Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to Change Their Government

Citizens lack the means to change their government legally and cannot freely choose or change the laws and officials that govern them. Citizens vote directly only for party-reviewed candidates for delegate positions in county-level people's congresses and for village-level officials. People's congress delegates at the provincial level, however, are selected by county-level people's congresses, and in turn provincial-level people's congresses select delegates to the National People's Congress (NPC). NPC seats are allocated on the basis of I per 220,000 urban residents and I per 880,000 rural residents. Although the CCP approves the candidates, many county and provincial elections are competitive, with more candidates running than there are seats available.

According to the 1982 Constitution, the NPC is the highest organ of state power. Formally it elects the President and Vice President, selects the Premier and Vice Premiers, and elects the Chairman of the Government's Central Military Commission. At the 1996 session of the NPC nearly 30 percent (799) of the delegates attending took the unusual step of either voting against, abstaining, or failing to vote on the Supreme People's Procuratorate work report. The Supreme Court work report received 514 negative votes. Most observers interpret these votes as expressions of delegate unhappiness about the problems of crime and corruption. The NPC has not in practice demonstrated the power to set policy or remove government or party leaders.

The election and agenda of people's congresses at all levels remain under the firm control of the Communist Party, the paramount source of political authority in China. A number of small "democratic" parties that date from before the Communist takeover in 1949 play only a minor consultative role, and they pledge their allegiance to the Communist Party. The party remains a tight rein on political decisionmaking. Efforts to form new political parties are suppressed.

Direct elections for basic level or village government are legally sanctioned for all of China's approximately 1 million villages. Foreign observers estimate that more than 80 percent of these villages have already participated in elections for local leaders. Although many have yet to hold truly competitive elections, central government officials have expressed their intent to further expand the competitive election process, and efforts to make these elections more competitive and fair continued. Successful village elections have included campaigning by multiple candidates, platforms, and the use of secret ballots. The Ministry of Civil Affairs, which administers the village election program, plans to set up an election training center in Beijing that will train local and provincial officials to teach others the basic techniques of running democratic elections. In some cases, candidates most favored by the authorities were defeated in village elections. Although there have been reports of "vote buying"

in some locales, elections have reportedly reduced corruption and brought better management to some villages. Many local observers do not, however, take village elections seriously. Political controls are tight, and village elections do not threaten to undermine ' lamentation of unpopular central policies or endanger the leading role of the Communist Party.

The official requirement that associations register and be approved discourages independent interest groups from forming and affecting the system. Social organizations registered in recent years include groups promoting environmental protection, consumer rights, charitable work, and the rights of the disabled, but the Government monitors their activities to ensure that they remain apolitical. Political activities are quickly suppressed. Liu Xiaobo, Wang Xizhe, and other activists submitted proreform petitions to government authorities. Liu was arrested in October and sentenced in a matter of hours to 3 years at a reeducation-through-labor cwnp. Shortly thereafter, Wang escaped China and is now living abroad.

The Government places no formal restrictions on the participation of women or minority groups in the political process. The Government and party organizations include approximately 12 million female officials. In September the press reported that women and ethnic minorities constituted 21.03 percent and 14.7 percent of National People's Congress delegates, respectively. All of China's 56 nationalities are represented in the NPC membership. Women and minorities, however, hold relatively few positions of significant influence within the party or government structure. There are currently no women in the Politburo, but women hold 3 out of 41 ministerial-level positions.