In my last article, I mentioned how the government of Hong Kong was fundamentally different from that of mainland China. Hong Kong is a western-style democracy, similar to that of the United States. But how does a democracy differ from mainland China? Consider just one aspect: number of decision-makers.
China is a country of 1.3 billion people—roughly four times the population of the United States. If the two governments were similar, one might crudely expect China’s government to be four times larger than that of the US. And indeed, it is. The National Congress of the Communist Party of China has over 2300 delegates—about four times the size of the United States Congress, which has 535-members. But there’s more to the story. The NCCPC meets only once every five years; and when it does meet, it is only for one week. So, unlike the United States Congress, it is clearly not a decision-making body (smile). In between meetings, China is ruled by the Central Committee of the Communist Party, which has just over 200 voting members—less than half the size of the US Congress. But there’s more.
Overseeing the Central Committee is the Central Politburo of the Communist Party, which has only 25 members. But it continues. This body is directed by the Standing Committee of the Central Politburo, which has only seven members. And finally, in 2018, China did away with term limits, making General Secretary Xi Jinping de facto their permanent leader. And just this week, he announced he is considering resurrecting the title, Chairman—which was last used by Mao Zedong, who died in 1976.
This is how China differs from a western-style democracy: one person makes decisions for 1.3 billion people. Now, this authoritarian model helped move China out of communist stagnation into free-market prosperity. However, such centralization comes at the cost personal decision-making. This is not a price most in Hong Kong want to pay.
Reference:
Christian Shepherd, “Xi Jinping sets stage to resurrect ‘chairman” title created by Mao,” Financial Times, 25 Aug 2020, accessed 26 Aug 2020 from https://www.ft.com/content/a320f178-2902-46e4-94ef-788ca8a06e9d
Anna Fifield, “Xi doubles down on strengthening the party,” Washington Post, 4 Aug 2019; A16.
Wikipedia, “National Congress of the Communist Part of China, accessed 23 Feb 2018.
Wikipedia, “Central Committee of the Communist Party of China,” accessed 23 Feb 2018
Wikipedia, “Politburo of the Communist Part of China,” accessed 23 Feb 2018.
Wikipedia, “Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China,” accessed 23 Feb 2018.
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