CHANGES IN CHINA:
Communism, Censorship, and Civil Society
Program for Teaching East Asia
Center for Asian Studies
University of Colorado Boulder
Jon Zeljo
Quiz: China, US, or both?
1. Its constitution grants the freedom of speech
and press to its citizens.
Quiz: China, US, or both?
1. Its constitution grants the freedom of speech
and press to its citizens.
– BOTH: In the Constitution of the People’s
Republic of China, Article 35 stipulates that
“citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy
freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of
association, of procession and of
demonstration.” This phrase is often referred to
as the “six great freedoms” (六大自由), and no
limitations whatsoever are placed upon them (in
the language of the Constitution).
Quiz: China, US, or both?
2. Its president is elected indirectly by its
citizens.
Quiz: China, US, or both?
2. Its president is elected indirectly by its
citizens.
– BOTH: The US has the Electoral College. In China,
the President is elected by the National People’s
Congress, whose delegates are elected by the
provincial people’s congresses, who in turn are
elected by lower level assemblies, and so on
through a series of tiers down to the local
people’s assemblies, whose delegates are elected
directly by the people.
Quiz: China, US, or both?
3. Has term limits for its top leaders?
Quiz: China, US, or both?
3. Has term limits for its top leaders?
– BOTH: In China, both the top government and
party leaders are limited to up to two 5-year
terms.
Quiz: China, US, or both?
4. Second in the world in number of
billionaires?
Quiz: China, US, or both?
4. Second in the world in number of
billionaires?
– CHINA: @100 billionaires; 2nd behind the US,
which has @400 billionaires (Forbes, Oct. 2012)
Quiz: China, US, or both?
5. Has 1.5 million millionaires?
Quiz: China, US, or both?
5. Has 1.5 million millionaires?
– CHINA: The US has @5 million; Japan is 2nd with
@1.7 million; China is 3rd with @1.5 million
(Time, June 2012)
Quiz: China, US, or both?
6. More micro-bloggers than any other country
in the world.
Quiz: China, US, or both?
6. More micro-bloggers than any other country
in the world.
– CHINA: More than 300 million micro-bloggers on
Chinese Twitter-like sites (officially Twitter is not
accessible, though still used).
Agenda
• National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party
– What was it and what happened?
• Changes in China
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Economic
Political
Civil Society
Freedom of Speech
• Case studies
18th National Party Congress
• Party Congress is gathering
of representatives of the
Chinese Communist Party,
held every five years
• New leadership is selected
• The representatives also
review and vote on Party
policies
• The Party platform for the
next five years is set
18th National Party Congress
• Nov. 8-15, 2012
• In theory, the congress
elects the top leaders,
including the General
Secretary of the CCP, but
in practice these
decisions are made in
advance
• Xi Jinping was selected
as the head of the Party,
replacing Hu Jintao
18th National Party Congress
• There was much
anticipation leading up
this Party Congress:
– 7 of the 9 very top leaders
had to retire because of
age or term limits
– Bo Xilai affair indicated
there might be some
uncertainty in transition of
power
– China’s rise (another
instance of China on the
world stage, along with the
2008 Summer Olympics)
18th National Party Congress
• Ultimately, it went off smoothly and mostly as the
analysts predicted
• 3 surprises
1. Jiang Zemin, former Party head, was very present
and held influence over selections of top leaders
2. Hu Jintao, retiring Party head, relinquished his
military chairmanship, thereby institutionalizing an
even smoother transition of power
3. Xi came off as very likeable, and perhaps a new type
of leader who is more willing to connect with the
average Chinese
Standing Committee of the Politburo
Changes in China:
Economic
The Impact of the Economy
• “Socialism with Chinese
Characteristics”
• Socialist Market Economy
• A mix between stateowned, state-directed, and
private businesses
• Transition was gradual and
involved experimental
activities on the part of the
Party, government, and
people
• Over the past 30 years, the
annual growth has
averaged 8% (it currently
has “slowed” to 7.5%)
The Impact of the Economy
• “Socialism with Chinese
Characteristics”
• Socialist Market Economy
• A mix between stateowned, state-directed, and
private businesses
• Transition was gradual and
involved experimental
activities on the part of the
Party, government, and
people
• Over the past 30 years, the
annual growth has
averaged 8% (it currently
has “slowed” to 7.5%)
Downsides of Economic Growth
• Widening gap between rich
and poor, urban and rural
– Top 10% of households own 85%
of all assets
• Rising costs of housing (in the
last 10 years, home prices have
quadrupled in Beijing)
• According to studies, overall
life satisfaction has declined
– For poorer Chinese, the major
pressure is to keep up with cost
of living; for better-off Chinese,
the major pressure is
competition for promotion and
recognition
Party’s Response
• In the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping said: “some people
will get rich first.” In 2010, Premier Wen Jiabao
said: “We aim to distribute wealth.”
