Home Issues Past Issues MCS 2014 Issue 1 Is the Chinese Communist Party Rule "Resilient" or "Decaying"?An Examination of Administrative Litigation Cases in China
Is the Chinese Communist Party Rule "Resilient" or "Decaying"?
An Examination of Administrative Litigation Cases in China
Abstract: Recently, there is a debate among scholars on the issue whether the CCP will maintain its upward resilience that has been attained since the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown or has begun a trend of decaying toward ultimate distinction. On the one hand, Andrew Nathan, a political scientist at Columbia University, among others, has argued that, despite the numerous severe challenges, the authoritarian Communist regime has successfully found a way out in how to survive in the new era. British scholar Martin Jacques goes so far as to argue that the CCP has been constructing an advantageous “civilization state” on the basis of the Confucianism as opposed to the declining “nation state” in the West. On the other, while acknowledging the achievements of the CCP, political scientist Minxin Pei points out that China’s prosperity is not sustainable and will inevitably decay once the economy starts recession. This paper examines three major cases of the administrative litigation such as “The Virgin Prostitute,” “Wang Peirong vs. Local Government,” and “The Waitan Garden” all of which occurred in the new century and have attracted national attention. This paper argues that there is no doubt that the CCP has made certain headways in protecting people’s right. Yet, all three cases show that the progress has been quite limited and much needs to be done before people could challenge governmental misconducts. The linchpin to improve the administrative litigation and avert a downturn in the fate of the CCP lies in no other than the hands of the CCP itself.