After the war,many Americans in China were sympathetic to the League. Theodore White wrote that if "the men of the middle group were well organized,they could guarantee peace. But they are not. They lack an army,a political machine,roots in any social class. Only the spread of education and industry can create enough men of the modern world to give them a broad social base."[4]
In October 1945,the League released a report reaffirming its political commitments and outlining its goals.[5] In it,the League declared themselves to be neither left nor right,favoring neither liberal democracy nor socialist democracy. Although the report praised elements of Western liberal democracies,it also criticized the economic inequalities that existed in Western capitalist societies. The report thus concluded that the best form of democracy for China would incorporate elements of both "Western political democracy" and "Soviet economic democracy". To achieve this,the League hoped to work with both the Nationalists and the Communists in a coalition government to write a new constitution.[5] However,the League is also seen as a liberal-democratic "third force" alternative movement compared to the Nationalists (Chiangism) and the Communists (Maoism) who favor authoritarian political agendas.[6]
In early 1946,at the Political Consultative Conference—which included representatives from the China Democratic League (CDL),the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),the Kuomintang (KMT),and non-party figures—the CDL held 9 of the 38 seats,more than any other single political party at the time. Together with its cooperation with other parties,the CDL became an important force in balancing the CCP and the KMT. In November 1946,the KMT decided to convene a National Constituent Assembly,which the CCP refused to attend.[7] Within the CDL,however,the Chinese Youth Party and the China Democratic Socialist Party participated independently in the Nanjing Constituent National Assembly.[8] As a result,they were expelled from the CDL,leading to a rapid deterioration in relations between the CDL and the KMT.[9]
In October 1947,the KMT-led Republic of China government declared the CDL an “illegal organization”and imposed sanctions against it.[10] In November 1947,elections were held nationwide for delegates to the National Assembly,which were boycotted by both the CCP and the CDL. The KMT’s repression of the CDL directly led the League,at its Third Plenary Session of the First Central Committee in January 1948,to publicly announce cooperation with the CCP.[11] From that point onward,the CCP and the CDL established an alliance.[12]
People's Republic of China
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949,the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) became the ruling party. Mao Zedong proposed that the eight democratic parties,including the China Democratic League,should continue to exist.[13] The CCP assured the CDL that it would maintain organizational independence and equal legal status,and that it would not interfere in the independence or day-to-day affairs of the democratic parties.[14]
As a participating party under the leadership of the CCP,the CDL put forward the principle of “long-term coexistence and mutual supervision”to define relations between the CCP and the democratic parties. This principle was formally affirmed at the 8th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party on September 15,1956.[18]
In 1997,the League adopted a constitution,which stipulated that its program was "to hold high the banner of patriotism and socialism,implement the basic line for the primary stage of socialism,safeguard stability in the society,strengthen services to national unity and strive for the promotion of socialist modernisation,establishment and improvement of a market economy,enhancement of political restructuring and socialist spiritual civilisation,emancipation and development of productive forces,consolidation and expansion of the united patriotic front and realisation of the grand goals of socialism with Chinese characteristics."[19]
The CDL's highest body is the National Congress,held every five years.[19] The National Congress has the powers to amend the Party constitution,elects the Central Committee,and hears the outgoing Central Committee's work report. The Central Committee is the Party's highest body between Congresses. The Central Committee convenes annually,and elects the Standing Committee of the Central Committee,including its chairperson and vice chairpersons.[19]As of December2023[update],the party has 30 province-level,and 412 prefecture-level city and county-level organizations.[21] The CDL publishes the newspaper Popular Tribune (群言)[22] and the Central Communications of the League (中央盟讯).[23] Historically,the newspaper published the Guangming Daily.[24]
Composition
The League is mainly made up of mid and senior-level intellectuals in the fields of culture,education,natural and social sciences,and technology.[25]As of December2023[update],the CDL had around 356,900 members. Of this total,23.26% were from the field of advanced education,27.46% were from the field of compulsory education,6.79% were in art and the press,and 5.35% in other key areas of labor.[21]
Chairpersons
The leader of the Party is officially called the Chairperson of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League. Between March 19,1941 and September 19,1944,the office was known as the Chairperson of the Central Executive Committee of the China Democratic Political League,which changed to the Chairperson of the Central Executive Committee of the China Democratic League in September 19,which again changed and assumed its current name on December 27,1949.[26]
↑Jan Kiely; John Lagerwey; Vincent Goossaert (October 20, 2015). Modern Chinese Religion II: 1850 - 2015 (2 Vols.). Brill. p.771. ... China Democratic League" in an attempt to create a liberal-democratic "third force" alternative movement to the Nationalists and the Communists.
↑王小_ (2007-01-01). 多党合作思想史 (in Chinese). 飛翔時代. p.3. Retrieved 2026-01-04.
1234中国民主同盟章程[Constitution of the China Democratic League]. China Democratic League (in Chinese (China)). 21 December 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
↑"我国八个民主党派排序考". Lishui Municipal Committee of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (in Chinese). 9 December 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
12中国民主同盟简介[Introduction to the China Democratic League]. China Democratic League (in Chinese). 25 April 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
↑首页[Main Page]. Qunyan Press (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 15 August 2018.
↑中央盟讯 （2020年第3期）[Central Communications of the League (3rd Edition of 2020)]. China Democratic League (in Chinese (China)). Retrieved 15 August 2018.
Lutze, Thomas D. (2007). China's Inevitable Revolution: Rethinking America's Loss to the Communists. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN9781298548573.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
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