• In his inaugural press conference, Xi Jinping never
mentioned “economic growth.” Instead, he listed
what Chinese want: education, stable job, good
income, reliable social security, better health
care, and to have a better life for ourselves and
our children.
People’s Response (weibo post)
• “Actually most people don't have outsized
expectations. They simply want a normal life -a webpage can be opened normally, can buy a
normal kitchen knife without being subject to
real-name registration, eating at a normal
restaurant without having to worry about
‘gutter oil,’ can buy a house through a normal
process, can breath normal air ... today I heard
a basically normal speech, and so there is
some hope for giving normality a shot.”
New Leadership
• Weibo post: “Assessing President Xi's speech: one, used language
and diction uncommon in these occasions, appeared endearing;
two, immediately apologized to everyone for being late; three,
mentioned leading the party and Chinese people, Chinese nation
and state toward the path of co-prosperity, only mentioned
‘Chinese characteristics’ once, badass!; four, the word ‘people’
appeared many more times than ‘party.’”
• Expectations are high for this new leadership
• Issues: slowing economy, widening income disparity, environmental
degradation, all of which is fueling social unrest
• One of these expectations is political change that will help push
forward the development of a competitive market economy
– China wants to avoid the “middle-income trap,” where expansion
slows because of a failure to implement reforms needed to create a
wealthy middle class
Changes in China:
Political
Perception of Political Reform in China
Political Reform
• Why reform?:
corruption/mismanagement/nonimplementation
• How reform?: transparency/accountability
• Dilemma: How to fix the problems without
instituting multi-party competition
• Experiment: elections at the local levels
• Pageantry or Pathway to true democracy??
Party’s Stance
• Hu Jintao in opening
speech of Party Congress:
“In over 30 years of
continuous and consistent
exploration since the Reform
and Opening Up, we have
been unswervingly holding
high the great banner of
socialism with Chinese
characteristics. Neither will
we follow the old path of
closed door and ossified
politics, nor will we take to
the evil road of changing our
flags and banners.”
People’s Response (weibo posts)
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•
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•
•
•
•
•
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“So it is neither left nor right?”
“Art of speaking. They tell you that they don’t go this way or that way, but they won’t tell
you what way they really go.”
“In a nutshell, no way.”
“Absolutely no way. Pity that billions of Chinese only get blood in return for their
tolerance.”
“It has poured cold water head-on over all the expectations for political reform. The door
to changes has been shut.”
“When the nation overlooks its people, the people will overlook the nation.”
“So the Imperialistic America must have been pretty astray on the evil way, and yesterday
[the 2012 US presidential election] was a classic example.”
“A country that uses the people as a shield and national conditions as a fig leaf to prevent
the democratization process. How can there be any advanced scientific progress if it is
ruled with exploitation? No excuse can stop people’s desire for democracy. Any country
that prevents the democratization process with authoritarian rule will ultimately perish.”
“Idiots have something in common, which is: instead of using the bridge that is readily
available, they love to cross the river by feeling the stone!”
Potential for Political Reform
• Buried deep in Hu’s speech: “…improve the
system of socialist consultative democracy.”
– This references an experiment started 10 years ago
and is the first ever mention of it in such an important
speech/document
– The city of Wenling (Zhejiang Province) has formalized
public consultation on public projects and government
spending, although there is no voting and decisions
remain with the government
– (Xi Jinping was the party head of Zhejiang Province
during the deepening of the experiment)
Changes in China:
Civil Society
Civil Society
• Civil society: organized groups independent of
the government with voluntary memberships
and civic aims
• Theory contends this doesn’t happen in an
authoritarian country
– Either government represses or incorporates
group into the state
– No independent social organization
Civil Society in China
“Associational Revolution”
Year
Groups
1988
4,500
2004
289,432
2009
400,000
Activities:
–
–
–
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45% social services
40% industry or professional
35% cultural
25% legal aid and policy
advisory
– 20% poverty alleviation
Greenpeace China, Yongding Gate, 2009
Question
Why are groups like Greenpeace allowed to
operate in China?
1. Corporatism: Even though these groups seem to be
independent, they are actually appendages of the state,
carrying out the state’s goals.
2. Democratization: This is actually a precursor of
democratization; the fact that these groups are forming and
want to participate in public policy means we’re seeing an
early process of democratization in China.
