Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), officially the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China, is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China. Both the NPC and the NPCSC exercise the legislative power of the state.[1]

Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China

中华人民共和国全国人民代表大会
常务委员会
Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress
Type
Type
Permanent organ of the National People's Congress
Leadership
Li Zhanshu, CPC
since March 2018
Yang Zhenwu, CPC
since March 2018
Majority leader
Li Zhanshu, CPC
since March 2018
Structure
Seats175
Political groups
Since March 2018:

Government (121):

  •   CPC (121)

United Front and Independent (54):

Elections
Party-list proportional representation and Approval voting
Last election
March 2018
Next election
March 2023
Meeting place
Great Hall of the People, Xicheng District, Beijing City, People's Republic of China
Website
http://www.npc.gov.cn
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress
Simplified Chinese全国人民代表大会常务委员会
Traditional Chinese全國人民代表大會常務委員會

The NPCSC oversees the election of the NPC, and can extend the term of the current NPC by a put off election by at most a year with a two thirds majority vote. The NPCSC meets every two months with each meeting lasting a week.[2] The NPCSC convenes the NPC once a year, and may do so when it finds it necessary or with a proposal from one fifth of NPC's members. The NPCSC holds power until the succeeding NPC elects its standing committee.[1]

Members of the NPCSC must not, at the same time, hold executive, judicial, supervisory positions. In contrast, members of the NPC do not have this restriction.[1]

The NPCSC has the power of judicial interpretation of law in the PRC, including its constitution. In contrast to common law jurisdiction in which stare decisis gives the power of both final interpretation and adjudication to a supreme court, within Mainland China constitutional and legal interpretation is considered to be a legislative activity rather than a judicial one, and the functions are split so that the NPCSC provides legal interpretations while the Supreme People's Court actually decides cases. Because an interpretation of the NPCSC is legislative in nature and not judicial, it does not affect cases which have already been decided.

A notable use of the constitutional interpretation power occurred in 1999 over the Right of Abode issue in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Lau Kong Yung v. Director of Immigration.[3] The NPCSC interpreted the Basic Law of Hong Kong in accordance with the position taken by the Hong Kong government with respect to the eligibility of permanent residency in Hong Kong.

It is led by a Chairman, mainland China's top legislator, who is conventionally ranked third in Mainland China's political ranking system, after the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China and the Premier of the People's Republic of China. The current Chairman is Li Zhanshu.

History

In 2014, the NPCSC set rules for the election of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, a decision that was widely opposed by the pro-democracy camp and led to the Umbrella Revolution.

In June 2020, the NPCSC created and passed the Hong Kong National Security Law, legislation that was kept secret until shortly before it took effect.[4] In November 2020, Carrie Lam sought help from the NPCSC to give authority for the Hong Kong government to disqualify 4 pro-democracy lawmakers from the Legislative Council.[5] In December 2020, the entire 14 vice chairpersons of the NPCSC were sanctioned by the U.S., pursuant to Executive Order 13936, as Specially Designated Nationals for actions related to undermining Hong Kong's autonomy.[6][7][8]

Chairman and Vice Chairpersons of the 13th NPCSC

Elected by the 13th National People's Congress at its 1st session's 4th plenary meeting on March 17, 2018:

Chairman
Li Zhanshu (b. August 1950): 3rd-ranked member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCCPC).
Vice Chairpersons (14)
  1. Wang Chen (b. December 1950): member of the 19th Politburo, member of the 16th, 17th, and 18th CCCPCs, and former deputy head of CCCPC Publicity Department.
  2. Cao Jianming (b. September 1955): member of the 17th, 18th, and 19th CCCPCs, alternate member of the 16th CCCPC, and former Procurator-General of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.
  3. Zhang Chunxian (b. May 1953): member of the 18th Politburo, member of the 16th to 19th CCCPCs, and former secretary of the CPC Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Committee and Hunan Provincial Committee.
  4. Shen Yueyue (female, b. January 1957): member of the 17th, 18th, and 19th CCCPCs; the former executive deputy head of the CCCPC Organization Department.
  5. Ji Bingxuan (b. November 1951): member of the 17th, 18th, and 19th CCCPCs; the former secretary of the CPC Heilongjiang Provincial Committee, and the former chairman of the Standing Committee of the Heilongjiang Provincial People's Congress.
  6. Arken Imirbaki (Uygur, b. September 1953): member of the 19th CCCPC; chairman of the Standing Committee of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regional People's Congress.
  7. Wan Exiang (b. May 1956): Vice President of the Supreme People's Court (since 2002); chairman of the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (since 2012).
  8. Chen Zhu (b. August 1953): hematologist; academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Central Committee chairman, Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party (since 2012).
  9. Wang Dongming (b. July 1956): standing committee member of the 10th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a member of the 17th, 18th, and 19th Central Committees CCCPCs; the secretary of the CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee, and the chairman of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress.
  10. Padma Choling (Tibetan, b. October 1952): member of the 18th CCCPC; the former chairman of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region People's Congress, and the Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
  11. Ding Zhongli (b. January 1957): geologist; vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
  12. Hao Mingjin (b. December 1956): the former Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Supervision.
  13. Cai Dafeng (b. June 1960): chairperson of the China Association for Promoting Democracy.
  14. Wu Weihua (b. September 1956): chairperson of the Jiusan Society.

All of the above 14 Vicechairpersons of the 13th NPCSC were designated, on December 7, 2020, by US Department of State as connected with the National Security Law (NSL), pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13936,[9] “The President’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization.”, and added to OFAC's SDN List.[10]

See also

References
  1. "The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China". www.npc.gov.cn. Retrieved 2019-04-19.
  2. Li, Cheng (2016-10-18). Chinese Politics in the Xi Jinping Era: Reassessing Collective Leadership. Brookings Institution Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-8157-2694-4.
  3. "FACV Nos 10 and 11 of 1999". Judiciary of Hong Kong. 3 December 1999. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  4. "Hong Kong leader demands international respect for the national security law". South China Morning Post. 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  5. "EU accuses China of dealing 'severe blow' to Hong Kong political freedoms". South China Morning Post. 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  6. Pamuk, Humeyra (2020-12-07). "U.S. slaps sanctions on 14 Chinese officials over Hong Kong crackdown". Reuters. Retrieved 2020-12-07.
  7. "Designations of National People's Congress Officials Undermining the Autonomy of Hong Kong". United States Department of State. December 7, 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
  8. "Hong Kong-related Designations". United States Department of the Treasury. December 7, 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  9. "Designations of National People's Congress Officials Undermining the Autonomy of Hong Kong". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
  10. "Hong Kong-related Designations | U.S. Department of the Treasury". home.treasury.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-16.
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