Trivia People in China enjoy the same level of Internet freedom as North Americans. True or False?

Trivia False! – China’s Government carefully monitors internet usage – Techniques such as DNS blocking prevents users from accessing certain sites – E.g. Google.cn results re-directed to Baidu – Government determines which sites are deemed “prohibited”

Trivia The Chinese Communist Party is the sole political party in China. True or False?

Trivia False (But also true) 8 Registered minor parties – Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang – China Democratic League – China Democratic National Construction League – China Association for Promoting Democracy – Chinese Peasants’ and Workers’ Democratic Party – China Zhi Gong Party – September 3 Society – Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League Serve as a formality, essentially run by the CCP

The Setting: Political Communist State - Chinese Communist Party - Founded in Marxist-Leninist foundation - Centralization - Conformity of ministries - Eliminating opposition - Ruling political party - Ultimate control over state affairs and legislation

The Chinese Communist Party

The National Party Congress – Supreme legislative power – Meets every 5 years – Major issues e.g. constitutional revisions The Central Committee – 5 year turn-over intervals – Elected by NPC to carry out its mandate The Politburo Standing Committee – Decision and law-making body – Highest ranking officials of government ministries

The Government 3 Major bodies – President – State Council – National People’s Congress Communist Party is the ruling party and essentially controls at every level

The Government -Hu Jintao -President – Head of State -Figurehead, elected by the National People’s Congress -General Secretary of the Communist Party -Highest ranking official -Head of the Politburo -Chairman of the Central Military Commission

The Government -State Council -Wen Jiabao (premier) appointed by the president -Administrative body -Consists of the heads of each ministry and department

The Government National People’s Congress – Wu Bangguo (Chairman) – Legislative body Rubber Stamp? – Communist party is the majority, other parties make up the minority However minor parties are all “registered” parties with the CCP

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