The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers – A Revelatory Inside Look at the CCP's Grip on Power

Politics in China can be often opaque to foreigners. In some sense it is surprising the lack of literature on the Chinese Communist Party and the means in which it functions, but as illustrated in this book, much happens behind closed doors. If one wants an introduction to the party as well as the way in which it governs and integrates itself then this serves perfectly. After reading this one gets a better perspective on how the party operates, the stresses that it deals with, how it has adapted in the past and what it is dealing with today. The Party uses both example and commentary to show by example how the Party is behind some of the major business decisions of recent history. It gives examples of how the Party directly influences some of the biggest corporates on the planet. In particular the rotation of the CEOs of the 3 biggest chinese telco operators was done behind closed doors without consultation with the public. It discusses Chalco's impact on disrupting one of the biggest potential mergers in modern business history (Rio and BHP), as such a merger would shift bargaining power of mineral prices away from consumer (china) and towards producer. Its actions need to be assessed through the lense of an entity who is both asserting and preserving its power as well as protecting its sovereign interests. The Party also discusses the internal stresses faced by the communist party. With the phenomenal success of the chinese economy and the wealth that has been created with growth comes greater competition between the lure of the party, and the desire for commercial wealth. This stress has been a source of corruption and rent seeking. With economies directed from the bottom up with preferential state lending, the position of power of local authorities can and is used for personal benefit. The party it is argued acknowledges and accepts this. It must deal with both punishing examples to show vigilance but realizing that removing the rents that are recieved with political power would remove the incentive to join and thus would promote instability. Overall this is a fascinating overview of how the Chinese Communist Party operates and what it has to deal with. It has had to adapt quickly, and the stresses it is dealing with will likely intensify over time. The way in which the party maintains its power is on a tightrope in which differences in opinion within the party are abundant. Nonetheless they have so far been able to form consensus and progress despite their differences. It is the ability to unify and come to consensus that has taken them this far, despite some near break points. Whether that will continue to be the case, time will tell, but as an overview on what is happening today and some of the solutions the party has crafted, this book is excellent. It is a must read to gain perspective into how the communist party operates and how it sees things.

There are many books out there on China and on Chinese Communism. Most of them deal with the 20th century and end before 2000. Most are broad stroke histories and rarely get into the nitty gritty of the party workings. Then along comes 'The Party', one of the best contemporary histories of modern China and of the Party that runs China. It goes a long way to giving you the best possible understanding of the current Chinese political system, also why and how it operates. Albeit from a western perspective, you still find out more about the reasons behind the Party's decision making process than in other publications. Well written and simple to digest, if you were thinking of doing business or moving to work in China, this is a perfect book for anybody wanting to get to grips with it's system. My only gripe is that I think it could have been a little longer. It also leaves out some important subjects like Falun Gong, North Korea and Fishing boat disputes in the sea of Japan. That said, it's still possibly the best buy on the subject currently so I highly recommend it to anybody interested.

