NPC: Amplifying

Disillusionment
The Continuation of CPC’s Governance

Introduction
The national people's congress of China (中华人民共和国全国人民代表大会) is termed
“China’s Fundamental Political System”1 yet from the opposition perspective it is a reprise of the
disappointments that typify the rule of
Communist Party of China (CPC), an authoritarian legislature2. The constitution of China in
chapter III, section 1, articles 57 to 783, talks about the various powers, mainly legislative and
1 “The National People’s Congress (NPC),” n.d.

http://bg.chinaembassy.gov.cn/eng/zgzt/lh/200502/t20050215_2368881.htm.

2 Wiebrecht, Felix. “ The Black Box of Authoritarian Legislatures.” The Loop, September 21, 2022.

https://theloop.ecpr.eu/the-black-box-of-authoritarian-legislatures.

3 “LAWS & REGULATIONS,” n.d. https://english.www.gov.cn/archive/lawsregulations/

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executive, and functions of the NPC. These powers include the power to oust the premier and
amend the constitution. Despite the magnificent

structure and content of the constitutional document, the practice not only lacks substance but
also is quite contrary to what the constitution proposes, thus, a gap of theory and practice. This
paper focuses not on the question of whether such a gap exists rather on the relative width of the
gap and the extents to which efforts have or have not been made to bridge the gap. The argument
made is thus that of the lack of autonomy and granted identity of the congress. No critique on
NPC can be complete without a prior understanding of its fundamental structure, functions and
operations. The following parts acquaint the reader with a basic understanding of what the NPC
is, theoretically, before starting to elucidate the disappointing practical realities.

Structure
The structure of NPC is composed of two main components namely the Delegates and the
Standing committee.
• Delegates:
More than two thousand delegates from different administrative regions and social classes
constitute the NPC. The federal level election of representatives follows the selection of these
delegates via a hierarchical electoral process.
• Standing committee:
Composed of nearly 150 members, the standing committee is in charge of legal
comprehension, legislation and other duties that the NPC may assign. The standing committee is
only to work in between the sessions of the NPC.
• Special committee
As per the article 35 of the constitution of China, the National People's Congress has 10
special committees4:
1. Overseas Chinese Affairs committee
2. Financial and Economic Affairs Committee
3. Social Development Affairs Committee
4. Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee
5. Environmental Protection and Resources Conservation Committee
6. Education, Science, Culture and Public Committee
7. Constitution and Law Committee
8. Ethnic Affairs Committee
9. Foreign Affairs Committee
10. Supervisory and Judicial Affairs Committee

4 “LAWS & REGULATIONS,” n.d. https://english.www.gov.cn/archive/lawsregulations/

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 In addition, there are five Working and Administrative Bodies, and a Credentials Committee.

Function
According to the Chinese Constitution, the National People’s Congress (NPC) of China
performs several essential constitutional roles, including:

▪ Legislation:
The Constitution, civil and criminal laws, and laws pertaining to different facets of
governance are all subject to enactment and amendment by the NPC. It ratifies laws and
rules proposed by People’s Congresses at the provincial level as well as by its standing
committee.

▪ Appointment:
Key positions such as the Premier of the State Council, the Chairman of the Central
Military Commission, the President and Vice President of China, and the heads of the
Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate can all be chosen or
appointed by the NPC.

▪ Supervisory Role:
All departments of state are subservient to the NPC. NPC reviews and keeps an eye on
the working of them. It also has the authority to oversee the work of the State Council,
the highest executive organ in China.

▪ Constitutional Interpretation:
The NPC performs the judiciary's role of interpretation of the constitution. This role is of
particular significance in the context of legal and judicial affairs of the state.

▪ Amendment of the Constitution:

With a two-thirds majority vote, the NPC can amend or make changes in the constitution.

Operations
• Annual Sessions
NPC meets once a year for an annual session usually in March. This session lasts for two
weeks or ten days approximately. The delegates discuss legislation and policies.
• Decision-making Process

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 The decision-making process is not much except for approving and ratifying the decisions of
the CPC making the NPC nothing more than a ceremonial decision maker.
• Public Display of Unity
The sessions of NPC are held in the majestic Great Hall of People. All sessions are highly
orchestrated and have a royal touch. With about 3000 delegates assembled, the nation and the
world both get a message of the Chinese unity.

A Bleak Organ
NPC is the only organ of the Chinese government and unfortunately it is a bleak one. The
dominance of CPC and its self-proclaimed right to govern without opposition curtails the power
of the NPC. The potential of the Chinese unicameral legislature is rendered useless by the
CPCs use of NPC as a rubber stamp. This paper shall examine the ways in which NPC lacks
autonomy and acts as an instrument for the CPC to further their interests.

