Party

Nice indepth, honest analysis of the chinese communist party.

Nada mais.

Il est parfois difficile d'expliquer la hiérarchie du PCC, l'organisation du pouvoir à travers ce pays si vaste avec différentes formes de gouvernements selon le type de province, le type région. Un livre illuminant toute l'emprise du PCC sur la société chinoise dans tous les aspects de la vie.

An extremely insightful book. I have been puzzled by many actions of the players of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) until I have read this book. The central thesis of the book is this: the primary aim of all the important players of the CCP was the survival of the Party, all else are secondary - the people, the nation, morality and so on.Once one accepts that idea, then many of the actions of the CCP become understandable. Take for instance Xi's drive to weed out corruption. Since taking power, Xi has been issuing statement that it is important for the survival of the party to weed out all corruption. But then a few weeks ago, 2 activists who were calling for the declaration by party members of the assets they own to be made public, arguing this is one way of preventing corruption in high places. But to the dismay of many, these two were arrested. Surely, if Xi was sincere in trying to weed out corruption, those two activists should not be arrested. However, having read the book, their arrests were fully understandable.First, note that Xi's reason for his weeding out corruption was that if corruption was to continue on its grand scale, that would undermine the survival of the party. He is doing it not out of any sense of justice or morality, it's out of necessity for the survival of the party.Second, if he takes heed of the activists call for transparency of asset holdings by party members, that would probably show to the Chinese people that everyone in the party, and possibly even he himself or his family, are corrupt! That would undermine the survival of the party.By arresting the two activists, and keeping the mechanism for the weeding out of corruption within the party itself, that would both assuage the anger of the people regarding corruption as well as allowing those untouched by any scandal to continue their robber baron method of getting rich, at the same time ensuring the survival of the party. The party HAS to survive in order to allow them to continue to make money.In so far as the people must be kept docile in order to let the party survive, the people would be allowed economic freedom, particularly when economic freedom can let the people make money, which the Party can then parasitize upon.

Rechtzeitig zum 01. Oktober, dem Nationalfeiertag und 65. Jahrestag der Volksrepublik China, fiel mir heute die Lektüre von Richard McGregors exzellent geschriebenem und äußerst lesenswertem Buch "Der Rote Apparat" (auf englisch schlicht "The Party") ein.McGregor zeigt auf, wie von dem kommunistischen Erbe hauptsächlich der leninistische Staatsaufbaus zurückgeblieben ist, welcher einer für westeuropäische Begriffe unvorstellbar korrupten, brutalen und dabei ihrer selbst nie gewissen Elite Vorschub leistet.Wer China ein wenig kennt und weiß, was es bedeutet, wenn keine nennenswerte Zivilgesellschaft besteht und Rechtsstaatlichkeit durch die Einparteienherrschaft verhindert wird, zweifelt keine Sekunde an der Wahrhaftigkeit der Schilderungen auch groteskester Zustände und Verhältnisse.Besonders beeindruckend sind die Schilderungen der Werdegänge hochrangiger Parteifunktionäre. Während in Westeuropa der Verlust der Macht ein für den gestürzten Politiker zwar schmerzhaftes und für die Opposition lustvolles politisches und mediales Ereignis ist, das sich aber größtenteils doch nach gesitteten Regeln vollzieht, müssen entmachtete chinesische Parteikader regelmäßig um Leib und Leben fürchten, zumindest aber mit langen Haftstrafen rechnen. Häufig werden auch die Familien in Sippenhaft genommen und genau so gnadenlos verfolgt wie sie sich zuvor bereichert und ihre Macht ausgebaut haben. Machtwechsel vollziehen sich gewalttätig und eruptiv, da es im intransparenten Einparteiensystem leninscher Prägung scheinbar keine ausreichenden innerparteilichen Verfahren der politischen Auseinandersetzung gibt.Wer Richard McGregor liest, wird verstehen, warum die Hongkonger Studenten dieses Jahr zum chinesischen Nationalfeiertag gegen die immer engere Umarmung durch den volksrepublikanischen großen Bruder aufbegehren.

The Party turns both commonly misunderstood analyses of China on their head, namely that China has a wholesale embrace of unrestrained capitalism, and the more unobservant one, that China is still communist.The Party's central thesis is that, in the words of one Beijing University professor "The Party is like God. He is everywhere, you just can't see him."What follows is a series of detailed accounts of how the party is at the heart of all the instruments of state, the economy, the media, and the military.Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 6 are in many ways rather similar, detailing the party's involvement in the economy, in both state and private enterprise and how the demarcation between the state and private sector are increasingly blurred.Toward the end of the book, greater insight is shown into several high profile corruption cases, such as the Sanlu baby milk poisoning scandal, and the initial attempt to cover it up.Perhaps little new is offered in the chapter concerning corruption, an issue highly familiar to many China hands, but the most insightful chapter for myself was Chapter 4, Why we fight: The Party and the Gun.Here is examined one of the most curious aspects of modern China, and indeed the modern world, a national military, the world's largest by standing troop numbers, who's first loyalty is to the party, as opposed to most other armies, who's first loyalty is to the state and constitution. The workings of the subordination of the military to the party are given better examination than this reader has hitherto encountered, and chapter 4 is a chapter worthy of disciplined re-reading.The final chapter on the Party and their official rendering of history, and control of the national media may be familiar to experienced China hand's but nonetheless new insights are contained.On the whole, The Party is a highly readable and detailed examination of China's system, and essential reading for new and old China hands alike.