This Round Table brings together a group of scholars form China, Europe and the U.S. who will consider the further implications of the 19th CPC Congress more specifically in the context of the important objectives of developing Socialist Rule of Law and governance. That exploration implicates significant initiatives both internally and in the context of China’s growing external relations. Participants will consider the development of internal disciplinary systems, their rules and structures, as well as Chinese external initiatives–principally the One Belt One Road Initiative. The relevance of big data management, AI and algorithms will also be considered.
In the Report to the 19th CPC Congress, Xi Jinping stressed the drivers of the project to continue to develop Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in China’s New Era of development. These consisted of a 13 part approach founded on a focus on ensuring CPC leadership over all work expressed through a number of objectives: commitment to a people centered approach, continuation of comprehensive system reform, adoption of a new vision for development, affirming the principle of popular sovereignty, commitment to the construction of system in which every dimension of governance is law-based, commitment to upholding core Socialist Values, improving living standards through development, promotion of harmony between people and nature, pursuit of a holistic approach to national security, commitment to CPC control of military forces, promotion of national reunification under the one country two systems principle, promotion of the building of a community with a shared future for humankind, and the exercise of full and rigorous governance over the CPC.
These suggest the nature and character of Chinese approaches to law and governance–with respect to its objectives, forms and scope. Three areas of reform stand out. The first touches on the reform of the institutional architecture of the state and the exercise of democratic governance through those institutions. These touch not only on the role of the CPC, but on its interactions with and the exercise of authority by the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (人民政协). The second touches on the nature of legality. This is understood both in its constitutional sense–arranging the organizing principles and jurisdictions of the political and administrative sectors of government in their representative capacity guided by the overarching normative program set out in the CPC’s Basic Line. But it also touches on the protection of the integrity of governance through enhanced anti-corruption efforts centered on the work of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The third touches on the coupling of these changes with macro-economic policy that focuses both on national development and on China’s place within global systems. In that sense, Chinese rule of law, development and governance systems are understood to be carried out to the world both in China’s bi-lateral relations and in defining China’s objectives in international forums.
This broad set of objectives and implications suggests the ambitious scope of reform envisioned in the 19th CPC Report. It also suggests the comprehensive approach to reform that the 19th CPC Report adopts. State, society, economics, politics, and culture are treated as an integrated whole the development of which is deeply integrated. It also suggests that within this comprehensive approach to development and reform the old categories of governance might be abandoned as well. The traditional techniques and modalities of public governance–law and administrative regulation–are to be enhanced with many of the methodologies of private governance. These include data driven algorithmically structured real time assessment mechanisms through which rewards and punishments may be allocated to create incentives toward behavior goals. These trends parallel similar Western reforms but with significant Chinese characteristics that are worthy of consideration in their own right.
Round Table participants will consider aspects of some or all of these important developments and together consider how these ideas will be manifested in Chinese legal, political and economic reform at home and abroad. This Round Table builds on our initial Round Table, The Implications of the 19th Chinese Communist Party Congress, which we held shortly after the conclusion of the 19th Chinese Communist Party Congress.
All are welcome to attend and participate either in person or through an interactive live streaming of the event. Participants will be afforded ample time for questions which may be submitted online or in person. Round Table information is posted on the Conference Website.
__________
中国的法治与国家治理：国内外两个视角
2018年3月13日圆桌会议概念文件
这场圆桌会议邀请了一批来自中国、欧洲和美国的学者在发展社会主义法治和国家治理的语境下深入具体地讨论中共十九大对于中国与世界的进一步影响。近来有关这一议题的探讨与研究表明，在对外关系不断发展的背景下，中国在对内和对外政策上都有了采取了重大调整。本次会议上，与会者将讨论中国内部纪律体系的发展，其规则和结构，以及以一带一路为主体的对外倡议。同时，会议也将讨论在新时代背景下，国家治理中大数据管理、人工智能与算法的应用等有关话题。
十九大报告中，习近平强调了发展新时代下中国特色社会主义的基本方略，主要包括坚持共产党对一切工作的的领导，坚持以人为本，坚持全面体制改革，提出新的发展愿景，肯定人民主权原则，治理与构建法治为基础的治理体系，坚持社会主义核心价值观，坚持通过发展提升人民生活水平，促进人与自然之间的和谐，追求国家整体安全，在一国两制原则下推动国家统一，构建人类命运共同体，对中国共产党实行更加全面、严格的管理。
这些都表明了中国法治和国家治理途径在其目标、形式和范围等方面的性质和特点。改革的三个方面引人注目。第一个方面涉及到国家体制结构的改革和应用这些机构进行民主治理的方式。这不仅仅在于共产党所发挥的作用，更在于共产党与全国人大和人民政协的相互作用与各自的权力行使。第二个方面设计合法性的性质。这既体现在宪法的意义上，也体现在以中国共产党的基本路线制定的总体规范纲领为指导的政府政治和行政部门的组织原则和管辖范围之上。这里也涉及到通过加强反腐败工作，即以中央纪律检查委员会的工作为中心来维护治理的完整性。第三点涉及这些变化与宏观经济政策的耦合，这里所指的宏观经济政策既关注国家发展，也关注中国在全球体系中的地位。从这个意义上讲，中国的法治、发展和治理体系都可以被理解为在中国对外的双边关系和在国际社会中上定位中国的目标。
这一广泛的目标和意义表明了中国共产党十九大报告所设想的改革有着雄心勃勃愿景，同时也提出了中国共产党十九大报告所采取的全面改革措施。国家、社会、经济、政治和文化都被视为一个深度有机融合的整体的发展。它还表明，在这种全面的发展和改革中，旧的治理方式也可能被抛弃。在公共治理中以法律和行政法规为代表的的传统技术和模式将随着许多私营治理方式的发展而得到加强。这些发展包括数据驱动的算法结构的实时评估机制，通过这些机制而分配奖励和惩罚可能被用于针对行为目标的激励。这些趋势与西方类似的改革相似，但具有中国特色，值得我们多加观察和思考。
本次圆桌会议的与会者将对上述重要发展趋势进行讨论，并且在此基础上思考这些新发展将如何在中国国内国外两个层面的的法律、政治和经济改革中发挥作用。这次的会议室建立在我们去年十一月举办的有关十九大影响的圆桌会议的基础之上的。
会议将在2018年3月18日上午十点，宾夕法尼亚州立大学大学公园校区Lewis Katz Building 232 举办，欢迎大家亲身来到会场或者是通过现场直播和网上问答渠道参与我们讨论，具体的圆桌信息将发布在会议网站上。