Communist Party of China
(: Zhōnggúo Gòngchǎndǎng) is the ruling party of the People's_Republic_of_China. The party was founded in 1921, and fought the Kuomintang during the Chinese_Civil_War. With more than 63 million members, the Communist Party of China (CPC; CCP for the unofficial name Chinese Communist Party; or the somewhat derogatory Chicom used mainly by ''The_China_Post'') is the largest political party in the world. Authoritarian in structure and ideology, it continues to dominate the government. In periods of relative liberalization, the influence of people and organizations outside the formal party structure has tended to increase, particularly in the economic realm. This phenomenon is apparent today in the rapidly developing coastal region. Nevertheless, in all-important governmental institutions in the PRC, party committees work to see that party and state policy guidance is followed and that non-party members do not create autonomous organizations that could challenge party rule. Party control is tightest in government offices and in urban economic, industrial, and cultural settings; it is considerably looser in the rural areas, where the majority of the people live.Organization
The party's organizational structure was destroyed during the Cultural_Revolution and rebuilt afterwards by Deng_Xiaoping. Theoretically, the party's highest body is the National_Congress_of_the_Communist_Party_of_China, which meets at least once every 5 years. The primary organs of power in the Communist Party which are listed in the party constitution include:Policies
In the 16th National Congress in November, 2002, President_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China and General Secretary Jiang_Zemin announced several important policy changes as part of the his theory of the Three_represents. China would remain "a people's democratic dictatorship" under the control of the Communist Party; however, entrepreneurs and people in unconventional occupations would have a voice in making Party decisions.Members of the Central Committee
The members of the Politburo_Standing_Committee_of_the_Communist_Party_of_China are (as of 2003):Leaders of the Communist Party of China
List of Chairmen of the CPC Central Committee
List of General Secretaries
Criticism and support
Much of the criticism of the CPC centers on the origins of China's problems in the 20th century. The critics could be loosely divided into three groups: Western human rights activists tend to see Chinese events as examples of state oppression, whereas most Chinese (including many of those who are anti-government or anti-CPC) tend to see China's troubles as stemming from anarchy and the lack of social institutions that would defend China from outsiders or prevent one person from forming a cult_of_personality. Supporters of Tibetan_nationalism and Taiwan_independence, extreme right wing politicians, along with anti-trade and protectionist forces on the left, in the United_States and Japan, are among the groups which have perceived the CPC government as a totalitarian regime. They refer to events of the Cultural_Revolution, Chinese_famine_of_1958-1961, and Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989 as examples. They suggest that the CPC has been responsible for the deaths of very large numbers of people, with figures cited in millions. These accusations are dealt with in more detail in the article History_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China. Among Chinese, opponents of the Party within the Chinese_democracy_movement have tend not to argue that a strong Chinese state is inherently bad, but rather have tended to argue that the Communist leadership is corrupt. Supporters of the Communist Party have argued that the worst of the abuses took place decades ago, and that the current leadership is not only unconnected with them, but were actually victims of that era. They have also argued that while the Communist Party may be flawed, it is comparatively better, with respect to improving the general standard of living, than any other government that has governed China in the past century and can be put in more favorable light against most governments of the developing_nations. Finally, it has been argued that despite its flaws, the Communist Party is better than its alternatives, and that a sudden forced transition to democracy would result in the economic and political collapse that occurred in Russia in the 1990s.See also
External link
Original, History and Authors:
en-wikipedia-org/wiki/Communist Party of China | History and Authors | Edit Content
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled
"GNU Free Documentation License".