Removal of President
Article 63 of the Chinese constitution equips the NPC with the power to remove the
President of Peoples Republic of China from office. Legislatures all over the world have the
power to hold the head of state or government accountable and oust them through votes of no
confidence, like in Pakistan, or through impeachment, like in the United States of America. In
theory, the NPC is no different. The reality, however, is quite the contrary given that the NPC has
never questioned any of the presidents. It might be argued that maybe no president till date was
incapacitated, corrupt or anything that could have gotten the NPC to remove them from office
but then such an argument would have completely ignored the presidency of Mao Zedong, Deng
Xiaoping’s implementation of specific laws to eliminate his political opponents, or even the
present Xi Jinping’s power-centric governance. It might also be argued that other states too
exhibit such a gap. US has impeached a total of three presidents with Trump being impeached
twice5.

Decisions- Approve, Reject, Revoke

The decisions before NPC in need of approval are always approved. This is not because they
are optimal but because they are always pre-approved by the CPC. The constitution clearly states
in Article 67 that the NPC shall reject and revoke all legislation that may be in conflict with the
constitution. Despite this power, the NPC failed to act when the constitution was amended at the
will of CPC to allow Xi a lifelong presidency. The constitution permits a president to serve a

5 Panetta, Grace, and Lauren Frias. “Here Are All the US Presidents Who Have Been Impeached.” Business Insider,

February 9, 2021. https://www.businessinsider.com/list-of-impeached-us-presidents-2019-12.

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maximum of two terms. CPC pressed on to change the provision to “strengthen the institution of
Presidency”. Previously, Deng had restored the presidency with some governmental powers
stripped and a term limit. This was a centralization-overpower approach. Mr. Xi in his statement
regarding the extended tenure showed that the decision to continue the rule was something he is
against but he feels a compulsion to take this sub-optimal decision. NPC while ignoring the long
term consequences of the extension and amending the constitution to their taste supported “the
feeling of compulsion” felt by CPC.

Not So Humane Policies

More often than not, the NPC fails to take into consideration that the policies and laws that it
legislates are for Chinese “human beings”. The legislations intended for regulation in general
seem to have a robotic target. These include China’s One Child Policy, Hukou System6, RTL,
Cybersecurity Law and Criminal Law Amendments.
Hukou System is a family registration system that divides the population into rural and urban
groups. As a consequence of this system, the people from the rural areas have lesser access to
welfare and opportunities. The policy is not directly an initiative of NPC but NPC is a supporter
and has not taken any legislative measure against this discriminatory policy.

Re-education Through Labor (RTL) is a policy that officially remained functional from 1957
to 2013 is a reeducation campaign of people accused of offenses like theft, corruption etc. The
RTL camps were put an end to in 2013 in papers by NPC. However, NPC failed to take any
concern about the real-time implementation of the same. Today, these camps of internment and
detention still are a reality that exist under names other than RTL.
Residents of the special administrative units and Xinjiang face discrimination and human
rights violations like no other. Their lives are fully controlled to say the very least. This control
does not make sense in the China of today given that the opposition China faced years back7
doesn’t exist today. Furthermore, China of today is better equipped to manage revolts than it was
ever in the past. The residents of Xinjiang count their days in fear as they might get detained at
any moment without specific reason. Many inhabitants of such regions have been detained just
because they talked to their relative settled abroad8
The one-child policy is not criticized much on the basis of population control as much as it is
criticized for the treatment of the children born after the first child of the family. NPC has failed
to take measures to prevent such incidents of harsh treatment of those children.

6 Wikipedia contributors. “Hukou.” Wikipedia, October 8, 2023.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou.
7 Kissinger, Henry. On China. Penguin UK, 2011.
8 Amnesty International. “Up to One Million Detained in China’s Mass ‘Re-Education’ Drive,” October 7,
2021. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/09/china-up-to-one-milliondetained/

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Restrictions and Censorship
China has state controlled media and sources of information. We only know what we have
been told. For a researcher, analysis of china’s political model comes with a great deal of
difficulty as there are no first hand information sources that are relatively less biased and
accurate. International organizations and watch bodies most often than not are prohibited from
observation of any crisis area9. The legislative body has not made any policy in regards to this
matter. Complete censorship and control of information is a violation of human right at least in
the world of today.

Conclusion
The argument of this paper in a nutshell is that of the width of the gap between theory and
practice and the inefficacy of the authoritarian legislature of China. To sum it all up, it would be
absolutely alright to state that NPC is a dummy in the hands of the CPC- A Rubberstamp Organ.
The NPC of PRC is the magic wand CPC uses to add life to what is wishes to come true. This
use of such an important pillar of the government is the utter waste of potential and resources and
an injustice to the people of China.

9 Amnesty International. “Up to One Million Detained in China’s Mass ‘Re-Education’ Drive,” October 7, 2021.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/09/china-up-to-one-milliondetained/.