Limited Political Reforms in One Zhejiang County Help Check Local Abuses

January 30, 2006

Limited political reforms in Wuyi county, Zhejiang province, that allow a degree of popular political participation have helped check local abuses, according to a December 7, 2005, report in the 21st Century Business Herald. Implemented over the past three years, the reforms have been limited in content and local officials have resisted some of the changes. Nonetheless, the reforms represent a positive effort to introduce a degree of independent citizen political participation in one Chinese locality.

Limited political reforms in Wuyi county, Zhejiang province, that allow a degree of popular political participation have helped check local abuses, according to a December 7, 2005, report in the 21st Century Business Herald. Implemented over the past three years, the reforms have been limited in content and local officials have resisted some of the changes. Nonetheless, the reforms represent a positive effort to introduce a degree of independent citizen political participation in one Chinese locality.

County officials have allowed the creation of "Village Affairs Supervision Committees" with veto power over Communist Party branch and village committee financial decisions. Supervision committee members are selected through direct election, and neither Party branch and village committee members nor their relatives may serve on the supervision committees. The article notes that in some villages, this rule has resulted in the rejection of Communist Party members who have sought the post in favor of the election of experienced petitioners who have challenged unpopular government decisions. A January 31, 2005, Wuyi News article appearing on the Wuyi government Web site notes that the reforms seek to carry out the June 22, 2004, Communist Party and State Council "Joint Opinion on Perfecting Transparency in Village Affairs and Democratic Management."

Wuyi officials have implemented the reforms as a means to address local governance problems. The reforms began in 2003 as an experimental project in one village that suffered from endemic corruption scandals, and had more citizen grievance petitions filed with authorities than any other village in the county. Village leaders obtained support for the experiment from the head of the county discipline committee, which has since sponsored expansion of the program to the 558 villages in Wuyi county.

The reforms have helped limit official corruption and have provided a channel for citizen political participation, according to the 21st Century Business Herald article. The article notes that citizens attempt to use the supervision committees to check the power of local officials. The committees also create pressure on local officials to limit local government expenses as well as the opportunity for corruption. For example, in the year following adoption of the new system in the first village to implement it, local government funds spent on entertaining higher level officials amounted to less than 1/12 of the amount spent during the previous year, according to the article.

The Wuyi reforms remain limited in scope and have encountered resistance from local officials. Supervision committees remain dependent on the support of individual political leaders, particularly the head of the county discipline commission. Local officials also have watered down efforts to expand the system. In at least one village, citizens have alleged that only Party members are permitted to serve on the supervision committee.

The Wuyi reforms represent a positive development because they seek to introduce into local governance in China elements of independent citizen political participation and checks on official power. As noted in section V(d) of the Commission's 2005 Annual Report, Democratic Governance and Legislative Reform, local political power is often concentrated in the hands of a few key Party officials. This concentration gives rise to abuse and corruption. Experiments such as those in Wuyi county may help create mechanisms for citizens to address these problems, participate in the decisions that affect their lives, and exert pressure on local officials to engage in broader political reform.