Fostering Modern Governance
In addition, the plenary session explicitly set out to “improve judicial protection of human rights.” Although human rights protection was included in the Constitution during revisions in 2004, this is the first time the proposal has been raised to improve judiciary protection of human rights at a CPC Central Committee plenary session.
Professor Xu Yaotong of the Chinese Academy of Governance said: “Human rights have been written into the Constitution. We should respect and protect every citizen’s human rights from violation. It is also necessary to guarantee these rights in the law and judiciary system.”
Let the People Supervise Power
The plenary session proposed that the people govern through institutions, and that the people supervise power and its transparent operation. Encompassing power within institutions is a radical solution. We must form a scientific and effective mechanism to restrict and coordinate power, and systematically strengthen institutional innovation and guarantee in the interests of anti-corruption. This implies that anti-corruption should rely on institutions, supervision and power restriction.
Professor Zhou Shuzhen from the Party History Department of Renmin University of China said that, since the 18th CPC National Congress in November 2012, there have been many systematic and institutional innovations with regards to anti-corruption. “Taking the existing inspection system as an example, inspections are both more stringent and unprecedentedly transparent. This is also true of the reporting system. The Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Central Committee of the CPC has opened a special reporting zone on its official website. Moreover, this commission has now been demystified into one that allows ordinary people to see exactly how it works.”
“Letting people supervise power” is an important principle of anti-corruption, said Zhang Xixian, professor of the Party Construction Teaching and Research Department of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. It includes supervision by the People’s Congress, letters from the people, and online reporting. Li Chengyan, head of the Research Center for Clean Government Construction at Peking University, said that detailed anti-corruption measures are expected to be released at the plenary session of the Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC Central Committee early next year.
As to the direction of future reform, Zhang Xixian believes that supervision should be institutionalized and legislated, and that the country should guarantee multiple channels whereby citizens supervise power.
Coping with Exterior Challenges
The plenum clearly stated that China is to set up a national security committee to improve the nation’s security system and strategy and safeguard national security.
Along with the opening-up of China, exterior challenges are becoming more complicated. This requires better foreign policy planning and coordination.
Zhang Guoqing, expert at the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that China has faced prominent security challenges in recent years. They include those from neighboring countries like Japan as well as from international terrorism and Internet security. These challenges pose a key issue for China. We need a special department that coordinates forces to systematically and efficiently cope with multifarious security threats, in the interests of safeguarding national security and interests, as well as economic and social development.
Jin Canrong, deputy dean of the School of International Studies at Renmin University of China, said that the international community is expecting China to play a bigger role, and advocates the “China responsibility” theory. But exactly what responsibilities should be taken should be decided by an organization like the proposed national security committee.
Zhang Guoqing believes that upon establishment of the committee, China will upgrade Chinese think tanks and the think tank system, which will play an important role in emergency response to national security issues.
