Zhou Enlai can still be trusted during the Mao years
The power of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) of the Communist Party of China appears to be expanding. The Fourth Session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), which is being held in Beijing, is currently considering the Draft Organic Law of the National People’s Congress (Draft Amendment). Wang Chen, vice chairman of the NPC, said at the opening ceremony of the conference last week that the move is an important step to improve the NPC’s organic law, adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China and ensure the correct political direction of the NPC’s work. When the NPC is not in session, the NPC Standing Committee can decide on the appointment and removal of other members of the State Council based on the nomination of the Premier of the State Council; it can also decide on the appointment and removal of other members of the Military Commission based on the nomination of the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. The NPC Standing Committee can also decide to remove other individual members of the State Council and decide to remove other individual members of the Central Military Commission.
Premier Li Keqiang’s power is further hollowed out
There are opinions in both mainland China and Hong Kong that the authorities’ move will further weaken Premier Li Keqiang’s power. Scholar Wang Zhiqiang holds the same view. He said that once the draft is passed, Premier Li Keqiang’s executive powers are weakened: “Yes, you can say that. Originally, the two sets of Communist Party and government teams each had powers, but now they are unified under the Party leadership. Li Keqiang’s power had already been reduced or largely devoid of real power before that, and this leaves him with even less power.”
Chinese Vice Premier Liu He (L) at the opening ceremony of the CPPCC session on March 4, 2021. (AFP)
Liu He, currently ranked first among vice premiers, is recognized as a close confidant of Xi Jinping and his economic advisor, with de facto powers similar to those of Li Keqiang, and is also in charge of U.S.-China trade negotiations.
According to Article 2 of the current Organic Law of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, the Vice Premier of the State Council assists the Premier under the Premier’s system of responsibility. The Vice Premier shall be nominated by the Premier of the State Council and appointed by the President of the PRC in accordance with the decision of the NPC Session after a vote by the National People’s Congress. However, this amendment expanded the appointment authority of the NPC Standing Committee.
Mao Zedong Era Can Still Trust Zhou Enlai
Wang Zhiqiang, a constitutional scholar in Shanxi, explained that the recent code of conduct in which the Communist Party’s top officials demanded that all Party members “must closely unite around the Party Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core” means that the NPC must obey the Communist Party’s top leader, so this change cannot be interpreted simply as an expansion of the NPC’s powers, but rather as a further reduction of the premier’s powers The key is that the Premier’s power has been further reduced.
Personally, I don’t think it can be considered an expansion of power, but in the present situation, the NPC is sharing the worries of the President, and if there is something in the future, it will sound better if the NPC Standing Committee raises it. Because now the power has been all monopolized, there is no opposition force.”
During the Cultural Revolution in the last century, although the whole society was turned upside down by the political movement, the Chinese economy was still barely able to function at that Time and was not pushed to the edge of collapse. Some scholars back then explained that Mao did not interfere excessively with Premier Zhou Enlai’s work in the State Council, and Zhou was still able to largely dominate the functioning of the bureaucracy.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang bows after delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the People’s Congress on March 5, 2021. (Associated Press)
In mainland China’s current system, the Communist Party’s general secretary is in charge of party affairs and the direction of the social system, while the State Council performs administrative functions, including coordinating and implementing development plans.
The National People’s Congress is more like a rubber stamp following the party’s command
According to Hebei media personality Sun Jing, the NPC is only a rubber stamp, not a true supreme authority. Therefore, no matter how much power the NPC Standing Committee has, it ultimately comes from the CPC Central Committee: “So he is making a superficial statement because the CPC is now more totalitarian than it was during Mao’s time. If the Central Committee does not agree, can the National People’s Congress pass it.”
Wang Zhiqiang, a constitutional scholar in Shanxi, said in an interview with the station on Tuesday that the newly revised Organic Law has expanded the power of the NPC Standing Committee, but in reality, under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, everything is decided by the Communist Party, and the NPC is still a “rubber stamp”. He said: “To give you (NPC Standing Committee) this power, the specific power is not in your hands, but also in the hands of the highest level, so I think it is only to adjust the staff with some convenience, there is no special significance. Xi Jinping senior power now of which, basically unimpeded, expand some power, ‘bad guys’ can not be a person all done, next to a rubber stamp to speak for him.”
According to the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, between sessions of the NPC, the Standing Committee of the NPC may decide on the nomination of the Premier of the State Council to decide on the selection of ministers, committee directors, auditors general and secretary-general; and on the nomination of the Chairman of the Central Military Commission to decide on the selection of other members of the Central Military Commission.
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