The CCP Position Today is More Secure Than It Was at the Beginning of Reforms in 1978

“The CCP position today is more secure than it was at the beginning of reforms in 1978.” Discuss. n the 19!"s# the CCP ru$e under %ao was $arge$y uncha$$enged. uncha$$enged. &hen %ao dec$ared that “China has stood up” in Tiananmen '(uare in 19)9# it had *ust won a decisi+e war o+er ,%T# winning popu$ar support. n the -"s and 7"s# %ao $ed China into a series series of econom economic# ic# po$it po$itica ica$$ and humani humanitar tarian ian dis disast asters ers with with the reat reat /eap /eap 0orward 0orward and Cu$tura$ e+o$ution. 2n estimated 3" to !"mi$$ion $i+es were $ost# a$ong with the who$esa$e destruction of Chinese traditions and cu$ture by the ed uards. Deng Deng tried tried to rest restor ore e CCP4s CCP4s $egiti $egitimac macy y with with mar5e mar5ett refor reforms ms starti starting ng in 1978. 1978. 6owe+er# reforms brought high ination and ca$$s for democracy that $ed to the Tiananmen Tiananmen ncident in 1989# near$y sounding CCP4s demise. 'ti$$ the party sur+i+ed. 2$though it faces go+ernance crisis today#  thin5 ei*ing has pro+en to be +ery resi resi$ie $ient nt and adapta adaptab$e b$e in go+er go+ernan nance. ce. 'ince 'ince refor reform# m# the the CCP has posit positi+e i+e$y $y transformed China4s into a sustained high growth country and is s$ow$y returning it to its strong nation status. CCP faces faces mu$tip mu$tip$e $e cha$$e cha$$eng nges es such such as the $oss $oss of ideo$o ideo$ogy gy and a party party fu$$ fu$$ of contradictions. contradictions. nder :iang ;emin# capita$ists are a$$owed to *oin the CCP# a socia$ist party party.. n <""7# <""7# CCP passed passed the Prope Propert rty y /aw# /aw# which which prote protects cts pri+a pri+ate te prope property rty ownershi ownership. p. ncreasi ncreasing$y ng$y## the party party has $ost its %ar=ism %ar=ism>/en >/eninis inism>%ao m>%ao ;e Dong Thoughts ideo$ogica$ roots and in the face of its many contradictions. contradictions. 'ince Tiananmen Tiananmen incident# the party recogni?ed recogni?ed that if it wants to continue to ha+e the $egitimacy to ru$e# a modern +ersion of the “mandate of hea+en”# it must de$i+er resu resu$ts $ts.. ei*in ei*ing g contin continues ues to ta5e ta5e a practi practica ca$$ appro approach ach to refor reforms. ms. Chang Changes es to property $aw and admitting capita$ists ha+e won the support for reform and boost thei theirr own own powe powerr. The The part party y is now now su subs bsti titu tuti ting ng the the trad tradit itio iona na$$ +a$u +a$ues es of Confucianism to @$$ the +oid $eft by %ar=ism>/eninism. 'econdary schoo$ sy$$abus now inc$udes Confucius teachings and e+en 6u4s harmonious society nationa$ po$icy is based based on Confuc Confucius ius ideas ideas.. Confuc Confucius ius teach teaching ings s wi$$ wi$$ a$so a$so act act as mora$ mora$ ba$$as ba$$astt against the e=cesses of the mar5et economy. These are positi+e de+e$opments for Chin Chines ese e soci societ ety y as a who$ who$e. e. The The part party y has has mo+e mo+ed d away away from from ideo ideo$o $ogy gy and and tota$itarianism before 1978 to softer human centered approach under the 6u &en administration. 2$$ these changes though contradictory suggest that the party is adaptab$e and ta5es a practica$ approach to go+ernance. &e can witness the sense of unison between party and peop$e in the 'ichuan earth(ua5e. earth(ua5e. The western democratic +iew argues that go+ernance go+ernance degenerate when power is 5ept by a few e$ites# such as in ndonesia. %any peop$e ha+e argued that China needs po$itica$ reform to catch up with economic reform. %any ha+e a$so predicted its fa$$s for decades. ei*ing consensus suggests the Chinese mode$ of authoritarian po$iti po$itica$ ca$ contr contro$ o$ combin combined ed with with capita capita$is $istt econom economic ic growt growth. h. 'tabi$ 'tabi$ity ity is more more important than democracy as proposed in the western mode$. &e can argue that the western mode$ may not necessari$y wor5 for China. To be ob*ecti+e# ei*ing has not been stagnant in po$itica$ reform. t is ma5ing sma$$ steps in that direction. To

