1995 China, Corporatism, And the East Asian Model

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Contemporary China Center, Australian National University

China, Corporatism, and the East Asian ModelAuthor(s): Jonathan Unger and Anita ChanSource: The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, No. 33 (Jan., 1995), pp. 29-53Published by: Contemporary China Center, Australian National UniversityStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2950087 .

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CHINA,CORPORATISM, AND THE EAST ASIANMODEL*

Jonathan nger nd AnitaChan

Thesocial-sciencearadigmshat hina cholarsmployednformerecadesdo notadequately itChinaas of the1990s.Western cholars odayfindthemselvestrugglingoreconceptualizeheworkingsf a Party-statehat olonger irectlyominatesocietyndofan economyhat o longer an beclassified s 'Leninistommand'. bserversf Chinafind hemselvesacedwith systemn free-fallransitiono somesystems yetunknown,o thepoint hat toften ecomes ifficultoanalyticallyrame hats occurringtpresent,et lone ttemptnalysesfChina'sprobable uture.

A concept hat s of considerablessistance n making ense of theongoing hifts s 'corporatism'.t does notprovide n all-encompassingframeworkor verythingccurringnChina oday, ut t does seemtoholdstrongxplanatoryaluefor omeof themoremportantrends. heconcepthasalready een ired almostntirelynthepagesofthisournal)nrelationtoa few pecificypes forganizationnChina,'but hemultifacetedatureofcorporatism'spreadnthePRC has notyetbeenanalysed.Nor has theemergencefcorporatistssociationsnChinabeen viewed ncomparative

A considerablyongerversion f thds aper was presentedn January 993 at aconferencet theAustralian ationalUniversity hatfuller ersionncludes longsection on micro-corporatistrendswithln tate-owned nterprises. onsiderablyupdated,he onger aperwill appear nBarrett cCormick nd Jonathanngereds),ChinaAfterocialism. nthe ootstepsfEastern urope r East Asia? forthcoming).

AnitaChan, 'Revolution r Corporatism? orkers nd TradeUnions n Post-MaoChlna', The Australian ournal f ChineseAffairs,o29 (January993), pp31-61,GordonWhlte,Prospects orCivilSociety n China A Case Study fXiaoshanCity',no.29 (January 993),pp.68-9,86; Margaret earson,The JanusFace of BusinessAssociations n Chlna:SocialistCorporatismnForeign nterpnses', o.31 (January1994),pp.25-46



30 THE AUSTRALIANJOURNALOF CHINESE AFFAIRS

perspective. ost relevantn this atter espectwould be the corporatistexperiencesf theEast Asian capitalist tates hatChina increasinglyslooking owards development odels.

The Nature fCorporatism

In an ideal-typeorporatistystem,t thenationalevel the tate ecognizesone and only one organizationsay, a nationalabourunion, businessassociation, farmers'ssociation) s the olerepresentativef the ectoralinterests f the individuals,nterprisesr institutionshatcomprise hatorganization'sassigned constituency. he state determineswhichorganizations ill be recognized s legitimatend forms n unequalpartnershipf sortswithuch rganizations.heassociationsometimesvenget channellednto hepolicy-makingrocesses ndoften elp mplementstate olicy n the overnment'sehalf.2

Corporatism, oreover, sually nvolvesmorethan ust a workingrelationshipetween he stateand the associations epresentingnterestgroups.An activelynterventionisttate ften elps o organizeherelationsbetween hevariousectoral rganizations.tbases ts nterventions a grand

arbiterrmediatorn thepremisehat hegovernments theguardianfthecommon ood,of a nationalnteresthatupersedesheparochialnterestsfeach sector.Yet within uch a corporatistramework,hestatedoes notattempto dominate irectly.t leaves some degreeof autonomyo theorganizations ithin ach of their espectivepheres f operation. ut toensure hat he ompactsndagreementschieved tthe opget mplementedeffectively,t demands hat he organizationsxercise omedisciplinendcontrol ver heirwnmemberships.

