LI Junru*

 

 

Keywords: whole-process people’s democracy · human rights in China · the 20^th National Congress of the Communist Party of China

 

The contemporary world faces many challenges in global governance, especially in global human rights governance. The United States has convened the Summit for Global Democracy twice and has proposed “fighting authoritarianism with democracy” in global governance. Such a separatist division of the world in the name of “democracy” is certainly a disaster instead of good news for the global cause of human rights. On November 14, 2022, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee insightfully pointed out during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden in Bali, Indonesia, that freedom, democracy and human rights are the common pursuit of mankind, as well as the consistent pursuit of the CPC. The United States has a U.S.-style democracy, while China has a Chinese-style democracy, each suited to their respective national conditions. We are proud that the whole-process people’s democracy in China is founded on China’s national conditions, history and culture, and it embodies the will of the Chinese people.¹ In the three decades since the adoption of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, China has made historic progress in exploring and developing the whole-process people’s democracy and in protecting civil and political rights. To understand the “whole-process people’s democracy” “proudly” emphasized by General Secretary Xi Jinping, it is best that we go to the grassroots level to view the practice of democracy. To grasp General Secretary Xi Jinping’s concept of “whole-process people’s democracy” begins with an understanding of the grassroots practice.

 

 

“Whole-process people’s democracy” is new, and we have to first clarify what it is.

 

Thirty years ago, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action was adopted at the World Conference on Human Rights. This important document emphasizes: “Democracy is based on the freely expressed will of the people to determine their own political, economic, social and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their lives.” The past three decades have witnessed China make unprecedented progress in its protection of civil and political rights and adhering to the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics. The hallmark of this achievement is the proposal and practice of the major concept of “whole-process people’s democracy.” In order to understand what whole-process people’s democracy is, we went on a fact-finding trip to study the grassroots democracy in sub-districts and communities of Changning District, Yangpu District, Hongkou District, Huangpu District and Pudong New Area in Shanghai; Dongcheng District and Xicheng District in Beijing; Yuexiu District, Huangpu District, Tianhe District and Conghua District in Guangzhou, in a bid to better understand the concept of “whole-process people’s democracy” put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping.

 

The important concept of “whole-process people’s democracy” was first proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping on November 2, 2019 during his inspection of the Gubei Community Civic Center in Hongqiao Sub-district, Changning District, Shanghai. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19^th CPC Central Committee concluded on October 31, 2019 adopted Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Several Major Issues Concerning How to Uphold and Improve the System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and Advance the Modernization of China’s System and Capacity for Governance. This emphasized that “we must uphold and improve the people’s position as the masters of the country, unswervingly follow the path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics, improve the system for democracy, enrich the forms of democracy, broaden channels for democracy, and implement elections for democracy, democratic consultation, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision in accordance with the law, so that all aspects of our system and state governance can better reflect the people’s will, protect the people’s rights and interests, stimulate the people’s creativity, and ensure the participation of the people in managing state affairs, economic and cultural undertakings, and social affairs through various channels and forms according to law.”² The next day following the conclusion of the plenum, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to Shanghai for an inspection tour. The purpose was obviously to implement the guiding principles of this plenary session, promote democratic politics in China, and enhance the modernization of the governance of the Party and the State. On November 2, he first inspected Binjiang in Yangpu District, where he proposed “the people’s city is built by the people and for the people.” Then, he went to the Gubei Community in Changning District for an inspection. There, he proposed that “We are following a path of socialist political development with Chinese characteristics, and people’s democracy is a whole-process democracy. Our major legislative decisions are all made in accordance with procedures, through democratic preparation, and scientific and democratic decision-making. I hope that you will carry on the good efforts and continue contributing to the development of socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics.”³

 

