- Members of the democratic parties and personages
without party affiliation play an important role in the CPPCC. As deputies to
the CPPCC, members of the democratic parties and personages without party
affiliation can air their opinions, put forth bills and motions, and participate
in the administration and discussion of state affairs. They also hold a fairly
big proportion in the members, standing committees members and leaders of the
CPPCC at various levels. The latest CPPCC election, held in 2003, saw 337,000
members of the democratic parties and personages without party affiliation
elected CPPCC members at various levels nationwide. About 60.1 percent of the
members of the Tenth CPPCC National Committee and 65.2 percent of the members of
its Standing Committee were members of the democratic parties and personages
without party affiliation; and of 24 vice-chairpersons of the vice-chairpersons
of the Tenth CPPCC National Committee, 13 are members of the democratic parties
and personages without party affiliation.
- Members of the democratic parties and personages
without party affiliation exercise democratic supervision over the work of the
party in power and the state organs through diversified channels and means. Such
supervision mainly covers the implementation of the Constitution, and laws and
regulations of the state; the formulation and implementation of major principles
and policies of the CPC and the government; and the performance and honesty of
the CPC organizations and CPC members who hold leading posts. In recent years,
government departments and judicial organs have appointed members of democratic
parties and personages without party affiliation as special inspectors, invited
and organized members of democratic parties and personages without party
affiliation to examine the work style of the CPC, and to take part in other
special checks and supervision over law enforcement, thus further opening up the
channels of, and constantly strengthening, democratic supervision.
- Members of the democratic parties and personages
without party affiliation actively participate in the country's reform and
opening-up and modernization drive, and make suggestions to promote the
reunification of the motherland and overall social progress. Since 1989, the
central committees of the democratic parties have submitted to the CPC Central
Committee, the State Council and departments concerned nearly 180 important
proposals on the overall work of the CPC and the state, as well as on issues
that are key to the national economy and the people's livelihood, especially the
two major tasks of economic construction and peaceful reunification, on the
basis of investigations they have conducted, and their local organizations have
submitted more than 80,000 proposals and motions. Many of the proposals and
motions have been adopted. The local organizations of the democratic parties at
various levels have devised more than 40,000 consulting programs, run more than
1,000 schools of various kinds and trained about 3 million people in various
special skills.
In February 2005, the CPC promulgated the "Opinions of
the CPC Central Committee on Further Strengthening the Building of the System of
Multi-Party Cooperation and Political Consultation Under the Leadership of the
CPC," which, on the basis of summing up historical experience and successful
operations in multi-party cooperation and political consultation, further
clarified the principles, contents, ways and procedures of the system of
multi-party cooperation and political consultation, and pointed the direction
for improving the socialist political party system with Chinese characteristics.
The political advantages of the system of multi-party
cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC lie in
the fact that it can both achieve wide democratic participation, pool the wisdom
of the democratic parties, mass organizations and people of all walks of life
and promote the scientific and democratic decision-making of the party in power
and the governments at all levels, and realize centralization and unity and draw
up unified plans with due consideration given to the interests of different
sections of the people. Moreover, it can avoid both the problem of insufficient
supervision common under one party rule, and political chaos and a lack of
stability and unity that may be caused by the disputes and strife of several
parties.
V. The System of Ethnic
Regional Autonomy
China is a unitary multi-ethnic country. To date, 56
ethnic groups have been identified and recognized by the central government. The
population of the Han ethnic group accounts for the majority. As the population
of the other 55 ethnic groups is relatively small, they are customarily referred
to as "ethnic minorities." According to statistics collected in the fifth
national census, conducted in 2000, the population of all ethnic minority groups
totaled 106.43 million, accounting for 8.41 percent of the national total.
To solve the problems of ethnic groups, different
systems have been adopted by different multi-ethnic countries around the world,
and what China practices is the system of ethnic regional autonomy. Ethnic
regional autonomy means that, under the unified leadership of the state, organs
of self-government are established for the exercise of autonomy and regional
autonomy is practiced in areas where people of ethnic minorities live in compact
communities. China's adoption of ethnic regional autonomy to solve the ethnic
problems is an institutional arrangement based on its own historical
development, cultural characteristics, ethnic relations and distribution of the
ethnic groups, as well as other specific conditions, which is in accord with the
common interests of all ethnic groups and their demands for development. Both
the Constitution and the Law on Ethnic Regional Autonomy contain clear
stipulations on ethnic regional autonomy and its implementation. The system of
ethnic regional autonomy is a basic political system of China.
