As many people only know China through a “cold war 2.0” filter, which is started by the US government and then spread by western media outlets, the 20th CPC National Congress, in Harvey Dzodin’s view, is a chance to unlearn the misperceptions and gain knowledge about China’s governance and how it works.
Harvey Dzodin is a senior fellow of the Center for China and Globalization and a former legal adviser in the administration of Jimmy Carter, the 39th US President. He shared insight into the CPC National Congress and how the Party will lead the development of China, the world’s second-largest economy, in a recent interview with GDToday.
How does China’s democracy actually works?
According to Dzodin, the CPC sits at the top of the pyramid of China’s whole-process people’s democracy, and through the deliberations of the CPC National Congress, outsiders can learn that the vast majority of China’s 1.4 billion people are very secure in the way China’s democracy works.
A total of 2,296 delegates have been elected to the 20th CPC National Congress, 33.6 percent of which are from the grassroots including workers, farmers and technicians. They participate in setting the direction of development for the Party and the country, electing the CPC’s new leadership, reviewing political theory, and making decisions on important issues.
“Democracy means that people rule. Democracy is not one size fits all, but is dependent on the history, culture and specific characteristics of a given society. The American democracy is not the ne plus ultra, but in fact, built on an 18th-century model with many flaws that need significant updating,” said Dzodin.
He elaborated that the US has two houses of congress, while China has a two-part governing structure, including the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at five levels which are central, provincial, city, county, and township. Both the NPC and CPPCC are formed via democratic elections and include eight democratic parties.
“I’m 100 percent sure that it would surprise most Americans and Europeans that more than 2.5 million deputies are elected to the NPC which creates the top leaders of the administrative, the supervisory, the judicial and prosecutorial departments. It would shock them that over 90 percent of the deputies were directly elected by 1 billion voters in counties and townships,” Dzodin added.
Instead of lobbyists in the US and Europe, Dzodin explained that China has the CPPCC, the representatives of which put forward advice and suggestions on issues discussed by the NPC.
Dzodin furthered no form of government is perfect in the real world, and each needs to be judged by how the country’s people rate it. He quoted the Edelman Trust Barometer (ETB), which asked respondents in 28 countries to indicate how much they trusted their own countries’ governments, businesses, and media.
“The 2022 ETB shows China scored the highest at 83 percent, and the US scored 43 percent, which was down 5 percent year on year. It was also a bigger drop of 10 percent from 2017,” he said.
“If it ain't broke, don't fix it”
According to the report delivered at the 20th CPC National Congress, the central task of the CPC will be to lead the Chinese people to realize the Second Centenary Goal of building China and advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through "a Chinese path to modernization."
“China’s path to modernization always shocks and surprises foreign experts. By achieving the First Centenary Goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, China has eliminated extreme poverty, lifting more than 800 million citizens out of the depths of poverty,” said Dzodin.
When discussing about the concept common prosperity, Dzodin found that some American media twist it as “common property”.
He considers this completely inaccurate, saying, “this is the attitude of Trump and his followers that they don’t believe in promoting the greater good. The US system gives people a license to be financially corrupt. Most of the US Congress members are millionaires when the average US family’s annual income is a mere 70 thousand USD.”
According to Dzodin, the US is currently dealing with numerous social issues, as a result of which its powers have been reduced to only being able to raise a smokescreen. So people can’t see the real picture.
Being a Democrat himself, he felt disappointed that Biden followed Trump’s strategy to demonize China, and he believed it would harm the interests of both countries. “We have to redouble our efforts on the issues where we have a common interest in maintaining the future of our planet, whether it’s the environment or public health,” he said.
As for future development, Dzodin believes China will stay the course, because the system has proven that it works.
“A country that devotes itself to serving the people is the one that will not only win in the long run, but continue to maintain the population’s confidence and the stability that it brings,” he concluded.
Reported by Jasmine, Lydia Liu
Video by Axin
Poster by Huo Weilu
Edited by Zhao Yang, Wing, Olivia, James, Jerry
