China's foreign policy has recently been rocked by two scandals involving its top diplomats. Now Liu Haixing is replacing the dismissed Liu Jianchao at the head of the CP's International Department – and has a chance of becoming foreign minister.
By Andreas Landwehr
The Communist Party of China is the ruling single party of the People's Republic. Its working methods are considered totalitarian and there are no opposition parties. All the news on the Chinese Communist Party is available from Table.Briefings. What is China's policy? The Communist Party of China has sole claim to leadership in the People's Republic. Opposition parties are banned. All media, political organizations, interest groups and religious groups must subordinate their goals to the Communist Party. To this end, the party uses a massive surveillance and censorship apparatus. China is therefore considered an autocratic one-party state. In the global democracy index, China was ranked 172nd out of 176 in 2020 and is listed as a hard autocracy, with the Communist Party's claim to leadership even enshrined in the country's constitution. The Central Committee (CC) is at the head of the party. The CC elects the Politburo and the Standing Committee. The Politburo has 23 members, while the Standing Committee sets policy guidelines, is considered the highest party organ and has only seven members. Xi Jinping is General Secretary of the Communist Party, chair of the Military Commission and President of China. Is China a socialist state? In its constitution, the People's Republic stipulates that China is a country "under the democratic dictatorship of the people". However, since its foundation on Oct. 1, 1949, the country has been ruled exclusively by the Communist Party. Political goals are determined exclusively by the party. There is no separation of powers in China, which rejects Western-style democracy. For this reason, there are no free elections in the People's Republic. Only the party members are allowed to decide on their leaders. After all, with around 95 million members, the Chinese Communist Party is the second largest party in the world after the right-wing conservative Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India. Does China have communism? China does not have communism, but a socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics. The name of the Chinese Unity Party is therefore misleading. The People's Republic is trying to combine private companies, state-owned companies and the planned economy into a single market. The private sector accounts for around 70% of China's economic output. However, many private entrepreneurs run companies that are state-owned. In addition, the Communist Party has control over important industries and economic sectors. The state sector is dominated by large-scale industries. The defense industry, energy production, oil and petrochemicals, telecommunications, coal mining, aviation and shipping are all under state control. However, most state-owned companies must operate according to the capitalist model and generate profits. They therefore have a high degree of autonomy and are allowed to elect their own CEOs. Unlike private companies, however, these firms are bailed out by the state in the event of an economic crisis. What is communist about China? There is nothing communist about the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics. Prices are not fixed, nor are means of production nationalized, and the principle of plan fulfillment has also been overturned. Although there is a five-year plan that formulates strategies and growth plans, the large private sector makes it impossible to set clear targets. Duan Zhongqiao, a philosopher from Beijing, believes that the socialist market economy is a precursor to a planned economy. This can only be established if there is already a modern and functioning market economy, as China's state structure follows the model of the former Soviet Union. The Communist Party has extensive powers of intervention over local governments. Individual rights – including human rights – are also ignored with reference to the well-being of the collective. However, these points are not characteristics of communism. Who introduced communism in China? In 1919, the Communist Party in Russia founded the Communist International (Comintern). An association of communist parties. Grigori Woitinski, a Russian politician, then made contact with Professors Li Dazhao and Chen Duxiu in China. Together with Woitinski, they formed a party cell in Shanghai and Beijing. By 1921, further branches had been established throughout China, but the founding of the Communist Party of China in 1921 can be traced back to the branch in Shanghai. With money from the Comintern. In addition to Mao Zedong, the founding members included Zhang Guotao, Li Hanjun, Li Da and Chen Gongbo. The long-term goal of the CP was to establish a communist and classless society in China. How did the Chinese Communist Party come to power? In 1927, a civil war began in China that was to last until 1949. Interrupted only by a standstill agreement due to the Japanese invasion. In the Chinese Civil War, the ruling Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek fought against the Chinese Communist Party under Mao Zedong for political leadership of the country. The Kuomintang fled to the island of Formosa and founded the Republic of China on Taiwan, where the Communist Party founded the People's Republic of China on Oct. 1, 1949. As early as 1957, however, there was a break between the Chinese Communist Party and the CPSU in Russia. As Russia's head of state, Nikita Khrushchev pushed ahead with de-Stalinization. The CP therefore rejected the leadership role of the CPSU. From then on, Maoism interpreted Marxism-Leninism differently. Cultural Revolution under Mao Zedong In 1966, Mao Zedong initiated the Cultural Revolution. A political campaign whose aim should have been to combat grievances in the country. Many Communist Party politicians were replaced. Only around a third of them remained in office in the first year of the Cultural Revolution. Capitalists and revisionists were to be exposed. Children and young people were educated in the class struggle and a personality cult was established around Mao Zedong, giving rise to the Red Guards. They had set themselves the task of destroying the four relics – old thoughts, old culture, old customs and habits. This led to the Red Terror. Religious sites were destroyed, books burned, people terrorized. The Cultural Revolution has gone down in China's history as "ten years of chaos". The Cultural Revolution only ended with the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. Modernization of the Communist Party in China Hua Guofeng succeeded Mao Zedong in 1976 and wanted to continue his policies with a firm hand. His political opponent was Deng Xiaoping. He wanted to correct the mistakes of the Cultural Revolution and implement a policy of opening up. This led to a minor coup in 1978. Thanks to supporters and allies within the Communist Party, Deng Xiaoping was able to rise to the position of party leader and implement his policy of "reform and opening up", the central building blocks of which were the Four Modernizations. The first point was the restructuring of agriculture. Farmers were freed from quotas and fixed prices and were given their own plots of land. Between 1981 and 1984, farmers increased their harvests by nine percent. In addition, farmers were able to specialize and grow the crops they deemed appropriate. Communist Party: economic upturn and the end of communism The Communist Party also applied this principle of self-responsibility to cities. State-owned enterprises were restructured accordingly and had to generate profits. Private urban enterprises were also permitted. The third building block was opening up to the outside world. China established diplomatic relations with the USA. Foreign investment was also permitted with immediate effect. With his reforms, Deng Xiaoping ushered in the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics. The opening and liberalization continued until 2005. The People's Republic experienced an unprecedented upswing under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping. However, the principles of the Communist Party remained intact. Above all, the absolute claim to leadership. Criticizing the party leadership is a crime. When a democracy movement consisting mainly of students demanded reforms in the '80s, a large demonstration on Tiananmen Square in 1989 was brutally crushed. Communist Party under Xi Jinping In 2012, Xi Jinping became General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. He also became president in 2013. Under him, reforms or relaxation seem unthinkable. Because of his brutal treatment of opposition members, his leadership style is often compared to that of Mao Zedong. His task now is to initiate the final phase of modernization. The greatest challenges are an enormously unequal distribution of wealth, a blatant lack of resources and massive environmental problems.2049, when the People's Republic of China celebrates its centenary, the country should be the world's largest economic power if the Communist Party has its way. The country also wants to be a major political power. In view of the challenges mentioned above, this leap is again only likely to be achieved through extensive reforms. Many observers doubt whether this is possible with Xi Jinping at the helm. News about the Chinese Communist Party Whether it is a question of social change, challenges in environmental and economic policy or human rights. The Communist Party in China is closely monitored internationally. Because of its enormous global influence, but also because of its authoritarian leadership style.
