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China is a one-party state ruled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Despite this, eight subservient political parties officially exist within the CCP's United Front similar to the popular fronts of former Cold War-era Eastern European countries such as the National Front of the German Democratic Republic, or the modern-day Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea in North Korea.
Under the one country, two systems principle, the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, which were previously colonies of European powers, operate under a different political system to the rest of China. Currently, both Hong Kong and Macau possess multi-party systems that were introduced just before the handover of the territories to China.[1]
Relationship with the Chinese Communist Party
In practice, only one political party holds effective power at the national level, namely the CCP. Its dominance is such that China is effectively a one-party state.[2] The eight minor parties are part of the United Front and also take part in the political system, but they have no power at a national level.[3][2] The minor parties must accept the "leading role" of the CCP as a condition of their continued existence.[4] According to Human Rights Watch, these parties "play an advisory rather than an oppositional role".[5] The Chinese political system allows for the participation of some members of the eight minor parties and other non-CCP members in the National People's Congress (NPC), but they are vetted by the CCP.[5] According to Aaron Friedberg, these parties' "purpose is to create the illusion of inclusiveness and representation."[6]
List of parties
Legal parties
Alliance | Name (abbreviation) |
Date founded | Ideology | Members | Current leader | NPC seats | SCNPC seats | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 中国共产党 (中共) |
1921 07 01, 101 years ago | Socialism with Chinese characteristics | 95,150,000 | General Secretary Xi Jinping |
2,091 / 2,980
|
118 / 175
| |||
China Zhi Gong Party (CZGP) 中国致公党 (致公党) |
1925 10 10, 96 years ago | 48,000 | Chairman Prof. Wan Gang |
38 / 2,980
|
3 / 175
| ||||
Chinese Peasants' and Workers' Democratic Party (CPWDP) 中国农工民主党 (农工党) |
1930 08 09, 92 years ago | Socialism with Chinese characteristics | 145,000 | Chairman Prof. Chen Zhu |
54 / 2,980
|
7 / 175
| |||
China Democratic League (CDL) 中国民主同盟 (民盟) |
1941 03 19, 81 years ago | Socialism with Chinese characteristics | 282,000 | Chairman Prof. Ding Zhongli |
57 / 2,980
|
9 / 175
| |||
Jiusan Society (JS) 九三学社 |
1945 09 03, 77 years ago | Socialism with Chinese characteristics | 167,218 | Chairman Prof. Wu Weihua |
63 / 2,980
|
4 / 175
| |||
China National Democratic Construction Association (CNDCA) 中国民主建国会 (民建) |
1945 12 16, 76 years ago | Socialism with Chinese characteristics | 170,000 | Chairman Prof. Hao Mingjin |
57 / 2,980
|
3 / 175
| |||
China Association for Promoting Democracy (CAPD) 中国民主促进会 (民进) |
1945 12 30, 76 years ago | Socialism with Chinese characteristics | 156,808 | Chairman Prof. Cai Dafeng |
58 / 2,980
|
7 / 175
| |||
Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League (TDSGL) 台湾民主自治同盟 (台盟) |
1947 11 12, 74 years ago | 3,000 | Chairwoman Su Hui |
13 / 2,980
|
3 / 175
| ||||
Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) 中国国民党革命委员会 (民革) |
1948 01 01, 74 years ago | 127,930 | Chairman Prof. Wan Exiang |
44 / 2,980
|
6 / 175
| ||||
Total United Front (including independents) 统一战线 | 2,980 / 2,980
|
175 / 175
|
Banned parties
The following parties formed in China are (or have previously been) banned by the government:
- The Communist Party of China (Marxist–Leninist) (Chinese: 中国共产党 (马列)) is an anti-revisionist communist party founded in 1976 by several Maoist rebel factions of the Red Guards in Wuhan, Hubei. They believed it was illegal to arrest the Gang of Four and that the new leadership of the CCP is revisionist and unlawful. They were suppressed after attempts at an armed revolt failed in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Canton and Yunnan.[7]
- The Communist Party of China (Workers' and Peasants' Liberation Army) (Chinese: 中国共产党 (工农解放军)) is an anti-revisionist communist party founded in 1976 by a Maoist rebel faction of the Red Guards in Fujian. They used the old fortifications built during the Chinese Civil War and organized a partisan army named the "Workers' and Peasants' Liberation Army".[8] They announced that the new leadership of the CCP is revisionist and called for uprising and reestablished the Party Central Committee.[9] Their activities lasted until 1978.