2 Many social scientists ave only employed he term corporatism' ithin Western

liberal apitalistontext, nd assumethat t necessarilyntails voluntarynangularcapital/labour/staterrangementhllippe Schmitter,hemost minentfthe heoristsofcorporatism,arnsgainst ny uchdefinitionhats so narrowlyttachedo a singlepolitical ulture,egime-typer macrosocietalonfigurationhat t becomes, t best,uniquelydescnptive ather han comparativelynalytic' See Schmntter,Still theCentury f Corporatism?',n FrednckB Pike and Thomas Stritcheds), TheNewCorporatismocial-Political tructuresnthe bernanWorld Notre ame UniversityofNotre amePress,1974),p.86 Schmitteras devised one-sentenceoredefinitionof corporatismhat s often uoted n papers n the topic nd thatwill serve s thetouchstoneor urown use of the oncept Corporatisman be defined s a system f

interestepresentationn which he onstituentnits reorganizednto limited umberof singular, ompulsory, oncompetitive,ierarchicallyrderedand functionallydifferentiatedategones, ecognized r icensed if not reated) ythe tate nd granteda deliberateepresentationalonopoly ithlnheir espectiveategoriesn exchange orobserving ertainontrolsn their election f eaders nd articulationf demandsndsupports'Schmitter,Still heCenturyfCorporatismT',p 93-4.)



CHINA,CORPORATISM,AND THE EAST ASIAN MODEL 31

Corporatismsusually epicteds counterpoisedodemocraticluralismand freemarketorces.ndeed, he ermwas initiallyssociatedwith ascistgovernmentsuringhe1930s.But n recent ecades, orporatismas beenusedto describe broadvarietyfpoliticalrrangementsnder overnmentsbothdemocraticnd blatantlyndemocratic,rom ritainndAustralia3oJapan oLatinAmerica,ndeventodescribeertainspects f Communistrule nRomania, oland ndtheSovietUnion.4 orporatistechanisms,nshort, o notdefine political ystem: polity an contain orporatistelementsnd atthe ame ime e a dictatorialommunistartyegime,ran

authoritarianhirdWorld overnment,ra liberal arliamentariantate.Among hedifferentypes f nstitutionalrrangementshat omeundertherubric f corporatism,he ideof the pectrumhat emocraciesuch sAustralia,ritainndJapan ccupys often eferredoas liberal r societalcorporatism,nthat he eaders fthepeakassociationsre beholdeno theirmemberships,ot he tate, ndthe tate snotdirectlyn a positiono dictatethe terms f agreementetween ectors.RonaldDore sees thistypeofcorporatisms involvingnstitutionalizedargainstrucketweenonsentingpartiesnanefforto balance etween heirwngroupnterestsndthegainsfor lltobehadfrom wider ublicnterest.5

At the therndofthe pectrumromuch ocietal orporatismies whatis variouslyalled authoritarianr state orporatism,here heweight fdecision-makingower ies very eavilyn the ide ofthe tate.Under tatecorporatism,he government ay even take charge of creating ndmaintainingllof the orporatistrganizationsndmaygranttselfhepowerto assign and removetheir eadersat will. Often uch 'representativeorganizations'erve functionfpre-emptinghe mergencef autonomousorganizations.he watchwordf tateorporatismstop-downontrol.

As just one exampleof whatwas clearly corporatistrrangement,n Australiathroughoutost f the 1980sthegovernmentroughthenational nion ederationnd

thepeak employers'ssociationsothe able ohammeruta uniformationalwagesand conditions-of-employmentackagecalled the Accord,underthe veryactivistcoaxing f governmentinisters.

Writingsn EastEuropeanocialist orporatismnclude aniel Chirot,TheCorporatist

ModelandSocialism' Romania], heoryndSociety, o.9 1980),pp 363-81,ValerieBunce and JohnM Echols III, 'SovietPolitics n theBrezhnev ra. Pluralism rCorporatism?',n DonaldKelley ed , Soviet olitics n theBrezhnevra (NewYork

PraegerPress,1980),pp 1-26; and David Ost, 'Towardsa Corporatistolution nEastern urope TheCase of Poland',Eastern uropeanPolitics ndSocieties, ol.3,no. (Winter 989),pp. 52-74.

