China • Domestic policy • News

What is the political order in China?    

Domestic policy in China is based on the leadership claim of the Chinese Communist Party of China (CPC), which is anchored in the constitution. With 1.4 billion people, the People’s Republic is the most populous country in the world and one of five ruled by a one-party communist system. Along with Vietnam, Laos, Cuba and North Korea. However, China is not communist. The country has a Socialist Market Economy and is listed as a hard autocracy by the Global Democracy Index.     

The CCP is led by the Central Committee. This also determines the composition of the Politburo, which consists of 25 members. They also get to appoint the Politburo Standing Committee (seven members). This is the highest-ranking party organ that is allowed to determine China’s domestic policy. Other political organizations, religious parties, the media or representatives of civil society are not involved in politics.     

What is China’s policy?    

According to its own constitution, China is a country “under the democratic dictatorship of the people.” However, the political leadership has always rejected democracy as understood in the West. The leadership of the Communist Party is elected exclusively by party members. The party maintains a socialist market economy in China with Chinese characteristics. Thus, the People’s Republic does not have communism.   

China is currently pursuing a policy of modernization. This led to poverty being considered overcome at the beginning of 2021. However, only according to the Communist Party’s own definition. Not according to international standards. Fundamental modernization” is to be completed by 2035. This was accompanied domestically by a much more authoritarian and ideology-oriented style of leadership.     

Who is in power in China?    

Xi Jinping has been in power in China since 2012. The “Supreme Leader” has been General Secretary of the Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2012. He has ruled the country as president since 2013. Xi Jinping not only knows how to maintain his power, but also how to expand it. In 2018, for example, the National People’s Congress approved an amendment to the constitution. Since then, state presidents have been allowed to remain in office for longer than two legislative periods. He does not have to fear political competition.    

As much as Xi Jinping is committed to modernizing his country and especially its economy, he also believes that the country’s reform processes since the 1970s have not only had benefits. A moral breakdown of society, corruption and loss of control in many areas of the economy have come to the country as a result of the opening-up process, he says. The collapse of the Soviet Union is a cautionary example. Ideology and discipline are therefore enforced with a correspondingly hard hand.   

What human rights are violated in China? 

Human rights violations occur in China because of the authoritarian leadership. The government violates freedom of speech, press, assembly and communication. Critics of the regime are arrested, the media are controlled and opposition organizations are threatened with draconian punishments. The judiciary’s rulings reflect the will of the political leadership. A fair and independent trial cannot be expected in such cases.   

Religious freedom is also severely restricted in China. For example, anyone who wants to become a member of the Communist Party must be an atheist. If a religious group wants to spread its faith, this can only happen under government control. A population register in China also divides people into urban and rural residents. Migrant workers are considered rural residents and have fewer rights.   

What is not allowed to be done in China?   

The Chinese government takes particularly drastic action against anything that, in its opinion, does not serve the common good. For example, it is strictly forbidden to demand the independence or self-determination of territories. As the cases of Tibet, Taiwan and Hongkong show, for example. It is also forbidden to challenge the Communist Party’s sole claim to leadership. Because of the orientation toward the common good, human rights violations primarily affect minorities.   

A total of 56 ethnic groups live in China. They are allowed to speak their language, teach their culture in school and practice their religion until there are moves for independence or calls for more democracy. The Xinjiang region, where mainly Muslim ethnic groups live, is a monument to this. They are permanently monitored by camera systems and artificial intelligence. Thousands and thousands of people have to perform forced labor in re-education camps. A resettlement program is intended to force Chinese culture on them.   

What is meant by the One-China policy?  

The government understands the One-China policy as the principle that there is only one People’s Republic of China. According to the government in Beijing, this country also includes the island of Taiwan and the former colonial territories of Hongkong (Great Britain, until 1997) and Macau (Portugal, until 1999). For the Communist Party, the One-China policy is a cornerstone of the country’s domestic and foreign policy. Efforts toward independence are not tolerated. Anyone who wants economic and diplomatic relations with China must recognize the One-China policy.   

While Hongkong and Macau are de facto part of China, Taiwan has a special role. Although Taiwan does not officially call itself independent, it acts as such. The background is the Chinese civil war, during which the Kuomintang nationalists fled to the island of Taiwan and henceforth called it the “Republic of China. The communists around Mao Zedong remained on the mainland and founded the People’s Republic of China.   

What about China as a developmental state?    

In the 1980s, political scientist Chalmers Johnson defined China as a developmental state. The latter would have taken on the task of leading their people into modernity in the East Asian countries. This would involve intervention in the economy and rigid control over society. This was also true of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia, which were also autocratic states at the height of their development. At the end of the repressive development policy, however, there was social modernization and democratization. Whether China will really dismantle its authoritarian political apparatus in 2050, the official end of the modernization vision, is completely open.     

In terms of domestic politics, China would also have another role to play, as Professor Thomas Heberer of the University of Duisburg-Essen wrote for the Federal Agency for Civic Education. Unlike in Europe, the state has historically been responsible for moral education in China. Whereas in this country there were churches and a civic culture for this purpose, in the People’s Republic this role fell to the civil service. In fact, Western scholars have also come to the conclusion that a broad majority in China supports modern control mechanisms (Internet control, surveillance) for a moral education process (improving behavior among each other). 

What is the domestic political discourse in China about?   

In China, domestic political discourse is characterized by recurring buzzwords. This is a communication strategy called “tifa” in China. It involves repeating certain buzzwords or “watchwords.” These are signal terms intended to make it clear to the population what political behavior is expected of them at any given moment. The German Institute for International and Security Affairs describes this type of language as “almost mechanical. The use of the words is precisely calculated, it says, and they are not used wastefully.     

China’s domestic policy, like its foreign policy, is guided by the overriding goal of becoming a world power in 2049. An important aspect of this is a modernization of the economy. China should no longer be the workbench of the world, but should produce highly complex and modern goods. The People’s Republic is to become the innovation leader in almost all future technologies.  

China’s Dual Circulation Policy  

A central component of this development is the policy of dual circulation. In other words, the economy of two circuits. China’s domestic economy is to be massively promoted and protected in order to become less dependent on exports. One part of this is the “Made in China 2025” strategy. In this, the Communist Party is primarily concerned with expanding the high-tech industry.   

China’s head of state, Xi Jinping, recently surprised everyone by saying that he wants to make his country climate-neutral by 2060. The current five-year plan provides for the strong promotion of green production and lifestyles. In contrast, however, oil and gas production are also to be pushed forward.   

Domestic policy in China    

An important part of domestic politics in China is the State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC). This is a holding company under whose umbrella all Chinese state-owned companies are united. Although the private sector is also the largest in the economy of the People’s Republic, the state-owned companies take care of central matters such as airlines, electricity supply, mobile communications and raw materials.     

Domestic policy in China must be subordinated to the major goals of modernizing the country. Economic policy plays an important role in this. An authoritarian political apparatus has no regard for the human rights of minorities. These are issues that are also of great importance internationally. All news on China’s domestic politics in German is available from the Table.Media editorial team.