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pre+ent a return to strong man po$itics in %ao and Deng era# no top party cadre can ser+e more than < @+e year terms. The party has recent$y instituted intra part reform that p$aces more emphasis on competence and performance rather than persona$ $oya$ty. 'o we see the ne=t generation $eader Ai :inping was se$ected by +otes rather than appointed by the current $eader. The new generation $eader Ai :inping was se$ected by +otes rather than appointed by the current current $eader. $eader. The new generation cadres# most$y se$ected based on merits# are we$$ tra+e$ed and mar5et sa++y. Today# oday# the senior senior communist communist party party cadres cadres are we$$ trained trained and (ua$i@ed (ua$i@ed engineers# doctors and $awyers. %ar5et reforms reforms ha+e bene@tted many but a$$owed a sma$$ group to bene@t the most through their po$itica$ connections. Bndemic corruption and co$$usion among CCP cadres is a deep source of resentment among citi?ens. ei*ing and Chinese society in genera$ genera$ practices practices a patronag patronage e system# system# where where pri+i$ege pri+i$eges s are gi+en to fa+ored fa+ored groups. ei*ing appoints most of its communist party e=ecuti+es to state>owned enterprises. These ru$ing e$ite can then trade their po$itica$ connection with wea$th. The gap between between the rich and and the poor has has grown +ery signi@cant$y signi@cant$y.. 1 percent percent of the househo$ds contro$ contro$ -"percent of China4s wea$th. The probabi$ities of ocia$s getting caught and punished are both sma$$. 2t the ministry $e+e$# the chance of corrupt ocia$s getting caught is about 1 in 1". The party a$so contro$s the media on reporting party corruption cases and Chinese courts are not independent enough. Corruption Corruption is one area that serious$y cha$$enges its eecti+eness in ru$ing. The party recogni?es the e=tent of the prob$em and how it cha$$enges its $egitimacy. t has arrested and e+en e=ecuted high $e+e$ ocia$s on corruption charges. n <""-# the former head of drug safety was sentenced to death for appro+ing unsafe unsafe drugs. The CCP discip$ined more than 11!"""members for corruption and re$ated +io$ations $ast year and turned many o+er to the courts for prosecution. prosecution.

China has been under in+esting in pub$ic ser+ices such as hea$thcare# education and housing. 0or e=amp$e# a <""- sur+ey re+ea$s that ha$f of the Chinese peop$e refuse that ha$f of the Chinese peop$e refuse to see a doctor when i$$ and 3"percent refuse to go the hospita$ due to high costs. The pri+ati?ed education mar5et has increased schoo$ fees but with no *ob guarantees as the number of graduates has increased. n <""-# ha$f of the uni+ersity graduates cou$d cou$d not get a *ob# contributing to the new urban urban unemp$oyed. unemp$oyed. The progres progress s of reform reform has created created a widening widening wea$th gap between better>educated# urban residents and farmers# migrant wor5ers and the e$der$y who @nd it increasing$y dicu$t to cope with a swift$y changing society. These a$ong with rura$ po+erty# en+ironmenta$ en+ironmenta$ degradation and rising



impro+e en+ironmenta$ contro$. The party has proposed medica$ insurance scheme to co+er both urban and rura$ areas. n their !year p$ans# ei*ing has a$$ocated ma*or reso resour urces ces to spread spread the wea$th wea$th in$an in$and d from from coasta coasta$$ regio regions ns though though regio regiona$ na$ programs programs $i5e the de+e$opment of the western region and the rede+e$opment of the northeast and industria$ be$t. The part has a$so abo$ished agricu$ture ta= and is committed to pro+iding free education to a$$ chi$dren in the @rst 9years. ut often these measures may not get enforced when it reaches the poorer pro+inces. There is no indication that CCP is $oosening the grip of its contro$. B+ery year# ei*ing spends more money on the P2P than the *udiciary system. 2fter Tiananmen# ei* ei*in ing g made made sur sure that that P/2 was was ne+e ne+err ca$$ ca$$ed ed in agai again n to supp supprress ess peop peop$e $e4s 4s mo+ement. nstead so$diers from the downsi?ed P/2 were transferred to the P2P. P2P has shown itse$f capab$e of dispersing any many such mass incidents and rebe$$ions. The great @rewa$$ of China ensures that ma*ority of the Chinese recei+e on$y on$y cens censor ored ed info inforrmati mation on.. ei* ei*in ing g cont contrro$s o$s a$$ a$$ info inforrmati mation on repor eporte ted d and and disseminated in China. t has e+en been ab$e to co opt 0oreign 'er+ice pro+iders to he$p it in its censoring eorts. Despite promises for democrati?ation# CCP has on$y a$$o a$$owe wed d +i$$ +i$$ag age e $e+e $e+e$$ e$ec e$ecti tion ons. s. The The resu$ esu$ts ts of whic which h are are mi= mi=ed. ed. Post ost ei* ei*in ing g E$ympics# the Chinese nationa$ pride is an a$$ time high and urban Chinese ha+e been +ery supporti+e of the party. 2 genera$ dichotomy of support for ei*ing4s $egitimacy is rura$ +ersus urban midd$e c$ass. 2s China moderni?es ei*ing gets its supp suppor ortt from from the the grow growin ing g base base of urba urban n midd midd$e $e inco income me grou group. p. Desp Despit ite e the the draconia draconian n contro$ contro$ o+er media and informat information# ion# internet internet and phones mean that information wi$$ ow through. Chinese society is becoming more open and Chinese citi?ens are becoming better tra+e$$ed. ts citi?ens are now more wi$$ing to as5 for their rights or to go on demonstrations. demonstrations. n <""7# groups of 'hanghai peop$e went on a street protest to demand for a re+iew of bui$ding a high speed train in their neighborhood. 'uch socia$ dynamism continues to force ei*ing to reach out to its peop$e and carry on with its reforms to e=tend its $egitimacy.

&hi$e its po$itica$ reforms are +ery gradua$# the 6u>&en administration appears to be in touch with the peop$e4s needs. The party has been eecti+e at go+ernance# but faces se+ere cha$$enges in maintaining growth and stabi$ity and ridding itse$f of corruption. ei*ing has a+oided the imp$osion suered by 'o+iet nion and can a+oid another Tiananmen because of its strong security apparatus. 'ince *oining &TE# it has accumu$ated huge reser+es and en*oys doub$e digit growth. Today CCP is in a much much better better position position to steer steer the economy economy and face down down cha$$e cha$$enge nges s interna$$y and e=terna$$y.

The CCP Position Today is More Secure Than It Was at the Beginning of Reforms in 1978

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