同志们，好！

Hello, Comrades!

It's taken awhile, but so begins my "National Day Holiday" edition of 'Charlie in China'.

I'm not sure how well it was covered in the Western media, but the Thursday before last was China's 60th anniversary. On October 1st, 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China, so October 1st is the start of a reasonably long vacation every year for comrades young and old. This year, however, was a bigger celebration than most, marking the PRC's sixth decade.

In many ways, I got what I expected. We saw flawlessly made-up soldiers marching in perfect unison, and the ubiquitous nuclear-capable missile trucks that make for the most exciting of military parades. And, naturally, each province (including Taiwan, interestingly enough) drove an appropriately themed float for the civilian parade that followed.

However, one major difference between U.S. parades I've seen and the one on Thursday (other than the fembots, you can't forget the fembots) was that the people of Beijing were told specifically not to come. Instead, my family and every other family in this city of 13 million was told to stay home and watch it on TV. The 60th anniversary was truly a made-for-TV event.

One other thing struck my attention, and it's been rolling around in my mind ever since, somewhat due to the readings that our government teacher has been handing out. Near the start of the civilian parade, large trucks bearing over-sized pictures of the four most well-known Chinese leaders cruised through the parade route, surrounded by colorfully dressed, smiling people twirling banners. These lucky four were Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and China's current General Secretary/President, Hu Jintao.

Here's Deng Xiaoping on the parade route:

That got me thinking exactly how the official mechanics of power work within the Chinese state, and I thought I'd share what I learned.

Here's the quick analysis of Chinese government, as I've come to understand it so far from my government class. There are three pillars of power in China; the Communist Party (CCP), the State, and the Military (the People's Liberation Army, PLA).

The Communist Party: Effectively runs it all by filling government positions with Party members. It's led by nine senior party members, including Wen Jiabao and Hu Jintao (who is the General Secretary). It's thought that this group of 9 runs the country by consensus among themselves on what policies are the 'correct road'.

The State: Is run primarily by the State Council, a council of 50-or-so heads of government agencies and the Premier, Wen Jiabao. There is also a People's National Congress that is supposed to approve the state ministers and agency heads, but among Western media outlets, the PNC is still viewed as a rubber-stamp organization that is only recently becoming a legitimate forum for discussing state issues.

The PLA: The combined army, navy, and air force. I don't know much about it, but it's headed by the Central Military Commission, who's Chairman is also (I'll give you two guesses...) Hu Jintao.

It's clear that the State is dominated by the Party. This, of course, is by design, and CCP leaders have no shame in admitting it. However, particularly back in the late 1980's, there was a lot of discussion among the top leadership about the direction that the party should take both economically and politically. The economic reformers won out, spurring unprecedented growth in China for decades, but the political reforms (calling for greater separation between the Party and the State apparatuses) ended up, in many cases, failing.

What this little research project has suggested to me, is that while the State is often quite effective at carrying out its policies, there is a fundamental lack of institutionalization in the organs of the State. While checks and balances do crop up, it's from in-fighting within the CCP, not from inter-party or inter-branch conflicts like in the United States. Since reformers going back at least to the 1980's have been begging for more institutionalization, it's going to be interesting to see, as my research continues and as time goes on, whether it will start to materialize.

As for me, classes are going well, I've been making more and more Chinese friends here, and I've been really glad to get in touch with people back home from time to time. Wish you well!

UPDATE: I made it to Tian'anmen today to see the floats they had during the parade. This is the kind of event where EVERYONE wants their picture taken with you. After all, you're in a group of Americans wielding mini-Chinese flags and shouting "中华人民共和国万岁"! (Long Live the People's Republic of China). The pictures are all posted here.

MORE UPDATED: I also have the pictures from my hike at Xiangshan posted. They're all here.