Later, in March 2021, “whole-process people’s democracy” was written into the Organic Law of the National People’s Congress passed by the National People’s Congress (NPC) for the first time. On July 1, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his important speech at the conference in commemoration of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the CPC that in the new journey, efforts should be made to “develop whole-process people’s democracy.” On October 13, General Secretary Xi Jinping systematically elaborated for the first time what “whole-process people’s democracy” is at the Central People’s Congress Work Conference. At the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19^th CPC Central Committee held in November of the same year, “whole-process people’s democracy”, as an important content of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, an important experience of political construction in the new era, and the mission and task of the CPC in the new era, was included in the Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century. By the 20^th CPC National Congress held on October 16, 2022, “whole-process people’s democracy” was included in the Report to the 20^th National Congress of the CPC as the essential requirement of “Chinese modernization” and a major strategic deployment for political construction in the new journey of the new era.

 

What characterizes “whole-process people’s democracy”? By studying the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important speech at the Central People’s Congress Work Conference, we can realize that it has five distinct features. First, it has both complete institutional procedures and complete participatory practice; it is not the kind of democracy that only has institutional procedures, but the people cannot widely participate in its practice. Second, it is a comprehensive, extensive and organically connected institutional system in which the people are masters of their country, and has diverse, smooth and orderly channels for democracy. It is not the kind of democracy that has only a system but no direct participate on channels for the people. Third, it comprises democratic elections, democratic consultation, democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision. It is not the kind of democracy in which the people are periodically enabled to vote and then forced into dormancy after voting, a democracy in which they are cherished at the time of the election, and cast aside after the election. Fourth, it has various ways and forms for the people to manage not only state affairs, but also economic, cultural affairs and social affairs. It is not the kind of democracy that denies people their opportunity to participate in state affairs and economic, cultural and social affairs. Fifth, it is a democracy that integrates process democracy with result-oriented democracy, procedural democracy with substantive democracy, direct democracy with indirect democracy, people’s democracy and the will of the State, rather than a democracy that emphasizes only one aspect at the cost of others. It is in this sense that we say that “whole-process people’s democracy is the essential attribute of socialist democracy and is the most extensive, authentic and effective democracy.”⁴ Undoubtedly, it is a major concept put forward by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, on the basis of an in-depth understanding of the law of political development. It is a major achievement of theoretical innovation in democracy and human rights in the new era.

 

 

In the concept of democracy, the subject should be “the people” or “the whole people.” However, the will of the people or the whole people and the underlying interests are diverse. It is not easy to get the people or the whole people to reach a consensus and form decisions on State governance. Under such circumstances, how can the people act as masters of their country? The clever pioneers of democracy designed a voting system in which “the minority defers to the majority.” In the system, each person was given one vote, and the country was governed by “representatives” of the voted “majority.” This way, electoral democracy was created. But new questions come along. First, if “the majority” belongs to the people, what about the “minority?” Aren’t they members of the people? How can their interests be protected after the “majority” comes to power? How can they avoid the scenarios of democracy being weakened or diluted? Second, how can a “representative” elected by vote represent his electorate, if not the entire people? How can we avoid unfulfilled promises made to voters and, consequently, the degeneration and deterioration of democracy? Besides, how to prevent and stop political corruption, such as election bribery, which goes against democratic principles, is also a special problem to be addressed. How has China tackled these problems with democracy?

 

First of all, the democratic system of China features the design of “the NPC” + “the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC),” solving the difficult problem of how to ensure that the broad masses of the people, not just the “majority,” enjoy democratic rights. In electing the people’s deputies, the principles of “secret ballot” and “the minority deferring to the majority” are upheld. And there will always be some people with outstanding governance capacity losing the election. As early as 1954, when the First Session of China’s First NPC was convened, the CPC had already noticed this problem. Chairman Mao Zedong pointed out that “The people’s congress has included all aspects, and the standing committee is its permanent organ. The representativeness is extensive enough, but it cannot include all aspects. So we still need the CPPCC, which is not unnecessary.”⁵ Therefore, it was decided that year that while implementing the people’s congress system, the CPPCC should be kept, so that CPPCC members elected by various parties and sectors could exercise their democratic rights through political consultation, democratic supervision, and participation in and discussion of State affairs. Now, every March, China convenes the NPC and the CPPCC, collectively known as the “two sessions.” Their significance is that democratic principles can be fully realized, and that citizens can enjoy political rights universally.