RonaldDore, Japan:A NationMade forCorporatism?',nColinCrouch ndRonaldDore (eds),CorporatismndAccountabilityrganizednterestsnBritish ublicLife(Oxford: larendonress, 990), .4.



32 THE AUSTRALLANJOURNALOF CHINESE AFFAIRS

What oth nds fthis orporatistpectrumold ncommons thenotionthatorganized onsensus nd cooperationre needed, n contrast o thedivisive ompetitionnd onflictntailed ypluralistnterest-groupodels forganization.armonys the atchwordf a corporatistystem,egardlessfwhetherhisharmonys truly onsensual r imposed rombove. And t isvery ften goal-orientedarmony,rchestratedo serve nationalmission.Corporatistolutionsreaptto be sought uring artimerbyregimeshatstress apideconomicdevelopment,uided nd spurred y a governmentsimultaneouslyedicatedoenforcingolitical nd ocial tability.

CorporatismnEast Asia

The capitalist tates fEast Asia fit his cenario. apan, aiwan ndSouthKorea ach erected tronglyuthoritarianorporatisttructuresuring eriodsof intensive evelopmentnd amidst erceivedhreats rom broad.Overtime, s shall lso be seen, nternalndexternal ressures avepushed hesestatesmore nthedirectionfsocietal orporatism. questionhatwe willseek o answers whetherhina,which as nhentedhe ery ifferentype fauthoritarianismhat s associatedwithCommunistarty egimes,s now

beginningo adoptsome of the state orporatistttnbuteshathad beencommon o theseEastAsian neighbours. e will also investigatehethersomeof thefeaturesfsocietal orporatismhatmore ecentlyaveemergedwithin heEast Asiangenre f corporatismre also beginningoemergenChina oday.

Japan,he arliestmodelof East Asiandevelopment,nd laterTaiwanandSouthKoreahadbeen ntent,ikeChina oday, ponrapid evelopment,each governmentn turn confrontinghe obstacles faced by lateindustrializers.tate nvolvementnsecuring competitivedge forndustry- which his entury asextended o thepoint f corporatism has made

particularensewhere hedevelopmenttrategyas notmerelyrotectionistinnature ut ggressivelyxport-ornented.nd, otably,he aths o ndustrialdevelopmentftheEast Asiancountnes includinghinaof ate havebeen tronglyxport-oriented.

These East Asiangovernmentshared commondvantagenadoptingstate-corporatistolutions: veryone of themalready possessedwell-organized ureaucraciesith stablishedraditions.oreover,n the ve oftheirdevelopmental ushes theywere 'hard' states,with systems fgovernmenthatwere argelyutonomousrom,ndrelativelymmuneo,interest-groupressures.heMeijiRestorationn nineteenthentury apan

had brought governmentopower hatwas notbeholdenoanypowerfulconstituenciesnd thatwas determinedo preserve apanesendependencethroughtate-inspiredodernization.rom hemid-1940snward he xiledKuomintangovernmentnTaiwanwas positivelyostile oward he sland'sindigenousonstituenciesnd nterestroups. t sought o preservets ownpolitical egemonyykeeping hemweak and subordinateo the tate. he




Koreanmilitaryhat ssumedpower n Seoul in 1961 likewise ought oremain bove and imperviouso sectoral olitical ressures rom elow.Similarly, ithin hinaon the ve of theDengist conomic evolution,heCommunistartyfChina nd he ureaucracieshattcontrollederehardlyinfluenced y either ocial demands r non-governmentalnterest roups;considerably ore han nTaiwan r Korea, heChinese overnmentnjoyeda highmeasure f political utonomy. heorists f corporatismist thiscommon lement f hardness',f relativetate utonomy,s one of the oreingredients etermininghether tate corporatisman be successfully

imposed.Just s important,he East Asian stateshave shared cultural iasfavourable o corporatisttructures.n the Confucianisteachings hatpervadedll ofthe ast Asian ultures,iving rimacyoprivatenterestsadbeen viewed as equivalent o selfishness. he greater ood was ideallymanifestedn a consensus verseen ythemoral uthorityfthe eadership,reflectedn a moralisticather-knows-bestaternalism.6

