This post is a review and reflection upon a Congressional Research Report that was presented to Congress two years ago in March of 2013. The report can be found here: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41007.pdf.
The report is presented to Congressional members and staff with the hopes that it will educate them as to make more informed decisions when considering US-Chinese relations.
As we have discussed in class the report begins with a description of the CCP, a regime run by “a committee of seven”, is one party, and uses the army as its “right hand”.
The report then proceeds to describe the policies of the party that suggests corruption is rampant on local levels, but reforms are in place to better stimulate economic growth. One problem outlined in the report is a concept known as “Stove Piping” where “individual ministries and other hierarchies share information up and down the chain of command, but not horizontally with each other”. This has resulted in several committees acting to resolve issues without cooperation, a lack of jurisdiction, and oversight such as the lack of any council similar to our NSC.
Additionally, the rule of law is more a “rule by law” where the party is unwilling to follow its laws but enforces them for others to submit. Additionally, with the corruption, this means that legal action can only be taken against the party or a member of party with the approval of the party.
While these are basic generalizations about politics in China, they are the building blocks that help paint the complex portrait that is the Chinese political system.
Help Received: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R41007.pdf
-Jonathan Hald