China Zhi Gong Party

(Redirected from Public Interest Party)

The China Zhi Gong Party (Chinese: 中国致公党; pinyin: Zhōngguó Zhìgōngdǎng; lit. 'Public Interest Party of China') is one of the eight minor political parties in the People's Republic of China under the direction of the Chinese Communist Party.

China Zhi Gong Party
中国致公党
Zhōngguó Zhìgōngdǎng
ChairpersonJiang Zuojun
FounderChen Jiongming and Tang Jiyao
Founded10 October 1925; 99 years ago (1925-10-10); in San Francisco, California, U.S.
Preceded byHongmen
HeadquartersBeijing
NewspaperChina Development
China Zhi Gong
Membership (2022)69,000
IdeologySocialism with Chinese characteristics
1925–1947:
Federalism
Multi-party democracy
Slogan"Committed to the public"
(致力为公; Zhìlì wèi gōng)
National People's Congress (13th)
38 / 2,980
NPC Standing Committee
3 / 175
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
30 / 544
(Seats for political parties)
Website
www.zg.org.cn Edit this at Wikidata
China Zhi Gong Party
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese中國致公黨
Simplified Chinese中国致公党
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōngguó Zhìgōngdǎng
Tibetan name
Tibetanཀྲུང་གོ་ཀྲི་ཀུང་ཏང།
Transcriptions
Wyliekrung go kri kung tang
Zhuang name
ZhuangCunghgoz Ceiqgoeng Danj
Mongolian name
Mongolian CyrillicДундад улсын зии хүн даан нам
Mongolian scriptᠳᠤᠮᠳᠠᠳᠤ ᠤᠯᠤᠰ ᠤᠨ
ᡁᠢ ᠬᠦᠩ ᠳ᠋ᠠᠩ ᠨᠠᠮ
Uyghur name
Uyghurجۇڭگو ئادالەتچىلەر پارتىيىسى
Manchu name
Manchu scriptᡷᡳᡳᡬᠣᠩᡩᠠᠩ
RomanizationZhig'ongdang
The headquarters of the Central Committee of the China Zhi Gong Party

The China Zhi Gong Party was founded on 10 October 1925 in San Francisco as a party advocating for federalism and multi-party democracy. In 1926, it moved its headquarters to Hong Kong and was nearly wiped out during the Japanese occupation of the city. The party later gradually moved towards the CCP, attending the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has been a minor party under the leadership of the CCP.

The party's members are mainly returned overseas Chinese and their relatives, as well as people with overseas connections. Some scholars have described the Zhi Gong Party as "gathering non-party voices to support the party". It is the sixth-ranking minor party in China. It currently has 39 seats in the National People's Congress, three seats in the NPC Standing Committee and 65 seats in the CPPCC. Its current chairman is Jiang Zuojun.

History

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The founding congress of the China Zhi Gong Party in San Francisco in 1925.
 
Flag used by the China Zhi Gong Party from 1925 to 1950

The China Zhi Gong Party derives from the overseas Hung Society organization "Hung Society Zhigong Hall" or "Chee Kung Tong", based in San Francisco, United States. This organization was one of the key supporters of Sun Yat-sen in his revolutionary efforts to overthrow the Qing dynasty.

The party was founded on 10 October 1925 in San Francisco, and was led by Chen Jiongming and Tang Jiyao, two ex-Kuomintang warlords that went into opposition. Their first platform was federalism and multi-party democracy. The party moved its headquarters to the then-British colony of Hong Kong in 1926. After the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 it began engaging in anti-Japanese propaganda and boycotts. The party was nearly wiped out during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong. The party turned to the left during its third party congress in 1947.[1][non-primary source needed]

On 21 September 1949, just before the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, representatives of the CZGP attended the first plenary Session of the CPPCC at the invitation of the CCP. They participated in drawing up the Common Program and electing the Central People's Government. As part of the CCP's reorganization of the minor aligned parties, the CZGP was designated as the party of returned overseas Chinese, their relatives, and noted figures and scholars who have overseas ties.[2]