The notion hat ndividualnd sectoralnterestshould e compromisedfor hegreater ood, s representedy a highereadership,as conduciventhe modem ge to patrioticppeals, nd East Asiangovernmentsavenot

been lowtowrap hemselvesnthe arb fnationalismnd nationalnterest'intheir romotionf corporatistolutions.Worldwide,n appealtopatrioticsacrifice as comprised commontrategyf state-corporatistegimes,ndtheEast Asiangovernmentseld culturaldvantage ere n their ffortsopromotehe anctityfnationalnterests.

The East Asian modelof corporatismorrowed eavily romJapan'sexperience arlier his entury,hen heJapanesetatehad begun rectingcorporatisttructuresocontrol nd coopt he ower lasses, o preventhemfrom ecoming utonomouslyrganized. or instance,he Japanese tateestablishedovernment-controlledgriculturalooperativesnthe arly 900s

tohandle hepurchasef agriculturalnputs,ales ofproduce,ndprovisionof credit, ying he peasantrynto a dependencyelationship ith thegovernment-assignedssociation. o, too, duringhe 1930sJapan's mall-business ectorwas organizedntogovernment-alignedeak associations,whichwere sanctionedo control heirmembershipshroughtate-backeddecrees.Andwhereasndustrialabour nions adbeen een s a threatythegovernmentndbusiness like, ome fthesewere rantedormalecognitionbythestate n 1941at theexpense fbeing oopted ormallynto hewareffort:Itwasa classic aseof tate-initiatedncorporatization'.7

6 On this, ee LucianW Pye,TheSpintof ChinesePolitics Cambridge, ass. MITPress, 968),pp 16-20

7 T. J Pempeland Keiichi Tsunekawa,CorporatismWithout abor?The JapaneseAnomaly', n PhilippeC. Schmitternd Gerhard ehmbrucheds), TrendsTowardCorporatistntermediationLondon ndBeverley ills.Sage, 1979),pp.250-3.




InTaiwan, heKuomintangovernment,ollowingheJapanesexample,in the early 1950s enforcedorporatist ierarchies pon theTaiwanesepopulaceboth s a political nd economic ontrolmeasure.nparticularhegovernmentookover the farmers'ssociations hat heJapanese olonialregime ad establishednd tied hepeasantrynto dependencyelationshipwiththe statethroughmuchthe same provisions f services s had thefarmers'ooperativesnJapan. heywerehierarchicallytructured,ith hegeneralmanagersppointed ytheKMT government;nd consequentlytheassociationst all levelsoperatemore s quasi-governmentalnstitutions..

than s bodies rticulatinghe armers'nterests'.8

So, too,thestate ook an active nterestn regulatingndcontrollingassociationsnother pheres f activity:aiwan's ndustnalnd commercialassociations, professional ssociations, abour unions, and religiousorganizations.Nearly ll of these ssociationsre hierarchical,xclusive ndnon-competitive.ll are registered ith the government;nce theyarelicensed ther ompetitiveroupsn the ame rade re egally rohibited'.9nthese espects,he orporatistode forganizationas adoptedo a tee.

The state-corporatistdeal was also embeddedn Taiwan's legislativeprocesses.Majorgroupingsuch s thefarmers,orkers,nd businesspeople

wereprovided ith n official uotaof seats n theNationalAssembly ndLegislative uan,near-powerlessodieswhosepurposewas to egitinmzeheROC regime.