- The Democracy Party of China (Chinese: 中国民主党) was founded by participants of the 1978 Democracy Wall movement and the 1989 democracy movement. Founded in 1998, it was declared illegal that same year.[10][11]
- The Union of Chinese Nationalists (Chinese: 中国泛蓝联盟) supports the ideals of the Pan-Blue Coalition in Taiwan. As such, its goals include establishing a liberal democracy in China, based on Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People. The group originated from an internet forum discussion in August 2004. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said it is an illegal organization on April 25, 2007.[12]
- The New Democracy Party of China (Chinese: 中国新民党) was founded by Guo Quan in Nanjing at the end of 2007.[10][11]
- The Maoist Communist Party of China (Chinese: 中国毛泽东主义共产党) is an anti-revisionist communist party founded in 2008. The party seeks to initiate a "second socialist revolution" to re-establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. It has been subject to crackdowns by the Chinese government.[13]
- The Zhi Xian Party (Chinese: 至宪党), also known as the Chinese Constitutionalist Party in English. Founded by the supporters of Bo Xilai[14][15] in 2013 and banned in December of that year.[16][17]
- The Chinese Proletarian Revolutionary Central Committee (Chinese: 中国无产阶级革命中央委员会, abbreviated Chinese: 中革中央) is an anti-revisionist communist party founded in the 2010s by Zhou Qun (Chinese: 周群). The party leaders were members of a rebel faction (Chinese: 造反派) during the Cultural Revolution, and the committee core consisted of dozens of laid-off workers (Chinese: 大下岗) in Jiangsu. It was suppressed after the police found their "provocative" online activities.
Historical parties
The Republic of China (ROC) was founded by the Kuomintang (KMT) leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen in 1912. The Kuomintang's prior revolutionary political group, the Revive China Society, was founded on 24 November 1894. It later merged with various other revolutionary groups to form the Tongmenghui in 1905. In August 1911, the Tongmenghui further merged with various other political parties in Beijing to form the KMT. In July 1914, the KMT re-organized itself as the Chinese Revolutionary Party in Tokyo, Japan. In 1919, the party officially renamed itself as Kuomintang of China, which literally translates to Chinese Nationalist Party.[18] It was China's first major political party. In 1921, the CCP was founded by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao in Shanghai as a study society and an informal network. Slowly, the CCP began to grow. These were the two major political parties in China during the time when the ROC ruled mainland China from 1911 to 1949.
During the Chinese Civil War, under the leadership of the CCP the People's Liberation Army defeated the National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang in 1949. The Kuomintang had no choice but to leave mainland China and relocate to the island of Taiwan in 1945 from Japan, then fled there with the aim to retake mainland China and retained the name Republic of China even though the CCP claimed that it had ceased to exist after 1949.
- Kuomintang
- United Republic Party
- Unity Party
- Progressive Party
- Democratic Party
- Republican Party
- China Democratic Socialist Party
- Chinese Youth Party
- People Constitution Party
- Association of Political Friendship
- China Socialism Party
- Citizen Party
- Dazhong Party
- Chongqing Communist Party
- Oriental Communist Party
- Chinese Youth Communist Party
- Productive People's Party
References
- ^ Buckley, Roger (1997). Hong Kong: The Road to 1997. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-46979-1.
- ^ a b Liao, Xingmiu; Tsai, Wen-Hsuan (2019). "Clientelistic State Corporatism: The United Front Model of "Pairing-Up" in the Xi Jinping Era". China Review. 19 (1): 31–56. ISSN 1680-2012. JSTOR 26603249.
- ^ Kesselman, Mark (2012-01-01). Introduction to Politics of the Developing World: Political Challenges and Changing Agendas. Cengage Learning. p. 324. ISBN 978-1-133-71258-9.
- ^ Tselichtchev, Ivan (2011-12-27). China Versus the West: The Global Power Shift of the 21st Century. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-82975-2. OCLC 883259659.
- ^ a b "China: Nipped In The Bud - Background". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Friedberg, Aaron L. (2022). Getting China Wrong. Cambridge. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-509-54512-4. OCLC 1310457810.
- ^ Su, Yuan (2017). 1978-1979: Diary. China Cultural Communication Press.
- ^ "'四人帮'在福建打游击". 展望. 01. 1977-01-01.
- ^ "福建四人帮战讯". 展望. 1977-12-01.
- ^ a b Gittings, John (2005). The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market. Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-19-280612-2.
- ^ a b Goldsmith, Jack L.; and Wu, Tim (2006). Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515266-2.
- ^ "国台办称中国泛蓝联盟是非法组织" [The Taiwan Affairs Office said the Union of Chinese Nationalists is an illegal organization.]. ifeng.com (in Chinese (China)). 25 April 2007.
- ^ Demick, Barbara (20 March 2012). "China puts a stop to Maoist revival". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
- ^ Moore, Malcolm. "Former teacher names Bo Xilai chairman of 'new political party'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ Benjamin Kang Lim and Ben Blanchard (9 November 2013). "Bo Xilai supporters launch new political party in China". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
- ^ Shao, Heng. "Bizarre China Report: The Grand Wedding, Power Play & Smog-Inspired Creativity". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2018-01-27. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
- ^ "北京民政局发出取缔"至宪党"决定". Deutsche Welle. 14 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 May 2019. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ "- 中國國民黨全球資訊網 KMT Official Website". 中國國民黨全球資訊網. Archived from the original on 2012-08-23. Retrieved 2018-08-03.