Institutions of Democratic Governance

Citing Xinhua, the Ministry of Justice Web site announced that on September 22 the Chinese Communist Party enacted the "Rules on the Protection of Rights of Chinese Communist Party Members." Two of the Rules' articles explicitly forbid Party members from publicly disagreeing with the Party, or publicly expressing opinions inconsistent with Party dogma:

According to domestic Chinese reports, the NPC Standing Committee opened a five day session on October 22. Among other activities, the legislative body will reportedly discuss drafts of a new Property Law (part of a larger draft Civil Law), Bankruptcy Law, and Law on Public Order Offenses. The Standing Committee is also slated to discuss amendments to the Criminal Law, Solid Waste Pollution Prevention Law, and electoral laws for national and local people’s congresses. Xinhua report (English). People’s Daily report (Chinese only). Most of the draft laws and amendments are not expected to be passed this session.

Citing unnamed sources in Beijing, Radio Free Asia reports that retired physician Jiang Yanyong continues to be subject to government surveillance and restrictions on his movements and personal interactions. RFA also reports that Jiang is not allowed to access the Internet from his home. Jiang Yanyong wrote a letter, dated February 2, 2004, to key Chinese government and Communist Party officials describing his eyewitness account of treating wounded patients who entered his surgery ward at PLA No 301 Hospital on June 4, 1989. The letter, which called on the Party to re-assess its official verdict on over the Tiananmen democracy movement, was posted on the Internet in early March 2004. Jiang was questioned shortly afterwards, and was detained along with his wife on June 1, 2004. According to Human Rights in China, he was detained while on his way to apply for a U.S. tourist visa. During his detention, Jiang was subjected to "education" sessions to change his view on Tiananmen.

According the South China Morning Post and People’s Daily , the Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee will rely on an “independent” human resources firm to identify candidates to fill the position of deputy director at a provincial business bureau. According to other reports in the 21st Century Business Herald , the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee has introduced an “open selection” process for certain provincial posts, including the live broadcast of candidate responses to questions from a selection committee. In some cases, these steps appear to be anti-corruption measures focused on domestic political goals. Some of these measures may also be intended to introduce elements of transparency and competitiveness into the selection process for candidates for government office.

In this report carried on the Ministry of Supervision website, the Audit Bureau issues the first data from a survey of how government entities across China are trying to solve corruption problems revealed in a 2003 audit of central government budget expenditures. Ministry of Supervision

The People's Daily reports that the State Council is in the process of drafting a national "Government Affairs Freedom of Information Law" that will require executive agencies to release information to the media unless there is a reason for withholding it. According to the article, under the draft law if an executive agency official refuses to release information on government activities without proper grounds, “media units” (i.e., China’s state-sponsored media) can go to court to compel disclosure. The article points out that the law faces obstacles, however, including the need to have appropriate regulations in place to "ensure that making information public can be carried out in a peaceful and just manner."

In a front-page article on October 5, the Washington Post reported on the growth of unrest in rural China stemming from illegal and abusive land seizures. According to the article, the Ministry of Land and Resources disciplined officials involved in more than 168,000 illegal land deals last year, and Chinese scholars are warning of “turbulence” if the government does not control the problem. In a recent interview with Southern Weekend, rural development specialist Yu Jianrong of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences echoed such concerns, noting that property rights infringements have replaced high tax burdens as the primary focus of peasant activism.

Reporters Without Borders reports that a court in Shenyang in Liaoning province has sentenced Kong Youping and Ning Xianhua,to 15 and 12 years in prison respectively for subversion. Their crime was posting articles on the Internet in support of the Chinese Democratic Party. Under Chinese law, besides the Communist Party there are only eight authorized political parties. According to China's Constitution, each of these parties is "supervised and led" by the Communist Party.