The corporatist rameworkrguablywas least strong n termsofcontrollinghebusinessector. aiwan's xport-drivenevelopmentas beenspurredargely y small nd medium-sizednterprnseswned y ndigenousTaiwanese, omeof which ave grown nto arge orporations,nd the tatepreferredotto have thismultitudefindependentirms oalesce n strongpeak ssociations.

Incontrasto Taiwan,Korea's xport-ornentedevelopmentaspowered

by a relative andful f large conglomerates,he so-called haebols theTcnre,n pniiiyl1pnt of 7nihntfrA muhncapnrtivitie,c i,9r9 fv1,rci,n nf%rrlinite,-

8 Hung-mao ien,The GreatTransition olitical nd Social Change ntheRepublic fChina Stanford oover nstitutionress, 989),p48

9 Ibid, p46 Specialregulatorygencieswere stablishedt all levels of governmentooversee these voluntary' rganizationsAs an additionalmeasureof control, hegovernmentent o considerableengths o ensure hat hekeyofficeholdersf theassociationswereKMT members, any f whomwererequired o undertakeegularretrainingt Party choolsto reinvigorateheir oyaltyBut tight ontrolwas not the

government'snly nterest he state's dministrativegencies ometimesreatedherepresentativessociations irtuallys extensionsf the tate, elyingn them oexecutegovernmentolicydecisions,ndeven soliciting heir fficeholders'nput ntopolicyformulation s Hung-mao ien notes 'Many nterestroups n Taiwan thus ssumequasi-governmentaloles As longas this elation erves he ssociations' nterestswell, hey ave ittle eed o obby utside he overnmentdministration'p 57)




and orchestratedy governmentureaus n a system f statecorporatistarrangements.0

In bothTaiwan nd Korea, he tatewas intentponkeeping ndustriallabour ocile, nd n both ountriesurnedrincipallyocorporatistevers oachieve his.nTaiwan, he abouraws tipulatedhatne andonly neunionwasto operaten allenterprisesith hirtyr more mployees,1Indthe tatemade ure hat he ecognizednionwascontrolledromboveby heKMT.12Similarly,n 1963 Korea introducedegislation equiringll unions o belegallyrecognized ythe governmentndstipulatinghat heywere to be

unified nder single nion or ach ndustrialector, ith he tate iven hepower o ntervenen theirperations.3nboth ountries,he orporatisteakunionfederationserekept neffectuallyuiescentnd nactive.n theEastAsianmodel f state orporatism,nshort,abourwaslargelyxcluded romrepresentation,nlike hepopulist ariant f someLatin Americantateswherepre-existingabourunionswerevoluntarilyncorporatednto pro-statist oalition.n contrast,heEast Asiannewlyndustrializingconomies(NIEs) were irmlynthemould fwhat neanalystfcorporatismescribesas common othe bureaucratic-authoritariantate',wherecorporatisms the

10 Leroy Jonesnd I Sakong,Government,usiness, nd EntrepreneurshipnEconomicDevelopmentThe Korean Case (Cambrndge, ass Harvard niversityress,1980),pp 293-6, also Hyug Baeg Im, The Rise of Bureaucratic uthoritarianismn SouthKorea', WorldPolitics,vol 39, no.2 (July1987), pp.246-7; also see RobertWade,Governing he Market EconomicTheory nd theRole of Governmentn East AsianIndustrializationPrinceton rinceton niversityress, 1990), p.307 The chaebolsdifferedrom apan's aibatsunthat hey avenot ontrolledheir wnbanks, ndthuswere dependentn government-ownedanks They werethereforen a muchweakerposition han heJapanese aibatsu, ndcould easilybe induced nto tate orporatistarrangementsnwhlch heywere learly heweaker, ependentartners

l Regardlessfwhat he aw states, nly bout ne-thirdf the nterprisesithmore han30 employees generally hebigger irms actually ossesstrade nionbranches.That s to say, hegovernmentas notbeen ager o ncorporatell suchworkers nderitswing, ndwas most oncernedo doso with heworkforcef the argestirms. ee LiJian-chang,Bashiniandai e Taiwan aodong ongyun jiegouyu guozheng e fenxi'[Taiwan'sLabourMovementn the1980s Analysis fStructuresndProcesses) MAthesis,NationalTaiwan University, 991)

12 FredericC. Deyo, Beneath theMiracle: Labor Subordinationn theNew Asian

IndustrialismBerkeley. niversityfCalifornia ress,1989),p.118, Hung-mao ien,The Great Transition, 50; Walden Bello and StephanieRosenfeld, ragons inDistress:Asia'sMiracleEconomiesnCrisis San FranciscoThe nstitutef FoodandDevelopmentolicy, 990),p.221.

