Name: How the Chinese Communist Party Works
Uploaded: 2023-06-02T07:24:41.000Z
Duration: 16 min 34 s
Description: VoiceTubeの動画で発音を聞きながら英語表現を覚えよう！学べる英語：

In the entire history of the Soviet Union, there was not a single planned and peaceful

程度の副詞

Of the eight Communist Party Secretaries in the nearly seven decades between 1922 and

91, six ruled until they died, one was overthrown, and Gorbachev saw the dissolution of the entire

In fact, there had never been a peaceful handover of power in any major Communist country…

until the early 2000s, when Chinese leader Jiang Zemin voluntarily resigned.

For the first time in the nation's history, there was no coup, no intrigue, no political

Jiang Zemin even endorsed his successor, despite having not chosen him.

No one was calling China a liberal democracy, but it seemed as though the days of one-man

Anyone over the age of 68 was expected to retire.

And each successive leader — from Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping to Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao

The phrase being floated around at the time was “intra-party democracy”.

In other words, there may only be one party, but within it, there was plenty of room for

From here on out, policies would be debated, leaders would rotate out, and the “best

…Then, one man — Xi Jinping — reversed all this progress.

Xi is about to begin his third term in office.

And with neither a designated successor nor hardly any competition, there's no end to

So, how did China revert from “intra-party democracy” to one-man rule in a single generation?

How does any of this — the Chinese Communist Party — actually work?

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Every five years — typically in October or November — about 2,300 people from across

China travel to the Great Hall of the People in Beijing for what's called the “National

This year, for example, is the 20th Party Congress, which began on October 16th, 2022.

Because it's designed to appear representative of society, most of these 2,300 people — called

“delegates” — are relatively low-ranking party members.

They include everyone from farmers to celebrities, factory workers, and mayors.

Likewise, to create the veneer of harmony, ethnic minorities are awkwardly paraded around

There are giant red curtains with golden tassels and more clapping than an American State of

The party takes no risks in the run-up to the country's most important political event.

VPNs, which, although illegal, are ordinarily tolerated for use by foreigners and the technologically

Dissenters are preemptively put under house arrest.

And private businesses — both Chinese and foreign — are warned not to rain on the

party's parade by making any major announcements.

Yet, for all this showmanship, the actual event is exceptionally boring.

It may be theater, but not the kind anyone would voluntarily watch.

On the first day, for instance, the Party Secretary delivers a looong speech called

the “Political Report”, reflecting on the past five years and setting the priorities

It's here that you're reminded how incredibly Leninist the Communist Party still very much

Rather than specific policies or plans, you might hear about the “Three Represents”,

“Four Comprehensives”, or “strengthening of confidences”.

It's only by deciphering these vague slogans that China-watchers infer where the country

After this, the 2,300 delegates, quote, “study” the speech, and inevitably accept it without

That's because the real decisions have been made much earlier.

Although the party doesn't acknowledge this fact, officials meet in secret at a summer

The second item on the agenda is to amend the party's constitution.

Again, no laws are being written here, only ideological statements.

In 2017, for example, Xi Jinping's name was added — implying that he's not just

another politician, but a great figure in party history.

Finally, at the end of this week comes by far the most important task, when delegates

“elect” members of the Central Committee.

“Elect” in quotes because, remember, almost everything has already been decided.

In 2017, delegates had 222 candidates to choose from for 204 seats, giving them the option

Those 204 people then became members of the Central Committee, the next level up in the

There are almost as many “alternates'', who attend meetings but aren't allowed to

They can replace full members when they die or lose their positions.

The Central Committee meets at least once a year in what's called a “plenum” — and

the first plenum occurs the day after the Party Congress ends.

Their most important task is to elect members of the 25-member Political Bureau — or Politburo

— another level up in the party hierarchy.

The Politburo, in turn, “elects” a Standing Committee of usually 7 or 9 people — one

of which is the General Secretary of the Party.

Notice the phrase “General Secretary”, not “President”.

China is a Party-State, which means it has a government and a single ruling party.

The two mirror each other in many ways, but they aren't the same.

The state, confusingly, has its own version of the National Party Congress called the

And to make things even more confusing, multiple parties participate in the People's Congress

But they're all members of a single “United Front”, which means they co-exist, not compete

Anyway, just as the Party congress helps elect a General Secretary every 5 years in the Fall