- Power to making decisions regarding major issues. The NPC is entitled by
the Constitution to approve the establishment of provinces, autonomous regions,
and municipalities directly under the central government, decide on the
establishment of special administrative regions and the systems to be instituted
there, and decide on questions of war and peace, and other major issues. Issues
that are significant to the national economy and social development, such as the
Three Gorges Project, can only be implemented after a resolution has been made
by the NPC. In recent years, the people's congresses and their standing
committees have exercised their power to make decisions on urban construction
planning, environmental protection and other major issues in their own areas.
Practice has proved that the system of people's congress is a fundamental
political system that is in accord with the national conditions of China,
embodies the nature of the socialist state of China and ensures the people to be
the masters of the country. It has taken root among the masses and, therefore,
is full of vigor; it represents the common will and fundamental interests of the
people, and motivates the whole people to plunge in state construction as the
masters of the state, guarantees that state organs operate in a coordinated and
efficient way, and safeguards national unification and ethnic unity. Through the
system of people's congress, the Chinese people of all ethnic groups hold the
future and destiny of the state and the nation firmly in their own hands.
IV. The System of Multi-Party Cooperation and Political Consultation
Under the Leadership of the CPC
What kind of political party system to adopt is determined by the nature of
the country, the national conditions, as well as the demands of national
interests and social development. The political party system China has adopted
is multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of
the CPC, which is different from both the two-party or multi-party competition
system of Western countries and the one-party system practiced in some other
countries. This system was established and has been developed during the
long-term practice of the CPC and democratic parties in the course of the
Chinese revolution, construction and reform. It is a result of the united
struggle of the CPC and the democratic parties through thick and thin and is a
basic political system in contemporary China.
There are nine political parties in China at present. Besides the CPC, there
are the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (founded in 1948), the
China Democratic League (founded in 1941), the China National Democratic
Construction Association (founded in 1945), the China Association for Promoting
Democracy (founded in 1945), the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party
(founded in 1930), the China Zhi Gong Dang (founded in 1925), the Jiusan Society
(founded in 1945) and the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League (founded in
1947). Since most of these political parties were founded during the War of
Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945) and the War of Liberation
(1946-1949) in the pursuit of national liberation and democracy of the people,
they were given the joint name of "democratic parties." In present-day China,
these democratic parties are political alliances of the socialist working
people, builders of socialism and patriots who support socialism, among whom
they have maintained ties respectively. Another important force in China's
political life is the personages without party affiliation, or people who have
not joined any political party but have certain public influence coupled with
positive contributions. The majority are intellectuals.
The salient characteristics of China's political party system are:
multi-party cooperation under the leadership of the CPC, with the CPC holding
power and the democratic parties participating fully in state affairs. These
democratic parties are close friends of the CPC. They unite and cooperate with
the latter in their participation in state affairs, instead of being opposition
parties or out-of-power parties. They participate in the exercise of state
power, the consultation in fundamental state policies and the choice of state
leaders, the administration of state affairs, and the formulation and
implementation of state policies, laws and regulations.
In China, the CPC and the democratic parties share the same goal of struggle.
The Chinese Constitution states that "under the leadership of the Communist
Party of China multi-party cooperation and the political consultative system
will continue to exist and develop for a long time to come." The cooperation
between the CPC and the democratic parties is based on the basic principle of
"long-term coexistence, mutual supervision, treating each other with sincerity
and sharing each other's weal and woe." The national conditions and the nature
of the state determine that the leadership of the CPC is the first and foremost
prerequisite and fundamental guarantee for the multi-party cooperation. At the
same time, such a leadership is not one of simple monopoly, but one of political
leadership, that is, leadership in terms of political principle, political
orientation, and major policies and programs. Both the CPC and the democratic
parties take the Constitution as the basic norms of their conduct, and shoulder
the responsibility to uphold the dignity of the Constitution and ensure its
implementation.