 

Meanwhile, China has continuously innovated the system of people’s congress deputies maintaining contact with the masses, and addressed the issue of how the “deputies” elected by vote represent their constituents and even the entire people, avoiding the degeneration of democracy. When the people’s congress system was first established, China realized that in order to properly exercise the power entrusted by the people, the people’s congress as an organ of power must establish and improve the system of people’s congress deputies maintaining contact with the masses, faithfully reflecting the will and demands of the people. To this end, China has established systems such as the inspection system of people’s congress deputies, the system of the standing committee maintaining contact with people’s congress deputies, the system of people’s congress deputies maintaining contact with the masses, and the system of people’s congress petition by letters and visits. Since its entry into a new era, socialism with Chinese characteristics has not only continued to uphold and improve those systems, but also innovated the system of people’s congress deputies maintaining contact with the masses, establishing “home of people’s congress deputies” in sub-districts, “liaison station of the people’s congress deputies” in communities. In some places, “liaison stations of people’s congress deputies” are established for buildings housing many companies. For example, 340 homes for people’s congress deputies and 2,938 liaison stations have been set up throughout Beijing; all 14,000 people’s congress deputies at the four levels (national, municipal, district and county, and township and town levels) have been organized, for related activities. The urgent and difficult issues of the masses can be addressed immediately through them. At the forefront of reform and opening up, Guangdong province has built 12,209 liaison stations for people’s congress deputies throughout the province, basically forming a grid system for people’s congress deputies to maintain contact with the masses, with the central liaison stations of town (sub-district) and village (community) people’s congress deputies as the mainstay and the supplement respectively. They have become the first choice for the masses to address urgent and challenging issues. The people said that “In the past, the people’s congress deputies went to meetings when they were elected, and had little contact with us. Now with the liaison station, we can immediately turn to them for help when we encounter problems.” It can be said that the establishment of the liaison stations has opened the “last mile” for people’s congress deputies to contact the masses. After several years of development, they have become an important platform for practicing “whole-process people’s democracy.” At present, people’s congresses in various localities have generally launched their official website, and people’s congress deputies can use informationized, networked and intelligent channels such as “deputies online” and official WeChat accounts to help people find them in times of need promptly. If we go to those homes for deputies and liaison stations, we can see a very eye-catching sentence “The people elect me as a deputy, and I should represent the people.”

 

 

China’s democracy is a democracy for over 1.4 billion Chinese people. It is by no means easy to respect and protect the rights of over 1.4 billion people as masters of their own country and their rights in all aspects, including their universal human rights. We are pleased to find that China has mastered the secret. What is this “secret”? The secret is that matters involving the interests of the people of all ethnic groups are extensively discussed among the entire people and the whole society; matters concerning the interests of the masses of a place are fully discussed among the masses of that place; matters involving the interests of a specific part of the masses are fully discussed among this part of the masses; matters involving the interests of the grassroots masses are fully discussed among the grassroots masses. This form of democracy featuring “extensive participation and consultation” on a wide scale is the “secret” for the 1.4 billion Chinese people to be masters of their own country.

 

