by Bernardo Cervellera

The constitution says the people rule. However, the Party remains above the people and the constitution. Compared to Liu Xiaobo and Charter 08, Xi Jinping's overtures fall short off the mark. Reconciling market economics and centralisation, socialism and Chinese traditions is a challenge. Leaders continue to fear the Soviet scenario.

Rome (AsiaNews) - The Communist Party of China will hold its 4^th Plenum in the capital on 20-23 October. It will focus on the administration of the law, this in a country where courts are not independent and Party members believe themselves to be above the law.

The Politburo of the Communist Party of China made the announcement on 29 September, noting that its fourth plenum would focus on building the rule of law and boost the Party's capacity to govern and achieve a prosperous society.

The statement also said that the rule of law should be promoted under the leadership of the party. Next, the authority of the constitution and the rights of the people should be safeguarded, whilst justice and national security should be protected. Little will change, it would seem.

In a speech in 2012, not long after he became head of the party, Xi said, "No organisation or individual has the privilege to overstep the constitution and law." He reiterated such views just last month, raising hopes in society and the Party's liberal faction that the constitution could be finally implemented.

The first articles of the Chinese constitution are wonderful. According to its first three articles, the nation belongs to the people, who exercise their power through national and local congresses.

Their members are appointed through democratic elections, and are "responsible to the people and subject to their supervision".

Citizens have the right to vote and run for election, whilst Article 35 enshrines freedom of speech, the press, assembly, association and demonstration.

Unfortunately, the Constitution sets no limits on the Party, which still trumps the fundamental law of the land, monopolising power and the granting of rights to the people.

In 2008, a group of intellectuals and activists, headed by Liu Xiaobo, presented Charter 08. "The constitution must be the highest law in the land, beyond violation by any individual, group, or political party," it said.

These reformers called for the constitution to be redrafted to give the people real power. However, the Party responded by blocking the websites that carry the Charter, and jailing some of the signatories, including Liu, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

The party's liberal wing soldiered on, seeking to correct the constitution's flaws and place it above the party.

Meanwhile, public opinion witnessed Xi's war on corruption, with some party bigwigs like Zhou Yongkang put on trial.

In his fight against "tigers and flies", Xi tried to project the idea that no one, not even top party members, are above the law. However, for many analysts, the war on corruption is nothing but a power struggle between leadership factions.

Indeed, an internal document issued by the party's Publicity Department last summer, referred to as Document No 9, called for the eradication from Chinese society of "seven subversive currents", including "Western constitutionalism".

Since then, many state-run media have condemned "constitutionalism" as a Western trick to topple the Communist Party of China.

Still, the Party must solve some of its ideological contradictions, finding ways to reconcile socialism and market economy, Marxism and Chinese traditions and market forces and centralised power.

So far, the answer has always been "the Party knows" best. It does so by implementing its policies through repression of all those who seek to walk on their own or flee from its control.

In doing so, the Party is also losing the most creative people, just as the Soviet Union did, whose fate Chinese leaders fear and loathe.

• china
• constitution
• reform
• xi
• failure