Author's note: Since the 19th CPC National Congress in 2017, Xi's political theory is known as "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era," a long phrase with each word carrying weight of meaning. Since then, "Xi Jinping Thought on…" has been expanded and applied to the economy, rule of law, ecology, strengthening the military, and diplomacy. In these five commentaries, I address each of these areas, seek to discern its distinguishing characteristics. This background will enable a close reading of the political proclamations at the upcoming CPC National Congress. The third commentary features Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law.

Why is Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law a central part of Xi Jinping's political philosophy? As the Party puts it, if the rule of law prospers, the country will prosper; if the rule of law declines, the country will be in chaos.

CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping stated, "No country that has successfully achieved modernization has not solved the problems of the rule of law and the rule of man." — which is why Xi's commitment to "comprehensively governing the nation according to law" was memorialized early in his leadership by its inclusion in the "Four Comprehensives," Xi's initial strategic guiding principle for governing China.

Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law is said to form a complete system. These prescriptions are embedded in what's called the "Eleven Upholds."(It sounds crisper in Chinese.)

I array these ideas into a systematic framework of goals, principles and strategies.

Rule of law goal: 

* Comprehensively govern the nation according to law, in a people-centered approach.

Rule of Law principles: 

* Maintain the Party's leadership of the rule of law. 

* Stress the people-centered approach. 

* Govern by law; rule by law; administer by law. 

* Systematic thinking — country, government and society all under the rule of law. 

* Seek equal rights, equal opportunities, equal rules.

Rule of law strategies: 

* Coherent legislation. 

* Strict law enforcement. 

* Impartial justice. 

* Legal issues handled in a comprehensive manner, rather than as independent issues — systematically rather than scattered, connected rather than isolated. 

* Design China's encyclopedic Civil Code to improve social fairness and justice in formulating every law and trying every case. 

* Respect and protect human rights — economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. 

* New legislation to address key areas: national security, scientific and technological innovation, public health, biosecurity, ecological civilization, risk prevention;

* A whole populace that is law-abiding.

Xi emphasizes: "Comprehensive rule of law is a systematic project. We must plan as a whole, and pay more attention to systematic coordination, integrity, and synergy."

China calls its people-centered approach the fundamental difference between the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics and the capitalist rule of law, a view, unsurprisingly, that Western legal experts would challenge.

Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law is called a milestone, because although systems of laws have existed throughout China's long history of ruling systems, they were always subject to intervention by ruling elites. This enabled local officials to influence judicial decisions for their personal gain or nefarious purposes. Initiatives in the past have sought to strengthen China's laws, but this time, under President Xi, seems different. Witness the corrupted, disgraced officials being named, shamed, detained and jailed. More systemically, judicial reform has set the supremacy of the law over administrative organs. To me, one of the underappreciated reforms in advancing the rule of law was transferring the administration of the local court system up to the provincial level, thereby preventing city and county officials from interfering in legal proceedings.  

Challenges remain. Chinese experts call for making the rule of law system more complete and more systematic, develop law for emerging fields, strengthen legal supervision, crack down on corruption, strengthen legal protection, and improve judicial training.

There is also a puzzle. Strengthening the rule of law is said not to weaken the rule of the Party. How can this be? In the past, many local officials simply ignored the law, as if not being subject to law was a privilege of their positions. Some took bribes to subvert law enforcement and judicial processes for personal gain. Some were just ignorant. However, President Xi has now made it clear that all Party officials must abide by the law.  Moreover, there are no statute of limitations for corrupt judges; even after retirement, they can be prosecuted.

Foreign perceptions assume that Party-led Chinese socialism supersedes rule of law. But Xi Jinping Thought asserts that enforcing the rule of law is what upholds and develops socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Six words summarize aspirations of Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law: people-centered, comprehensive, systematic, fair, just, and equal.

I'm Robert Lawrence Kuhn.

Script: Robert Lawrence Kuhn

Editors: Yang Yutong, Qi Haiming

Producer: Wang Ying

Supervisors: Ge Jing, Adam Zhu

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)

Read more:

Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military

Xi Jinping Thought on the Economy