In March 1991, Jiang Zemin, then General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, profoundly pointed out in summarizing the historical experience of democratic political development in China that “The people’s exercise of their rights through elections and voting, and the full consultation among themselves before elections and voting for reaching consensus on common issues as much as possible, are two important forms of socialist democracy in our country. That is a democracy superior to Western democracies and incomprehensible for Westerners.”⁶ In other words, there are two forms of democracy in China, namely, electoral democracy and consultative democracy. Document No.5 issued by the CPC Central Committee in 2006 was the first Central document to include the theory of “two important forms” in Chinese democracy. The document pointed out that “In such a vast and populous socialist country, major issues related to the national economy and people’s livelihood are extensively consulted under the leadership of the CPC, reflecting the unity of democracy and centralism. The people exercising their rights by election and voting, and seeking consensus on common issues as far as possible via full consultation before major decision-making are two important forms of socialist democracy in China.”⁷ Formulated by the CPC Central Committee with Hu Jintao as the General Secretary, this document has injected new vitality into the theoretical study of China’s democratic politics and the improvement and development of its democratic political system. In fact, it is in the study, discussion and implementation of this document that scholars began to use the new concepts of “electoral democracy” and “consultative democracy.” These two forms of democracy were formally summarized in the sense of political science in the white paper China’s Political Party System published by the State Council Information Office on November 5, 2007. The white paper pointed out that “The combination of electoral democracy and consultative democracy is a major feature of China’s socialist democracy. In China, the people’s congress system and the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC are mutually complementary. The people exercising their rights through election and voting and seeking consensus as much as possible based on full consultation among all parties before major decision-making are two important forms of socialist democracy. The combination of electoral democracy and consultative democracy has expanded the depth and breadth of socialist democracy. After full political consultation, the will of the majority is respected and the reasonable demands of the minority are considered, ensuring the maximum realization of the people’s democracy and promoting harmonious social development.”⁸

 

For the first time, the 18^th CPC National Congress, convened in 2012, proposed in its report to “improve the system of socialist consultative democracy.” When expounding on the major task of “improve the system of socialist consultative democracy,” the report emphasized in the section “Keeping to the Socialist Path of Making Political Advance with Chinese Characteristics and Promoting Reform of the Political Structure” that “Socialist consultative democracy is an important form of people’s democracy in our country. We should improve its institutions and work mechanisms and promote its extensive, multi-level, and institutionalized development.”⁹ Including “consultative democracy” in the report of the Party Congress marked a big step forward in the theoretical and practical development of socialist democracy in China. In order to implement the guiding principles of the 18^th CPC National Congress, the Third Plenary Session of the 18^th CPC Central Committee clearly stated in formulating the program for comprehensively deepening reform in China that “Efforts should be made to promote the extensive and multi-level institutionalized development of consultative democracy. Consultative democracy is a unique form and unique advantage of China’s socialist democratic politics, and an important embodiment of the Party’s mass line in the political field. Under the leadership of the Party, extensive consultation should be launched in the whole society on major issues of economic and social development and practical issues involving the vital interests of the masses, both before and during the implementation of decisions.”¹⁰ In explaining the Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform adopted at the plenum, General Secretary Xi Jinping highlighted consultative democracy in the part on democratic political construction and political system reform. He also clearly pointed out: “The plenum decided to make extensive and multi-level institutionalization of consultative democracy an important part of the reform of the political system” and “we must build a system of consultative democracy with reasonable procedures and complete links, and broaden the consultation channels for state power authorities, CPPCC organizations, political parties, people’s organizations, and grassroots organizations.”¹¹ The decision adopted at this plenary session not only showed an encouraging new trend for the reform of the political system and the development of democratic politics in China, but also expanded the realization of consultative democracy from the CPPCC to the entire society, including the organs of state power, CPPCC organizations, political parties, people’s organizations, and grassroots organizations. In September 2014, General Secretary Xi Jinping further pointed out that “Whether the people enjoy democratic rights depends on whether they have the right to vote in elections and the right to continue participating in daily political life. It also depends on whether the people have the right to democratic elections, and the right to democratic decision-making, democratic management, and democratic supervision.”¹² “If the people only have the right to vote but not the right to participate extensively, and if they are only awakened for voting and then cast away, such a democracy is formalistic.”¹³ He insightfully pointed out that “Under China’s socialist system, consultation is upheld. The affairs of the people are discussed among the people, and finding the greatest common divisor of the will and demands of the whole society is the true meaning of people’s democracy.”¹⁴ For the first time in the history of world democracy, he called the participatory democracy featuring “extensive participation” and “extensive consultation” of the masses “the true meaning of people’s democracy.” Meanwhile, he also pointed out that “Consultative democracy is deeply embedded in the whole process of China’s socialist democratic politics.”