There is no need to add to the praise of McGregor's work other than to say he brought with him a Sovietologist background when he turned to the Chinese Communist Party that allowed him to see what many others have missed and that is the core embedded Leninist principles as the foundation of the CCP's mode of operation at all levels of activity. As the term Communist has been washed away in western dialog about the Peoples Republic of China McGregor never makes that mistake. His work is a brilliant analysis of the strengths and weakness of the system and he lists the many forecasts that have been made of its inevitable demise but it is worth quoting his final conclusions. "It has always been easy to construct scenarios under which the Party loses power. A financial crisis was a favoured one for years. As it turned out, the great financial crisis of the early twenty-first century came to symbolize the eclipse of the west, and China's rise, rather than the other way round. ... Within China, the country's distinctive system is not a source of concern. Rather, it is played up as a point of pride. The Global Times, the nationalistic tabloid owned by the People's Daily, the Party's mouthpiece, trumpets how China's rise has ended the post-Cold-War `unilateral' world lorded over by the USA. `The biggest contribution that China has made to world politics is that through revolution, reform and development China has shown the world that the Western model is not the only way to modernize,' it said in an opinion piece in October 2009. `China has also demonstrated that the non-Western world does not necessarily follow the West's footsteps.' The editorial captured a longtime article of faith in China that is only now becoming evident in a western world still recuperating from the financial crisis. The end of the Cold War did not mean the end of history after all. The Chinese communist system is, in many ways, rotten, costly, corrupt and often dysfunctional. The financial crisis has added a dangerous dash of hubris to the mix. But the system has also proved to be flexible and protean enough to absorb everything that has been thrown at it, to the surprise and horror of many in the west. In the absence of democratic elections and open debate, it is impossible to judge popular support for the Party with any degree of accuracy. But it is indisputable since Mao's death that the twin foundations of the Party's power-economic growth and resurgent nationalism-have been strengthened. China has long known something that many in developed countries are only now beginning to grasp, that the Chinese Communist Party and its leaders have never wanted to be the west when they grow up. For the foreseeable future, it looks as though their wish, to bestride the world as a colossus on their own implacable terms, will come true." This is 2014, the year another approach by Neo-Marxist analysts* list as the likely date of the collapse of the Chinese economy for its similarities to western capitalists systems. They might reevaluate all their conclusions regarding China if they were to see what McGregor was capable of seeing; a mixed economy with a dynamic non-state sector harnessed to a vibrant state sector like no other communist model. To quote again: "The Party's genius has been its leaders' ability in the last three decades to maintain the political institutions and authoritarian powers of old-style communism, while dumping the ideological straitjacket that inspired them. The Party's conscious retreat from the private lives of Chinese citizens over the same period had a similarly liberating effect on society. The dehumanization of everyday life that characterized traditional communist societies has largely disappeared in China, along with the food queues. In the process, the Party has pulled off a remarkable political feat, somehow managing to hitch the power and legitimacy of a communist state to the drive and productivity of an increasingly entrepreneurial economy. The visible hand of the state and the invisible hand of the market, far from being contradictory, are made to complement and reinforce each other." * See Endless Crisis: How Monopoly-Finance Capital Produces Stagnation and Upheaval from the USA to China Foster, John Bellamy; McChesney, Robert W. W. (2012-09-01)

The Party turns both commonly misunderstood analyses of China on their head, namely that China has a wholesale embrace of unrestrained capitalism, and the more unobservant one, that China is still communist. The Party's central thesis is that, in the words of one Beijing University professor "The Party is like God. He is everywhere, you just can't see him." What follows is a series of detailed accounts of how the party is at the heart of all the instruments of state, the economy, the media, and the military. Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 6 are in many ways rather similar, detailing the party's involvement in the economy, in both state and private enterprise and how the demarcation between the state and private sector are increasingly blurred. Toward the end of the book, greater insight is shown into several high profile corruption cases, such as the Sanlu baby milk poisoning scandal, and the initial attempt to cover it up. Perhaps little new is offered in the chapter concerning corruption, an issue highly familiar to many China hands, but the most insightful chapter for myself was Chapter 4, Why we fight: The Party and the Gun. Here is examined one of the most curious aspects of modern China, and indeed the modern world, a national military, the world's largest by standing troop numbers, who's first loyalty is to the party, as opposed to most other armies, who's first loyalty is to the state and constitution. The workings of the subordination of the military to the party are given better examination than this reader has hitherto encountered, and chapter 4 is a chapter worthy of disciplined re-reading. The final chapter on the Party and their official rendering of history, and control of the national media may be familiar to experienced China hand's but nonetheless new insights are contained. On the whole, The Party is a highly readable and detailed examination of China's system, and essential reading for new and old China hands alike.

Un journaliste d'investigation se fait recevoir officiellement par le Parti chinois. Il parle la langue et connait le pays. Il a rencontré des jeunes et des vieux, des gens importants et des gens mis au placard. Il emmène le lecteur dans un voyage qu'on ne peut pas oublier. Depuis des années j'assistais aux évènements sans comprendre. Je suis (un peu) éclairé maintenant. La version numérique est honnête et lisible (les images trop petites).

Goes into the inner workings of the Party, which is still as much of an underground operation as an official organisation. A must read to understand rising China.

An illuminating deep dive into the inner workings of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), written with the sharpness of investigative journalism and the clarity of a well‑crafted narrative.

very complete analysis of china capitalist version of communism' (1984)!!