13 EunMee Kim, ContradictionsndLimits f a Developmentaltate-With llustrationsfrom he outhKorean ase', SocialProblemsMay 1993).



36 THE AUSTRALIANJOURNALOFCHINESE AFFAIRS

mainmechanisminking he tate o thepopularector norder oguaranteeits xclusion'.14

In thepastdecade,however,hiftsneconomic ndpolitical riorities,combinedwithpressures romncreasinglyssertiveonstituencies,avecombinedo pushbothTaiwan nd Korea n a decidedlyocietal orporatistdirection.t s a transformationhat apanffectedlmost alf centurygo nthe wake of the Second World War. In 'Japan, nc.' today the peakassociations fthe arge orporationsnteractn a highlyorporatistashionwith overnmentinistries,utwithin largely oluntaryramework.hese

complex arrangementsependupon a very stable long-term orkingrelationship ith hestatebureaucracy,nd thiswas strengthenedy thestability,ntil ecently,ccorded yJapan's efacto tatus s a single-partystate uled romhe arly 950suntil 993by he iberal emocraticarty.

A somewhatimilarransitionromtate osocietalorporatisms now nprogressnTaiwanand Korea. n Taiwanrecently, ith hesuspensionfmartialaw n 1987,with he ubsequentegalizationfoppositionarties,ndwith the introductionf meaningfullections or the LegislativeYuan,politicalspace'has beenopened or ectoralroupsoexert reaternfluenceand to securegreaterreedom romop-down overnmentntervention.o,

too, professionalssociations,hepeak industrialssociations,nd tradeunions15 ncreasinglyre dependentupon membershipupportandincreasinglytake utpositionsndependentrom he upervisoryfficialdom.Newpatternsfgovernmentontrolreemerginghat ake his nto ccount.TheKuomintangdministrationas been eeking oemulate apan's iberalDemocratic arty y activelyhapingiberal-corporatistatronageystemsdesignedohelp ustain heKMTinpowernthe ace frecurrentlections.

Similarlyn SouthKorea, n the midst f rapid conomic,ocial andpoliticalchangeduring he 1970s and 1980s, the governmentad tocompromisehe uthoritarianature f the orporatismt wasimposing,oth

towardabour nd he haebols.'6 new onservativeartyimilaroJapan's

14 Guillermo 'Donnell,Corporatismnd theQuestionf the tate', nJamesM Malloy(ed ), Authoritarianismnd Corporatismn LatinAmericaPittsburgh niversityfPittsburghress, 977),p.69.

15 On this hift owardocietal orporatismnunion-stateelations,s well as thepriorstate orporatistelationship,eeHsin-Huang ichaelHsiao, The LaborMovementnTaiwan A RetrospectivendProspectiveook', inDennis Simon andMichaelKau(eds), Taiwan Beyond he EconomicMiracle ArmonkM E Sharpe,1992), esp

pp 155-6, 6616 The chaebolshad grownarge ndprosperousnough o beginmanoeuvringo change

thebalance ntheirorporatistelationship ith overnment,eeking reaterutonomyall thewhile hat heywanted ontinuedelpfromhe tateAndwith orea'sentryntoa semi-democraticraduring he atter alf f the1980s, number f unionswere lsoable topry hemselvesoose from he tate's rip



CHINA, CORPORATISM,ANDTHE EAST ASIAN MODEL 37

LiberalDemocratic arty as cobbled ogetherndnowholds ower; nd, sin Taiwan, ocietal orporatistinkages o various onstituenciesre beingcemented o perpetuateheruleof a democratically-electedne-partytate.Given heJapanesexample,ocietalorporatisman beexpected o serve hepurposes f the present orean and Taiwan governmentsetter hantheauthoritarianorporatismf arlier ecades.

