China's Rule of Law: Democracy, Economy, and Reform

Introduction

A kind of democratic transformation is underway in Communist China, due in no small part to China's race toward modernity. Such modernity, however, is highly dependent upon China's ability to operate according to a credible rule of law. Everywhere in China, the rule of law is touted as the center of its new and rising ethos (Peerenboom 2002:1). Meanwhile, China is poised to have the largest economy on the globe in the 21st century and desires to leave its 20th-century setbacks well behind it. If "the hallmarks of modernity are a market economy, democracy, human rights, and rule of law" (Peerenboom 2002:1), then China hopes to be well on its way to being perceived as a modernized nation. It is the last of these hallmarks that concerns this paper. Because the rule of law in China is also tied to China's stance on the economy, democracy, and human rights, this paper examines the rule of law as it touches on each of these aspects and shows how it has been shaped by the past as much as it is being shaped by projections of the future and China's presence on the world stage.

Background: What Is the Rule of Law?

China is a one-party state. Yet, while nations like the United States view democracy as something to be theoretically pursued — a kind of object-goal — China views its political system and the rule of law "as a means to achieving larger national ends" (Li 2012). Eric X. Li, writing for The New York Times from Shanghai, observes that China is changing its political direction: "Its leaders are prepared to allow greater popular participation in political decisions if and when it is conducive to economic development and favorable to the country's national interests, as they have done in the past 10 years" (Li 2012).

While China exerts authoritarian rule, it tends to view political rights not as "God-given" but as "privileges to be negotiated based on the needs and conditions of the nation" (Li 2012). PBS (2007) states that "China is racing to reshape the rules of society" as its economy grows and threatens to overtake the United States as the world's largest. In an effort to encourage interest articulation and promote the rule of law, lawyers are now traveling the Chinese countryside engaging locals with messages such as: "This is the Gonxian People's Court, according to PRC Civil Procuratorate Law number 120 — no matter how small the case is, we treat it fairly." PBS asserts that Communist China is engaging in Western-style legal reform, though a perceptive observer might argue that China is simply pursuing a system of politics as an end in itself. Alternatively, China may be attempting to stimulate interest aggregation in order to appeal to Western nations on the world stage.

The reality may be, as Randall Peerenboom states, that China's rule of law is a ruse. After all, it is "foreign investors and human rights activists [who] keep up a steady drum beat calling for realization [of the rule of law]" (Peerenboom 2002:1). Many outside observers and critics of China suggest that its so-called rule of law is nothing more than a superficial attempt at legal reform — simply a "sinister plot to hoodwink foreigners into investing in China or a jaded attempt by senior leaders to gain legitimacy abroad while actually just strengthening the legal system to forge a better tool of repression" (Peerenboom 2002:1). Such a maneuver would not be without historical precedent; Stalin's Soviet Russia similarly deceived the West. If China's sloganeering is any indication, however, then the rule of law — at least in theory — has come to China, for good or ill.

In either case, China wants the world to know that it is operating according to a rule of law. But what exactly is a rule of law, and why has it not appeared before in China? China's long and ancient history is one of dynasties and feudalism. It was only in the great race toward modernity in the 20th century that China made any serious attempt to catch up with the industrialized world. That century was also one of China's worst, culminating in the dictatorship of Chairman Mao and his violent, essentially lawless repression of the people. Today, China looks to move past that recent history by embracing a world-recognized rule of law — best described as "a system in which law is able to impose meaningful restraints on the state and individual members of the ruling elite" (Peerenboom 2002:6). In other words, the law is supreme over the government, and before it all people are considered equal.

In more practical terms, China's rule of law may be illustrated in the way its political system functions. China's government operates by means of an annual "two sessions" — "big political events of contemporary China that include all aspects of the national economy and the people's livelihood" (Shuzhen 2010). China's People's Congress System works somewhat like the U.S. Congress; its equivalent is the National People's Congress, which legislates and amends laws, reviews and approves budgets, and holds the sole right of "electing and removing officials" (Shuzhen 2010). The National People's Congress holds the top position in the Chinese government's power structure. It oversees the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (which oversees the Chairmen's Council), as well as all Special Committees — such as the Ethnic Affairs Committee, the Law Committee, and the Internal and Judicial Affairs Committee — and the Working and Administrative Bodies of the Standing Committee (Shuzhen 2010). Each of these committees and sub-committees is given a degree of oversight that branches out to ever wider areas of the populace. It is, in other words, a highly bureaucratic pyramidal structure.