Marketing Dictatorship by Brady Anne-Marie;

Author:Brady, Anne-Marie;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 4455814
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Unlimited Model

Rule by Law

Since 1989, the Chinese government has been under increasing international and domestic pressure to introduce “rule of law” (fazhi, or yifa zhiguo). In the Mao era, the Party ruled by political campaign; law courts and lawyers had a very fettered role. The Ministry of Justice was abolished in 1959. Although it was reestablished in 1979, in the current period the Party still maintains a heavy hand over the legal process. In recent years, China has joined a number of international organizations which require the country to bring its legal and administrative systems in line with international norms. Rather than resisting, from the early 1990s the government has, to a limited extent, actually embraced the opportunity. In Chinese yifa zhiguo has the dual meaning of to “rule by law.” Since Party control over the legal system has not been de-linked in recent years, this is the effective meaning of “rule of law,” a means to give extra power to the Party-State rather than empower citizens.

“Rule by law” (fazhi) is a buttress to the CCP’s traditional system of “rule by individuals” (renzhi); the system which relied on the nomenklatura to maintain Party control over Chinese society. Reliance on the nomenklatura meant that the system was more prone to factional struggle and that there was more likelihood of resistance to central policies if local level leaders disagreed. Rule by law is more neutral and binding. From 1992, “rule by law” was introduced into China’s propaganda system as a new approach to control.92 This has lead to the creation of a vast new body of laws. In the process, China acquires status internationally by appearing to comply with international norms at the same time as gaining a useful new weapon to strengthen controls over the propaganda sector. Local and national regulations in the propaganda system are regarded as a backup to national laws.93

China’s new laws have been described as a new “weapon” for CCP cadres to manage national affairs.94 Hence when the State promotes awareness of the law in China it is in order to create more obedient citizenry, it is not a means for Chinese citizens to gain more rights. Laws unrelated to media matters are being used as a means to control the propaganda system. An example of this is the crackdown in 2003-4 on the Guangdong-based, but nationally influential paper, Southern Metropolis Daily, which had established a strong reputation from the late 1990s. The paper followed a tabloid format, focusing on sports, cars, and other popular topics as well as reporting on some sensitive local issues. However it was the paper’s reporting of the death in custody of a young university graduate who had been beaten to death while under temporary detention which most offended local officials. Though Central authorities responded to the national outcry over the death by repealing the temporary detention law, local officials were extremely embarrassed by the paper’s coverage and sought revenge. A number of the paper’s senior leaders were arrested on, what many commentators say, were trumped up corruption charges.

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