Constitutional Politics: The Road to Permanent Peace and Stability on How the Communist Party Can Escape from the Historical Cycle

• Author: Wang Zhenmin
• Pages: 2-22

WANG (DO NOT DELETE) 2014-1-28 4:59 PM

2 TSINGHUA CHINA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 6:1

CONSTITUTIONAL POLITICS:

THE ROAD TO PERMANENT PEACE AND STABILITY

ON HOW THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA CAN ESCAPE

FROM THE HISTORICAL CYCLE

WANG Zhenmin

Abstract:

Implementing constitutional governance (constitutionalism) results from China’s more than

sixty years of hard exploration and bitter lessons. Only through p racticing the rule of law and

effectively establishing constitutionalism can the Communist Party of China ( “CPC”) escape

from the historical cycle of sliding into decline after achieving success and fully solve the

institutional problems affecting its long-term governance and China’s long-term stability and

prosperity. It is extremely erroneous to place implementing constitutionalism in opposition to

the leadership of the Party. Failing to govern the country in line with the Constitution will not

only undermine the rule of law but violate the Party’s fundamental line and policies. We need

to study constitutionalism, and more i mportantly, develop constitutionalism and build a

Chinese-style socialist constitutionalism that is superior to its capitalist counterpart.

I. QUESTION: HOW TO ESCAPE THE HISTORICAL CYCLE?

In the long history of human development, every government,

regardless of whether it is an imperial, bourgeois or a socialist

regime, wants to rule for as long as possible, even forever. The

Goldbach conjecture in the field of law and political science asks: is

it even possible to create a stable form of government of eternal

existence?

This same question lay before the CPC before the founding of the

People’s Republic of China. In the famous dialogue about the

historical cycle between Huang Yanpei and Mao Zedong in Yan’an

in 1945, Huang said:

During my sixty years of life, I have witnessed, not to mention

heard, many people, families, organizations and countries,

which ended up under the control of the historical cycle.

People are careful and hard-working at first, for bold measures

are the only possible ways to break through difficult

conditions. But when things gradually get better, people begin

slacking off: laziness may spread through a long history and is

impossible to be corrected when it becomes a common

practice. Gradually expanded territory requires corresponding

increases in talent, but when the latter is insufficient, the

central control will become weak. In a word, no one can escape

the ‘vicious cycle’ of dynastic rise and collapse. I understand

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2013] CONSTITUTIONAL POLITICS 3

that you, the Chinese Communists are trying to find a new path

to escape this cycle.

Huang was curious about how the CPC would confront and solve

this problem. Mao declared unequivocally:

We have found a new path. We can break free of the cycle. The

path is called democracy. As long as the people have oversight

of the government then the government will not slacken in its

efforts. When everyone takes responsibility there will be no

danger that things will return to how they were even if the

leader has gone.1

From that time, the CPC and every generation of its leadership

have been pondering and exploring this question: how to form a

government that can break free of the historical cycle to achieve

long-term governance and stability?

In 2004, the Fourth Plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee

noted:

The proletarian party took arduous efforts to capture the ruling

position and is expected to stand more hardship to keep the

position. The ruling position of the Party is not inherent. Nor is

it established once and forever. We have to be alert to the

challenges which lie ahead and mindful of the potential danger,

learn from the experience of other parties in the world,

strengthen the administrative competence of the Party and

govern the country for our people.2

Strengthening administrative competence may solve some

problems for the time being, but to escape the cycle, it is essential to

start from systems and mechanisms.

At the end of December 2012, the new General Secretary of the

CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping, visited the central committees

of the eight democratic parties and the All-China Federation of

Industry and Commerce. He mentioned the dialogue about the

historical cycle between Huang Yanpei and Mao Zedong in 1945,

1 Jin Chongji (金冲及), Mao Zedong Zhuan Xia (毛泽东传下) [Biography of Mao Zedong 2]

719–20 (1996).

2 Zhonggong Zhongyang guanyu Jiaqiang Dang de Zhizheng

Nengli

Jianshede Jueding (中共中央

关于加强党的执政能力建设的决定) [Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of

China on Strengthening the Building of the Party’s Governing Capacity], GOV.CN (Sept. 19, 2004),

available at

http://www.gov.cn/test/2008-08/20/content_1075279.htm.