Rule of law debate pointless in China, People’s Daily says
Concept is different in the mainland as it is about the codification of the party's will
Whether or not the Chinese Communist Party should be ruled by law is a pointless debate, the party’s flagship newspaper said in an online article today because the concept of law in the Chinese sense is the codification of the party’s will.
The article on the People’s Daily website came as the country’s president and party chief, Xi Jinping, called for a “clarification” of the “core of Chinese socialistic rule of law” following the release of the full text of the communique of the party’s fourth plenum last night.
“Rule of law” was listed as the theme of the party elites’ gathering last week. But scholars have been arguing the theme in China is different from the Western concept that no person, organisation or government agency, including the ruling party, is above law.
What the mainland government means by “rule by law” is a stronger legal system to support party rule, scholars said.
The concern that China’s legal reform plans will become an empty gesture if the party enjoys higher authority than law, the People’s Daily said, is a “false proposition”.
“It is wrong to say ‘rule of law’ contradicts the party rule,” the article quoted Wang Zhenmin, the dean of the Tsinghua Law School, as saying. “Law in China is the codification of the directives of the party."