 

 

How are the masses of the people able to manage state affairs, economic and cultural affairs, and social affairs through participatory democracy featuring “extensive participation and extensive consultation?” China’s approach is worth summarizing and promoting.

 

First, by establishing grassroots legislative liaison stations for improving democratic-oriented legislation. In July 2015, in accordance with the guiding principles of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18^th CPC Central Committee, the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the NPC launched four pilot units of grassroots legislative liaison stations across the country, namely Xiangfan City, Hubei province; Jingdezhen City, Jiangxi province; Lintao County in Dingxi City, Gansu province, and Hongqiao Sub-district Office in Changning District, Shanghai. The Gubei Community Civic Center in Hongqiao Sub-district, Changning District, Shanghai, where General Secretary Xi Jinping first proposed “whole-process people’s democracy” on November 2, 2019, was among the first batch of grassroots legislative liaison stations. This community is inhabited by residents from more than 50 countries and regions, and is a microcosm of Shanghai’s effort in promoting grassroots scientific governance and democratic governance. As of July 2022, Hongqiao Sub-district completed the consultation on 67 draft laws, and submitted more than 1,300 suggestions, of which 101 were adopted. It later became the grassroots legislative contact point of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, completed the consultation work on dozens of local regulations and draft rules, and submitted hundreds of suggestions, a considerable part of which was adopted. In July 2020, the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the NPC identified Kunshan City in Jiangsu province, Yiwu City in Zhejiang Province, Zhengding Town in Zhengding County in Hebei Province, and China University of Political Science and Law as the second batch of grassroots legislative liaison stations. Then, in 2021, a third batch of 12 new legislative liaison stations was added. As of June 2021, the liaison stations put forward about 6,600 suggestions on 109 draft laws, legislative work plans, etc., and many were adopted after careful analysis and research.

 

In the course of legislation, the standing committees of local people’s congresses went deep into sub-district, community, and other liaison stations of people’s congress deputies and grassroots legislative liaison stations to hear the opinions of the people. In 2021, the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress decided to formulate the Beijing Municipal Regulations on Timely Handling Complaints on the basis of existing experience. From the very beginning, it embraced the principle of open-door legislation. The Standing Committee of the Municipal People’s Congress established a mechanism of “10,000 deputies going to the grassroots masses,” mobilizing the people’s congresses of the municipality and the districts, leveraging the deputies’ home and liaison stations, and soliciting the participation of deputies at the municipal, district and township levels. In the legislative process of China’s first local regulations of its kind, 11,377 deputies from Beijing brought the draft regulations to 306 homes for deputies and 2,184 liaison stations for face-to-face communication with 66,915 citizens. Municipal leaders concurrently serving as deputies to the municipal people’s congress took the lead in visiting the deputies’ homes and liaison stations, to listen to the opinions of the people, and members of the chairmanship meeting of the Standing Committee led teams to those venues, to listen to the opinions of the masses on issues involving their interests.

 

