CPC convenes first plenum on 'rule of law' in anti-graft drive

When elite members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) gather this week for a key annual policy-setting meeting, their presence alone will be enough to make history. [Special coverage]

The fourth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee - slated for Oct 20-23 - is billed as a milestone in China's political reforms and progress, as it will be devoted to the central theme of "rule of law" for the first time in the Party's history.

The meeting will deliberate on a draft decision of the CPC Central Committee on "major issues concerning comprehensively advancing rule of law," sources close to the meeting said.

The decision is widely expected to set the tone for the CPC to promote rule of law in China in an all-rounded manner under new circumstances.

Seldom has any other political concept been assigned the same gravity - rule of law is, as many analysts have noted, the cornerstone of the modernization of China's state governance and national rejuvenation.

"OLD PHRASE"

But the phrase is not new in the CPC's official discourse, rather one that has been championed for decades.

China wrote rule of law into its Constitution in the 1990s. The 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1997 decided to make "the rule of law" a basic strategy and "building a socialist country under the rule of law" an important goal for socialist modernization.

The phrase "exercises the rule of law, building a socialist country governed according to law" was added to the Constitution in 1999.

In 2012, the new leadership of the CPC Central Committee envisioned a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020, when "rule of law should be fully implemented as a basic strategy, a law-based government should be basically functional, judicial credibility should be steadily enhanced, and human rights should be fully respected and protected."

Last month, members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee echoed that vision some 700 days after Xi Jinping took the helm of the CPC in 2012 at the Party's 18th national congress.

Rule of law, they agreed, is "a must" if the country wants to build a prosperous society, rejuvenate the nation, comprehensively deepen reform, and improve socialism with Chinese characteristics and the Party's governance capability.

Never before had the notion carried so much weight in a country that has for thousands of years championed the efficiency of "rule of man" over rule of law.

"All the land under heaven belongs to the emperor, and everyone is his servant," the famous saying from China's first poetry collection Shijing goes.

KEY TO REFORMS

Many believe rule of law holds the key to the success of China's current reforms and is the harbinger of the nation's evolution toward modern civilization.

They also argue that rule of law could help institutionalize the popular anti-corruption campaign, push forward deeper reforms, and help stabilize the Chinese economy.

Facing mounting downward pressure and a painful economic transition, promoting rule of law has raised high hopes of an orderly and effective market that might offer new dividends for the Chinese economy.

This is especially true since almost all the pains currently suffered by the Chinese economy - ranging from overcapacity, real estate bubbles, risks of local government debts and shadow banks, to restricted growth in non-public sectors and insufficient innovation - could find their roots in excessive administrative interference, corruption and unfair competition, all of which are the result of the lack of rule of law.

With China's current reform drive picking up momentum, the quest to make Chinese governance more law-based is more urgent than ever.

Fortunately, profound changes are taking place.

In Shanghai, a commercial hub considered the "laboratory" for China's reforms, the government began to implement the city's own regional law for its free trade zone (FTZ) on August 1 this year, allowing for greater financial openness and fewer government controls on business activities.

The city also appointed the country's first group of assistants to judges and procurators as part of its efforts to improve judicial personnel management and cement judicial professionalism and independence.

There is more. The acquittal of Nian Bin due to insufficient evidence eight years after he was wrongly imprisoned for poisoning four people and the overturning of a death sentence for two men convicted of raping the daughter of social campaigner Tang Hui all testify to the stricter implementation of rules in Chinese courts and procuratorates.

Nonetheless, past shadows of the "rule of man" are not easily shaken off.

From macroeconomic overhauls to micro social management, an obsolete "above-the-law" privilege mentality remains among some Party and government officials, with unchecked power turning into a hotbed for corruption.

The struggle is sharpest when viewed in historical context. China laid the foundation for rule of law in the country's first constitution in 1954.

But the decade-long Cultural Revolution that began in 1966 damaged progressive legal reforms, and at one point even left the country without a working constitution.

To ensure that China's development will no longer be vulnerable to similar uncertainties and upheavals, Chinese leaders have since highlighted the importance of rule of law on various occasions.

Speaking at the third plenary session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping said, "To ensure people's democracy, we must strengthen our legal system."

"Democracy has to be institutionalized and written into law, so as to ensure that institutions and laws do not change whenever the leadership changes, or whenever the leaders change their views or shift the focus of their attention," said the man later dubbed chief architect of China's socialist reform.