Red Star News:

Democratic oversight is a basic function of non-CPC political parties. Have these political parties effectively carried out democratic supervision in recent years? How specifically have they done so? Thank you.

Sang Fuhua:

Thank you for your interest in multi-party cooperation. The CPC Central Committee attaches great importance to the issue of democratic supervision, and all sectors of society are also concerned about it. In response to your question, I would like to make a brief introduction.

As we know, there is a very important feature in the multi-party cooperation system — the mutual oversight between the CPC and non-CPC political parties, meaning the CPC can supervise the other political parties, and the other political parties can also supervise the CPC. The supervision over the CPC by other political parties is called democratic supervision. How is democratic supervision carried out? According to the Regulations on the United Front Work of the Communist Party of China, the other political parties and prominent figures without party affiliation exercise democratic oversight by expressing views, making criticisms and giving advice as they participate in political consultation, conduct field work, take part in inspection and oversight of the implementation of major policies, decisions and plans of the Party and the state, and carry out targeted scrutiny of major issues as entrusted by CPC committees, while adhering to the "four cardinal principles" (to keep to the path of socialism, to uphold the people's democratic dictatorship, to uphold the leadership of the CPC, and to uphold Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought).

As for the effectiveness of the democratic oversight by other political parties you just mentioned, I can responsibly say that it is both effective and practical. For example, in 2016, entrusted by the CPC Central Committee, the central committees of China's eight other political parties launched a five-year democratic oversight campaign on poverty alleviation in eight provincial-level regions in China's central and western areas where the poverty elimination work was most arduous, focusing on six key issues such as the accurate identification of the poor population, the targeted removal of impoverished households from the poverty list, and the use and management of poverty relief funds and projects. This work was also the first time that the other political parties have conducted targeted supervision over major strategic decisions of the Party and the state. Over the five years, the central committees of the other political parties submitted more than 2,400 critical opinions and suggestions to the CPC committees and governments at all levels of the eight provincial-level regions, and delivered more than 80 targeted supervision reports to the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, playing an important role in winning the battle against poverty. After the democratic oversight campaign of poverty elimination was completed, the oversight focus of China's other political parties shifted to the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River is the mother river of the Chinese nation, and its health has a huge effect on the development of our country and the future of our nation. In 2021, also entrusted by the CPC Central Committee, the eight other political parties and the non-affiliates initiated a five-year targeted democratic oversight campaign of the ecological and environmental protection of the Yangtze River, mainly focusing on eight respects including restoration and protection of water bodies and the prevention and control of pollution of ports. In 2021, the other political parties and the non-affiliates overcame the impact of COVID-19 to organize 45 on-site inspections in various forms, offered more than 250 opinions and suggestions to the CPC committees and governments of the involved provincial-level regions, and submitted six targeted reports to the CPC Central Committee.

We believe that with the launch of a new round of targeted democratic oversight, the democratic supervision by China's other political parties, as an important part of the socialist supervision system with Chinese characteristics, will surely demonstrate new advantages and make new achievements in the new era. Thank you.