Second, to establish grassroots liaison stations of the budget work commission to improve economic democracy. Finance and taxation are most closely related to economic development and, consequently, the improvement of people’s livelihoods. In early 2020, the Budget Working Commission of the Standing Committee of the NPC set up a grassroots contact point in Dongsheng Town, Haidian District, Beijing, the Standing Committee of Nanhu District People’s Congress in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province; the Standing Committee of Chaisang District People’s Congress in Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province; the Standing Committee of Danling County People’s Congress in Meishan City, Sichuan Province, and the Standing Committee of the Hancheng Municipal People’s Congress in Shaanxi Province. The Standing Committee of the Nanhu District People’s Congress of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, as a grassroots contact point, successively put forward nearly 20 suggestions to the Budget Working Commission of the Standing Committee of the NPC concerning the review and supervision of the 2021 budget of the People’s Congress. At the beginning of 2021, after receiving the Letter on Requesting Assistance in Investigating the Work, Opinions and Suggestions on Fiscal and Taxation Legislation from the Budget Working Commission of the Standing Committee of the NPC, it successively held symposiums with the Finance Bureau, the Taxation Bureau and other departments of Nanhu District, listened to the opinions and suggestions of all parties, sorted out them one by one, and provided detailed opinions and suggestions on fiscal and taxation legislation. Besides, it also formulated and introduced 12 systems on financial supervision, upgraded the original network system for financial supervision, improved the closed loop of financial supervision, and improved the management of the government funds in a more detailed and down-to-earth manner. Their experience is “the use of government funds and how it is used should always be an important issue under the supervision of the people’s congress. After the use of funds directly administered by the central government is introduced into the financial and economic network supervision system of Nanhu District People’s Congress, it can be easily supervised by the people’s congress deputies. Through the contact point, the Budget Working Commission of the Standing Committee of the NPC has gained a more comprehensive understanding of the actual management of direct funds at the grassroots level, including their reception, allocation, disclosure, and the effectiveness of their use, etc., and managed to track and supervise the implementation of policies, ensuring the implementation of various policies beneficial for enterprises and the people. ”

 

Third, to improve the mechanism for soliciting public opinion to serve reform and opening up. The grassroots legislative contact point of the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the NPC attached great importance to the public opinion of all sectors in reform and opening up areas in selecting liaison stations. Hongqiao Sub-district in Changning District, Shanghai, is a new urban area born in the reform and opening up of Shanghai at the end of the 20^th century, having under its jurisdiction Hongqiao Economic and Technological Development Zone and Gubei New District, a foreign-standard composite residential area, with people of diverse backgrounds, modern region, developed economy and abundant resources. Here, expatriates, as residents of the community, can also participate in the discussion of the laws and regulations proposed for legislation in China and Shanghai. Yiwu City of Zhejiang Province has a world-famous small commodity market, and the Standing Committee of the Yiwu Municipal People’s Congress was among the second batch of grassroots legislative liaison stations appointed by the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the NPC. Aside from the people’s congress deputies, it has established 47 consultation units and 15 liaison stations in the city, and hired 25 legislative consultants, 51 legislative liaison workers and a large number of information gatherers, in order to improve the layout of the grassroots legislative network. Its works are now unfolding effectively. In Yiwu, the Jimingshan Community is known as the “United Nations Community”, since it has business people from various countries, ethnic groups and religious beliefs. So, they paid special attention to the coverage and nationality in selecting information gatherers. Kunshan City is one of the areas on the Chinese Mainland having the most active investment from business people of Taiwan, the most intensively Taiwan-funded enterprises, and the most frequent cross-Strait economic, trade and cultural exchanges. A total of 100,000 Taiwan compatriots live and work there. After the Standing Committee of the Kunshan Municipal People’s Congress was inaugurated in August 2020 as a grassroots legislative contact point of the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the NPC, the opinions and suggestions of Taiwan compatriots were sought for all major reforms. The Regulations of the Kunshan Pilot Zone for Deepening Cross-Strait Industrial Cooperation was enacted and implemented on this basis. In December 2020, during the review of the draft Rural Revitalization Promotion Law, the Standing Committee of the Kunshan Municipal People’s Congress “summarized” specific measures and typical cases of Kunshan City’s implementation of the rural revitalization strategy and reported it to the higher authorities, providing a “Kunshan example” for national legislation. Jianghai District of Jiangmen City in Guangdong is a hometown of overseas Chinese, and it is also the province’s only grassroots legislative contact point of the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. It is clear that the State wants to reflect the “voice of overseas Chinese” in its legislation. In the more than two years since its establishment, it solicited opinions for a total of 51 draft laws and regulations, including 28 draft laws issued by the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the NPC, and submitted 946 opinions (104 were adopted), including 729 opinions submitted to the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the NPC. In the meantime, it also completed six research reports and legislative recommendations. In soliciting legislative opinions, it paid great attention to listening to the opinions of units involving overseas Chinese. The vice-president (and secretary-general) of Jiangmen Overseas Chinese Enterprise Federation said that “As a person based in Hong Kong and Macao, I am proud that my country is willing to listen to the grassroots voices and practice democracy in legislation. From the perspective of the Federation, I hope to convey the voices of more overseas Chinese, and Hong Kong and Macao compatriots to the national legislature.”

