, recalling the National Day on October 7, 1949, we Chinese went through a world war, and finally the new China was established, but the new China was established At that moment, everything is waiting to be done.

Looking at it today, a country with the second largest economy in the world, especially in the past 30 years, has really improved a lot. During this process, we have also learned from Japan, followed Germany, especially the United States, and imitated In the Soviet Union, it didn’t work. In the end, we blazed our own path. This path is the political model we are taking now. The leadership of the Communist Party is crucial in this process.

(End of this chapter)