Chapter 1: China and the Communist Party of China
2.3. CCP-2
The Emergence of a New Class Society
In the process of abandoning the socialist experiment and adopting capitalism, a system was established in which even the economic achievements of nearly one billion (currently about 1.4 billion) Chinese people were concentrated and monopolized by a select few.
Modern China can symbolically be described as a “1 to 13” society, where approximately 94 million Communist Party members and the remaining 1.3 billion Chinese people experience a stark contrast in political, economic, and social disparities. This is a symbolic expression; not every Party member represents the “one” in the “1 to 13.” Furthermore, even among the 100 million-strong middle class, there is a significant division of political, economic, and social power and status.
The Monopoly of the CCP Elite
At a more granular level, several million members of the Chinese Communist Party elite group almost exclusively monopolize political, economic, and sociocultural power. These individuals are deeply intertwined with political and economic interests. Of course, even within this elite, there are factions and regional power divisions. However, the overarching reality of the one-party dictatorship in China is that these elites hold an extreme monopoly on political and economic power across the entire system.
In the Party-state (or Party-military) centered system of socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics, Chinese enterprises are, in effect, owned by the Chinese Communist Party or are under its substantial control. Most of the major representative companies in China are state-owned enterprises (SOEs) controlled by the Party.
The situation is similar in the private sector. The ruling class of the Chinese Communist Party monopolized the management rights of former state-owned and collective enterprises that transformed into private companies during the so-called privatization of state-owned enterprises in the late 1990s.
As marketization (or capitalism) progressed, even seemingly pure private companies that emerged were, in reality, controlled by the CCP elite, who held significant shares. The rapid growth of private enterprises was largely due to the CCP elite’s use of state institutions to concentrate support for the businesses, which they nurtured as financial hiding places. Behind the scenes, internal factions of the CCP divide and exert control over the actual shares.
Since the 2000s, large-scale infrastructure investments that fueled China’s economic growth—such as in real estate, railways, roads, dams, ports, airports, and new city development—have served as a means of amassing wealth. As a result, the wealth of the CCP elite has grown to the largest scale in the world, but China has also become the country with the worst income inequality globally. The so-called “socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics” represents a distorted political-economic structure, one in which structural contradictions have accumulated over time.
A Privileged Class State
In the early stages of development, China was able to achieve rapid economic growth through a low-wage, low-production cost structure. However, structural contradictions also accumulated at the same rate as quantitative growth. Chinese political economists generally assess that by the mid-2000s, the high-growth phase of the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics came to an end, and the structural contradictions deepened exponentially. The external growth of the economy, which had been reliant on input, reached its limits, and it is now considered that even those limits have been surpassed.
Under the one-party dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party, China has formed a new class society. From the 20th century to the present, every socialist political system, without exception, has ultimately resulted in the emergence of an extreme class society. It is a “privileged class state for Communist Party members, by Communist Party members, and of Communist Party members.”
This irony is a hallmark of the Communist Party, which seized political power by rallying the masses under the banner of equality. The Chinese Communist Party and its ruling class have accumulated power and wealth on a massive scale, transforming China into a distorted society. In order to maintain their power and wealth, they have taken 1.4 billion Chinese people hostage, strengthening totalitarian and authoritarian politics.
Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, the Chinese Communist Party is reinforcing totalitarianism across Chinese society. This approach goes a step further than the socialist societies attempted by numerous communist parties in the past. It is none other than the creation of a “digital totalitarian society.” By leveraging the advancements in modern information and communication technology (ICT), China is implementing the society depicted by George Orwell in his novel 1984 into the real world.
To achieve this, the Chinese Communist Party first activated the “Great Firewall” project to block the flow of foreign information. By controlling internet communication with the outside world, it has created a system that constantly injects the CCP’s propaganda and distorted facts, ensuring the continuous control of information.
Domestically, China is completing the Golden Shield Project (金盾工程), a comprehensive surveillance system to monitor its citizens. This initiative monitors and controls internet, phone, and text messaging communications within the country. In addition to this, surveillance through CCTV has been expanded, and technologies such as facial recognition, voice recognition, big data analysis, and artificial intelligence (AI) have been integrated to create a perfected system of surveillance and control.
The Golden Shield Project has since evolved further into more specialized initiatives, such as the Tianwang Project (天王工程) for urban areas and the Xueliang Project (雪亮工程) for rural areas. In cities, this has evolved into what is known as the “Safe City” or “Smart City” project, while in rural areas, it has transformed into the “Safe Rural Project.” These so-called smart city initiatives, carried out under the guise of safety, convenience, and intelligence, have been tested in African dictatorships and are now increasingly infiltrating South Korea under the pretext of the China-South Korea city cooperation projects.
Today, China has installed CCTV cameras at a ratio of approximately 1 camera for every 2.4 people, intensifying the surveillance of its citizens. The installation rate continues to rise. While the official narrative is that this is aimed at creating a crime-free, safe environment, in reality, it is a means to establish a system of surveillance and control over the population.
This surveillance has become increasingly pervasive, with one notable example being the introduction of the Social Credit System. Through the analysis of data on all citizens, individuals are assigned scores. These scores are used to reward or punish citizens, affecting everything from transportation access and financial loans to children’s education. More recently, China has introduced digital currency (digital yuan), which enables even more control over personal assets and monetary transactions.
Surveillance cameras are even being installed in personal living spaces under the guise of ensuring ‘safety.’ Everything from phone calls to internet usage is monitored, and individuals’ movements and social activities are tracked. Personal scores are assigned based on this information, which enables control over social and economic lives and even consumer behavior. This is an example of a fully realized ‘1984-style surveillance society,’ which is referred to as a ‘Digital Totalitarian Society.’ In the name of social safety and efficiency, the Chinese Communist Party has created a system where every aspect of individual life is thoroughly monitored and controlled.