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China Other Party Organs
Another body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection,
is chartered to monitor the implementation of party policy and to
handle disciplinary matters regarding party organizations and
members. The Central Advisory Commission was established by the
1982 Party Constitution to facilitate the transfer of power from
the Long March (see Glossary)
generation to younger and better
educated successors. This body has consultative rather than
decision-making powers. Its chairman is an ex-officio member of the
Political Bureau's Standing Committee. Deng Xiaoping was made the
first chairman of this body, both to lend it prestige and to
encourage older leaders to retire.
Below the central level, party committees and congresses were
formed in the twenty-one provinces, five autonomous regions, and
three special municipalities directly under the central government.
Taiwan was listed as a province but, of course, was not under
China's administration. The party also was represented in various
county subdivisions (which included the prefectures) and within the
PLA from regional headquarters down to regimental level
(see Military Organization
, ch. 14). At the bottom of the party
hierarchy were three kinds of basic organizations: general party
branches, primary party committees, and party branches. These were
set up in factories, shops, schools, offices, neighborhoods, PLA
companies, and other places, depending on local circumstances and
subject to approval by the appropriate party committees.
Party committees at the provincial level are elected by the
provincial-level congresses that convene every five years and have
as additional functions the election of a discipline inspection
commission, advisory commissions, and delegates to the National
Party Congress. The county-level party congress convenes every
three years and elects a committee, standing committee, and
secretary. Below the county and PLA regimental levels, the general
branch committee meets twice a year and is elected for a two-year
term. The party branch, or lowest level of party organization,
meets four times a year and elects a branch committee for a
two-year term. Every party member must be a member of a branch
committee. Party branch committees and their members at the
grass-roots level are the backbone of the party organization. This
is also the level where admission and expulsion of party members
takes place. Branch members exchange views on issues, become
thoroughly informed concerning party goals and policies, and learn
to accept party discipline.
Data as of July 1987
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