Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders opened a highly anticipated meeting yesterday as state media emphasized the need to strengthen the country’s legal system.
The meeting, known as the Fourth Plenum, brings together the party’s 205-strong Central Committee and about 170 reserve members, along with officials from bodies including its much-feared internal watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Authorities announced in July that the theme of the meeting would be “rule of law” — although experts say that in China, the phrase actually refers to a greater centralization of control by the CCP, rather than a separation of powers.
“When the Chinese leaders talk about the rule of law, they almost always are talking about some kind of enhanced party control over officials,” University of Hong Kong law professor Michael Davis said.
“‘Rule by the party’ is kind of the ‘rule of law,’” he added. “What happens very often is that they define the terms of a law ... in keeping with goals of the moment.”
The state-run China Daily newspaper wrote in a preview of the meeting yesterday: “The session is expected to speed up the construction of governance by law from the top level and, by improving the system, to promote social justice for the country.”
In a separate editorial, the paper called for party leaders to crack down on the “abuse of power,” which it said “makes it impossible for fairness to prevail” in China’s economy.
“The power-worshiping mentality among government and Party officials must be eliminated,” the China Daily wrote. “This is a core goal of the leadership.”
China has seen a broad crackdown on dissent since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) came to power two years ago, and the meeting comes as authorities arrest an increasing number of lawyers.
The conclave “is widely expected to set the tone for the [CCP] to promote rule of law in China in an all-rounded manner under new circumstances,” Xinhua news agency said.
The gathering, typically held at a Beijing hotel, is also expected to take action against former Chinese head of security Zhou Yongkang (周永康), who fell to Xi’s much-publicized anti-corruption campaign.
The Global Times newspaper, which has close ties to the CCP, said the leadership’s goals could not be achieved overnight.
“Democracy and the rule of law cannot be fulfilled in a ‘Great Leap Forward’ way,” it wrote, referring to Mao Zedong’s late-1950s industrialization campaign that triggered widespread starvation. “We must build them step-by-step.”
It added that the emergence of “radical voices” regarding the rule of law “discloses discontent toward the system.”
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