Translation Category: Governance
The CCP Politburo holds “collective study sessions” on a semi-regular basis, in which an outside academic or government expert leads a discussion on a selected topic. Such sessions are important signals as to what issues the senior leadership finds important. The sixth collective study session of the 20th Central Committee Politburo was held on June 30, 2023 and was presided over by Xi Jinping. At this session, Xi Jinping delivered a speech that urged Party members to continue adhering to Marxist teachings adapted to China’s national context.
Sometimes referred to in shorthand as the “History Resolution” or “Resolution on History,” this document is the Party’s official narrative of its history. The CCP has in total issued three such “resolutions” since its founding in 1921. This resolution follows the 1945 Resolution on Certain Historical Issues [关于若干历史问题的决议] and the 1981 Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party Since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China [关于建国以来党的若干历史问题的决议].
A report to the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), more commonly referred to as just the “Party Congress,” is arguably the most authoritative document in the Chinese Party-state ecosystem. It is technically the report of the outgoing Central Committee (here, the 17th Central Committee) at the quinquennial gathering of the Party Congress (here, the 18th Party Congress). Delivered by the General Secretary of the CCP (here, Hu Jintao), the report not only provides an official summary of the Party’s work over the past five years, but also outlines the official Party stance on all major policy issues and sets policy priorities for the incoming Central Committee (here, the 18th Central Committee).
A report to the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), more commonly referred to as just the “Party Congress,” is arguably the most authoritative document in the Chinese Party-state ecosystem. It is technically the report of the outgoing Central Committee (here, the 16th Central Committee) at the quinquennial gathering of the Party Congress (here, the 17th Party Congress). Delivered by the General Secretary of the CCP (here, Hu Jintao), the report not only provides an official summary of the Party’s work over the past five years, but also outlines the official Party stance on all major policy issues and sets policy priorities for the incoming Central Committee (here, the 17th Central Committee).
A report to the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), more commonly referred to as just the “Party Congress,” is arguably the most authoritative document in the Chinese Party-state ecosystem. It is technically the report of the outgoing Central Committee (here, the 15th Central Committee) at the quinquennial gathering of the Party Congress (here, the 16th Party Congress). Delivered by the General Secretary of the CCP (here, Jiang Zemin), the report not only provides an official summary of the Party’s work over the past five years, but also outlines the official Party stance on all major policy issues and sets policy priorities for the incoming Central Committee (here, the 16th Central Committee).
The PRC issued the “Anti-Secession Law” during the administration of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) President Chen Shui-bian in Taiwan after the administration undertook actions that Beijing viewed as provocative, such as declaring that there was one country on each side of the Taiwan Strait. The “Anti-Secession Law” reiterated the core elements of Beijing’s Taiwan policy and its red lines—including outlining the circumstances under which Beijing would consider employing “non-peaceful means” to annex Taiwan.
Hu Zhongyue, a scholar of Marxism, examines the collapse of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to distill cautionary lessons for the CCP. He argues that by opening its legacy—particularly under Lenin and Stalin—to reevaluation and critique, the CPSU undermined its political legitimacy and public trust in socialism. As a prognosis, Hu emphasizes the gravity of ideological work and urges vigilance to such trends in Chinese society, especially as new technologies disrupt the traditionally unidirectional flow of information.
In this second installment of a three-part paper on the collapse of the Soviet Union, former Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Li Shenming highlights the role of the “fifth column”—forces that worked within the USSR and the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to spread Western values and viewpoints. As a prognosis, Li argues that the CCP must prioritize ideological work, maintain absolute control over the military, and be vigilant of what he terms Western efforts to “infiltrate” China, including through cultural and economic exchange.
Zuo Fengrong, an expert in Soviet history, examines trends in Chinese scholarship on the USSR’s collapse across the past thirty years. Zuo argues that while this literature advanced over time with the availability of newly declassified archival sources, it has stagnated more recently. As a prognosis, Zuo encourages renewed attention to the failure of Soviet socialism and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s (CPSU) loss of power, in order to extract lessons for China.
The CCP Politburo holds “collective study sessions” on a semi-regular basis, in which an outside academic or government expert leads a discussion on a selected topic. Such sessions are important signals as to what issues the senior leadership finds important. The fourth study session of the 20th Central Committee Politburo was held on March 30, 2023 and was presided over by Xi Jinping. At this session, Xi Jinping and other Politburo members urged Party cadres to study and implement “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for the New Era” in all fields of China’s development.