Ruling the Country without Law: The Insoluble Dilemma of Transforming China into a Law-Governed Country

Abstract Despite more than 40 years’ legislation to build a ‘law-governed country’ and the Communist Party of China (CPC)'s repeated proclaiming to ‘govern the country according to law’, China still lacks legislation concerning a constitutional matter that is central to its governance, ie, the powers of the CPC to rule. No law specifies its powers, and the CPC's rule is not based on law. Why has such a crucial and apparent loophole not been filled? It is essentially because of the CPC's insistence on supremacy with unchallengeable authority in the governance of China. Specifying in law the Party's powers, and how they should be exercised, would subject its rule to law and set a legal limit on its powers, which is irreconcilable with its goals of maintaining supremacy and absolute authority. Hence, an insoluble dilemma can be observed: while the CPC leadership wants China to become a law-governed country to attain lasting order and stability, they have to rule the country extralegally to avoid legal challenges to the supremacy of their rule. This article not only sheds light on this inherent contradiction, but also offers insight into the nature of the CPC's practice to ‘govern the country according to law’.