Argument
• Many groups are operationally independent (no corporatism)
• However, not democratization either; instead, just better
governance under authoritarianism
– Still an authoritarian regime, but the regime sees these groups as
beneficial (poverty alleviation, better health care, etc.)
• The Party calls this “consultative democracy” (Party builds
consensus around policy decisions through consultation with
relevant constituencies)
• Western scholars call it “consultative authoritarianism” (the
simultaneous emergence of fairly autonomous civil society and
more indirect mechanisms of social control)
“One Kilogram More”
• China’s demographic
changes
– rapid urbanization
– “floating population”
• Social Services
– geographical model (wherever
you are born is where you can
receive social services)
• Problems
– Declining of literacy rates
– Test scores are significantly
lower among migrant children
– Local officials are promoted
based on how well they
provide social services (so,
promotion pressures)
“One Kilogram More”
• Delimma: If legally we
can’t offer social
services to migrant
workers, how do we
get them what they
need?
• Answer: Collaborate
with non-profits
– Grant competitions
“One Kilogram More”
•
•
•
•
•
Computer scientist used Google Maps
technology to create a map of migrant
schools around Beijing
He contacted the schools to determine
needs (supplies, books, etc.)
“Volun-tourists” can find a school in need
and pack “one kilogram more” in their
luggage to deliver it to the school.
Afterwards, they update the website.
The Beijing government gave the group a
grant and even tried to increase its
capacity
In response to this collaboration, the
government has changed how it deals with
these organizations
• Eased registration
• Increased funding (contracting with
government)
• Capacity building
Consultative Authoritarianism Model
• Consultative policy sphere: independent groups participate
in policy process
– Not corporatism (competing groups independently design
& operate projects; policy participation is from outside of
the state
• State control: more indirect & differentiated
– Variation in relationships among the government and orgs
(differ among provinces, groups, and over time, with
“good” groups treated differently than “bad” groups)
– Example: Oxfam (not overt repression or incorporation)
Significance of New Model
• State-society relationship: emergence of groups not
indicator of democratization but better governance
under authoritarianism
• Changing regulations: Party recognizes benefits of
group activity and more and more seeks to work with
these groups
Changes in China:
Free Speech
Perception of Free Speech in China
Freedom of Speech
• Western observers and governments
criticize China’s government for its lack of
freedom of speech and control of the
Internet
• China’s response: 1 billion TV viewers, 900
million cell phone users, 700 million radio
listeners, 600 million internet users
– 65% of internet users “frequently” post online,
300 million micro-bloggers
• “vigorous online exchange” is a “major
characteristic of China’s Internet
development”
• “China is one of the countries in the world
enjoying the most sufficient degree of
freedom of expression and publication.”
Internet Growth
China’s Digital Landscape
Source: Resonance China, http://www.resonancechina.com
China’s Social Media
1. BBS (bulletin board
systems/web forums)
–
mop.com, tianya.cn
2. Social Networks
–
renren.com,
kaixin001.com
3. Blogs
–
blog.sina.com.cn,
blog.sodu.com,
hi.baidu.com
4. Microblogs
–
weibo.com (Sina),
t.qq.com (Tencent)
Source: Resonance China, http://www.resonancechina.com
Sina’s Weibo (weibo.com)
Han Han
• Race car driver, author,
singer, and China’s most
popular blogger
• His favorite topics shifted
from girls and cars to more
sensitive ones such as Party
corruption, censorship,
pollution, income gap
“h.”
—Han Han, October 8, 2010
“… There is however a silver lining to all
this: in this era of housing, gas, electricity
and water price inflation, at least
government money making schemes have
gone down in price, and when they have,
they did so by close to 50%. When they’ve
gone up, they did so only by a little, which
proves the point that once our
government decides to be generous, they
get very generous indeed. Take the
marriage registration fee: it went from 9 to
5 yuan (~USD 1.30 to 0.80). That is to say,
if you get married three times in your life,
then the government will save you exactly
12 yuan (~USD 2). Thanks a bunch.”
—Han Han, February 22, 2011
Source: Han Han Digest, http://www.hanhandigest.com
Censorship
• “Golden Shield Project”
(aka Great Firewall of
China)
• New censorship model:
– “50 cent party” as a way
of the state directing the
discussion
– Self-censorship by
websites for fear that
they will be shut down
Case Studies Task
• With the case study as a window into Chinese
state and society:
1. Find 1 aspect of the story that fits our
conventional perception of China
2. Find 1 aspect of the story that challenges
our conventional perception of China
Reporting Out
1. Summarize your story in 1-2 sentences.
2. What aspects of the story fit with and
challenge our conventional perception of
China?