China’s New Power Structure (2a.1) Flashcards
1
Q
What was the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)?
A
- A meeting which took the first steps in preparing a new political system to replace Chiang and the Nationalists
- Basically a parliament, 600 delegates: mostly communist sympathisers but included a range of minority groups like the China Democratic League
- Communists leading the assembly but not yet strong enough to dominate it having only 16 delegates
- Appointed the Central People’s Government as the supreme state body and approved the Common Program
- Decided state symbols e.g flag, national anthem, calendar and choice of capital city
2
Q
What was the Politburo?
A
- Key decision making body of the CCP
- 14 members when it met for a plenary session, but in between meetings decisions were made by 5 man standing committee of Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yun and Zhu De
- Such decisions became laws when the legislature approved them, which it always did
3
Q
Who were in the 5 man standing committee?
A
Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Chen Yun and Zhu De
4
Q
The CCP KP
A
- Had to prove your commitment to the party
- 5.8 mil out of 500 mil population were members by 1950
- Trained party members (cadres) monitored running of the civil service, legal systems, schools and army at a local level
- Every employee belonged to a work unit (Danwei) that was lead by a party cadre
- They issued permits to travel, marry and change jobs
- Participation in party groups was encouraged e.g. youth league (9 mil members), women’s federation (76 mil members) so that ordinary people had a role in the party
5
Q
How many members did the CCP have by 1950?
A
5.8 million (out of the 500 mil population)
6
Q
The State KP
A
- National People’s Congress (parliament) and the State Council (government) rubber-stamped and implemented decisions made by the Politburo
- People’s Congresses: peasants and workers vote at a local and regional level
- Mao stood down as Head of State in 1958 (had served two 5-year terms) but retained his position as chairman of the party (where all the power lay)
7
Q
The PLA KP
A
- Enforced decisions of state (really the politburo)
- Peng Duhuai minister of defence and commander in chief.
- PLA: world’s largest army (5 mil men by 1959) and consuming (along with navy and airforce) over 40% of the state budget
- Was reduced to 2.5 mil men by 1957 because of the cost and that fact that it tied up so much manpower that could be better used in the peace-time economy
- By reducing army in that way Mao was ensuring the party was holding the gun
- As it became smaller the PLA became more professional, technically advanced, less egalitarian (there were different pay scales between clearly defined ranks
- In danger of losing goodwill of peasantry, PLA’s political department drew up new code of conduct 1956 stressing need to help peasants on collective farms
8
Q
PLA’s Role Internally
A
- Acted as means of indoctrination (supervising the 800,000 young conscripts recruited each year for a 3-year term)
- As a workforce in the many public work projects needed to rebuild infrastructure after the civil war
- Enforced central government control in regions (2 of the 4 regional officials were also high ranking PLA post holders)
9
Q
PLA’s role externally
A
To achieve great power status for china, the opportunity for which soon arose in the Korean war
10
Q
The Common Program KP
A
- Declared China had been transformed into a new society based on an alliance between the workers and the peasants, whose interests would be represented by the communist party
- Guaranteed wide range of personal freedoms as well as gender equality but the police and army given right to suppress all counter-revolutionary activity
- Mao conceded there would have to be a transitionary period of cooperation between working class and existing capitalist elements of society e.g. intellectuals and technical experts (China needed them)
- Mao referred to this approach as ‘New Democracy’
11
Q
China’s 6 regions (Bureaux)
A
- Divided into 6 regions (bureaux) so that decisions taken at national level could be imposed throughout country
- Creating of regional congresses have each region impression that Beijing (capital) was listening to them
- 4 senior communist officials put in charge of each region, although sometimes one man held all positions:
military commander (PLA), army political commissar (PLA), government chairman, party secretary (most powerful post) - Such a level of central control was noted to prevent china from reverting to warlord years of 1920s when powerful regional leaders fought each other while central government stood by powerless
12
Q
New Constitution in 1954
A
- By 1954 China was officially confirmed as a communist country
- Communist party retained control of the entire electoral process
- The 6 regions of China were split into 21 provinces, 5 autonomous border regions and 2 urban centres (Beijing and Shanghai)
- As structure/system grew, no. bureaucrats needed to staff it grew from 720,000 (1949) - 8 mil (1959)
- This increased power of central government but also could slow down pace of revolution
Bureaucrats became more interested in preserving the status quo in order to safeguard their careers than in advancing the cause of revolution: and the more paperwork there is the longer it takes to change anything - This Bureaucratisation of the Revolution worries Mao