 

Fourth, to improve the social governance mechanism and improve people’s livelihoods. In contacting the masses of the people and enhancing legislative work, the most important work for the “home stations” of people’s congress deputies, the grassroots legislative liaison stations, and the neighborhood committees in various localities has been to eliminate worries and solve problems of the masses. For example, the “courtyard council” of Caochang Community in Qianmen Sub-district, Beijing, has upheld the concept and practice of “residents discussing and making decisions on their affairs,” solving many troubles for the residents. When General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the residents and officials there, he affirmed their approach, pointing out that the establishment of such a “courtyard council” is conducive to enhancing the sense of belonging of community residents, and improving the targeted and detailed community governance and services. In Shanghai, issues such as whether guide dogs for the visually impaired can enter public venues and how to make it more convenient for persons with disabilities to take the bus have been resolved; that is, the human rights of specific groups have been effectively protected, thanks to legislation promoted by the hard work of people’s congress deputies and the joint efforts of various departments. After the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as Civil Code) entered into effect, the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Kunshan Municipality, Jiangsu province, immediately prompted the Municipal Bureau of Housing and Urban-Rural Development incorporate the provisions of “prevision of epidemics, fire hazard, pollution, falling objects, and public safety accidents” into the Pre-property Service Agreements in Kunshan according to relevant provisions of the Civil Code. How to handle household garbage in communities has always been one of the issues incurring the most complaints by residents. When Zhejiang province was about to formulate the Regulations on the Management of Household Waste in Hangzhou, the legislative information gatherer of Hubin Sub-district pointed out that “The garbage in corridors of residential buildings should not be the “sole” responsibility of the community and property-managing company. Preferably, it is closely integrated with fire safety, garbage classification, epidemic prevention and control, etc. for coordinated handling.” Based on this suggestion, Hubin Sub-district launched the “five-step method” for corridor cleaning, featuring mobilization by means of community publicity, cleaning by residents, sanitization and garbage removal by the property-managing company, safety checks by the fire department, and on-site guidance by administrative law enforcement. Each of the five parties performs their own duties respectively, and thus jointly ensure the sanitation of public spaces and the accessibility of emergency channels. A deputy to the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress often said that “Nothing of the masses is too small to be taken lightly. When we receive the masses at ‘home station of the people’s deputy’, we must ‘respond to their calls and requests timely.’ If no response is made to their call for small things, who will come to you for important or difficult things?” Such simple words teem with deep feelings for the people, and demonstrate that Chinese democracy has always regarded the people’s happy life as the supreme pursuit of democracy.

 

It can be seen that in China, democracy is not a slogan or a decorative ornament. The reason for the Chinese whole-process people’s democracy to win the praise of the broad masses of Chinese people is that in ensuring the “affairs of the people are discussed by the people,” they have truly enjoyed the sweet and delicious fruits of people’s democracy. The concept of “whole-process people’s democracy” put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping comes from China’s practice of people’s democracy, which in turn promotes it. It is precisely in such a broad and in-depth practice of Chinese democracy that China has managed to better protect civil and political rights. In discussing China’s human rights cause in the new era, we must see this distinctive feature and outstanding achievement.

 

Finally, let’s come back to the topic of global governance. We are against the practice of using one’s limited views and one’s own interest to label countries not in one’s favor as “undemocratic.” We are in favor of a democratic approach to the democratic practices of all countries. China’s exploration of whole-process people’s democracy is introduced here as an experience for sharing with other countries. In a truly democratic global governance system, the democratic practice of countries in the world to protect their civil and political rights should be respected, and peoples of the

world should be allowed to explore forms of democratic realization in line with their national conditions.

 

 

(Translated by QIAN Chuijun)