The Zhi Gong Party is sometimes used as an intermediary for contacts with certain foreign interests. For example, when a delegation of Paraguayan politicians visited Beijing in 2001 and met Li Peng (despite Paraguay having diplomatic relations not with PRC but with ROC in Taiwan), it was invited not by the PRC government or the CCP, but by the Zhi Gong Party.[3]

In April 2007, Wan Gang, Deputy Chair of the Zhi Gong Party Central Committee, was appointed Ministry of Science and Technology. This was the first non-CCP ministerial appointment in China in 35 years.[4]

Organization

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According to its constitution, the China Zhi Gong Party is officially committed to socialism with Chinese characteristics and upholding the leadership of the CCP.[5] It is the sixth-ranking minor party in China.[6] The party is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a principal organization in the CCP's united front strategy.[2][7]

The highest body of the China Zhi Gong Party officially is the National Congress, which is held every five years. The 16th National Congress, held in December 2022, was the most recently held Party Congress. The National Congress elects the Central Committee of the China Zhi Gong Party.[5] As of November 2022, the party has organizations in 21 province-level administrative divisions throughout China.[8] The party publishes the newspapers China Development[9] and China Zhi Gong.[10]

Composition

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According to the State Council Information Office, the China Zhi Gong Party is "mainly composed of the middle and higher ranks of returned overseas Chinese and their relatives, and representatives of people with overseas connections". In November 2022, the party had 69,000 members.[8][7] Some scholars have described the Zhi Gong Party as "gathering non-party voices to support the party".[11]

Chairpersons

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No. Chairperson Took office Left office Ref.
1   Chen Jiongming

陈炯明

October 1925 September 1933 [citation needed]
2   Chen Yansheng

陈演生

1933 1947 [citation needed]
3   Li Jishen

李济深

May 1947 April 1950 [citation needed]
4   Chen Qiyou

陈其尤

April 1950 1966 [citation needed]
5   Huang Dingchen

黄鼎臣

October 1979 April 1988 [citation needed]
6   Dong Yinchu

董寅初

April 1988 November 1997 [citation needed]
7   Luo Haocai

罗豪才

November 1997 December 2007 [citation needed]
8   Wan Gang

万钢

December 21, 2007 December 14, 2022 [12]
9   Jiang Zuojun

蒋作君

December 14, 2022 Incumbent [citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "纪念中国致公党"三大"召开七十周年". China Zhi Gong Party. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b To, James Jiann Hua (15 May 2014). Qiaowu: Extra-Territorial Policies for the Overseas Chinese. Brill. p. 80. ISBN 978-90-04-27228-6.
  3. ^ "Chinese Top Legislator Meets Paraguayan Delegation". People's Daily. 5 June 2011. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  4. ^ "新中国首任部长中的党外人士" [Outsiders of the Party among the first ministers of the new China]. People's Daily. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
  5. ^ a b "中国致公党章程" [Constitution of the China Zhi Gong Party]. China Zhi Gong Party. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
  6. ^ "我国八个民主党派排序考". Lishui Municipal Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang. 9 December 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  7. ^ a b Tatlow, Didi Kirsten (12 July 2019). "The Chinese Influence Effort Hiding in Plain Sight". The Atlantic. ISSN 1072-7825. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  8. ^ a b "新闻背景:中国致公党" [News background: China Zhi Gong Party]. Xinhua News Agency. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  9. ^ "中国发展". Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  10. ^ "::中国致公党::". Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  11. ^ Tatlow, Didi Kirsten; Feldwisch-Drentrup, Hinnerk; Fedasiuk, Ryan (3 August 2020), Hannas, William C.; Tatlow, Didi Kirsten (eds.), "Europe: A technology transfer mosaic", China’s Quest for Foreign Technology (1 ed.), Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, pp. 113–129, doi:10.4324/9781003035084-10, ISBN 978-1-003-03508-4, S2CID 243421133
  12. ^ "::中国致公党::". Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
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