Itmust e reiterated,hough,hat orporatistrrangements,egardlessfwhetherhey re of the authoritarianr societal ariety, o not define nypolitical ystem nywhere;hey re instead nstitutionalechanismsn the

service fgovernmentsndparticularectoral onstituencies.ormost f thisperiod, aiwan's polity omprised one-partytate,Korea's was military-based, nd Japanwas and s a parliamentaryemocracy.or tspart, hinatoday s governed ya powerful eb of Party ndgovernmentfficials, ithall the rappingsfa Leninistegime.tshould e rememberednthepagesthat ollow hat t s onlywithinhis ontexthat orporatistechanismsrebeginningo be utilizedn Chinaas a means opromote ewpolitical ndeconomic oals.

Corporatism hinese tyle

Even before he dvent fDengandthereformra China lready ossessedcorporatisttructures.uringtheperiodof Lenin's rule in Russia,theBolshevik dministrationadbuilt orporatisttructuresnto he rameworkfthe Sovietstate, ndthe ChineseParty ad followed uitwhen tcametopower hree ecades ater. hisborrowedussianmodelwaspremisedn thenotion hat harmonyf interestsrevailedn a socialist tate: hateadersand ed,managementndworkers,ere llunitednthemissionoestablishprosperousocialism.Withinhismodel, orporatistectoral gencies uch sindustrialnions ndpeasant ssociations ere o serve s 'transmissionelts'

(or what n China s called the massline'), providing two-wayonduitbetween he Party entre nd the assignedconstituencies:y top-downtransmission,obilizationf workersndpeasants or ncreased roductionon behalf f the nation's ollective ood; andby bottom-upransmission,articulationfgrassrootsightsnd nterests.

Inreality,fcourse, nder oth talin ndMao thenotion f such two-way orporatisttructureecame charade; irectivesamedown hroughhestructure,ut onstituentpinionnddemands erenot llowed opercolateup. During eriodsfcomparativeiberalizationnderMaoduringhe1950s,when orporatistrganizationsuch s thepeakunion ederationttemptedo

carry ut their stensibleunctionsy transmittingpward heirmembers'grievances, ao and theParty eadership romptlylapped hem own nddismissed heir eaderships. ao finallyostpatiencewith hesesporadicmanoeuvresoputflesh n thebones f the orporatisttructures,ndduringthe ast decadeof his rule he dissolved hepeak labourunionfederationaltogether.herewas tobe no space' for ven he malldegree fautonomy




implied y state orporatism.nly he transmissionelt' organizationshatcontainedbsolutely o potentialormischief-makingere llowed o persistinskeletal hape.

Yet, in form f not n essence, sortof proto-corporatismid existthroughout ao's rule.The formaltructuresere alreadyn placewhen,afterMao's death, he ystemoosened p sufficientlyor he tate orporatistorganizationso begin o operate s such. o, too, he nion ederationndtheother orporatistodies thathad notbeen functioning,ike the All-ChinaFederation f Industrynd Commerce,17ere allowed to revive s peak

organizations,uickly aining representativeuthority ithin overnmentchannels hat hey ever adbeen bletohopefor nderMao.During he 1980s, as theChinese tatemovedfurthero freeup the

economy nd to relaxdirect artyontrols ver ociety,t needed dditionalmechanismso bridge hegaps ncontrol hatwere herebyreated. hus, nadditiono the roto-corporatistrganizationsf he ommand-economyra,large number f new associationswere created o serve as corporatistintermediariesndagents.As of 1993, 1,400national ssociations ad beenapproved ythegovernment;9,600 ssociationsnd branch rganizationswere registered ithprovincialuthorities;nd more than 160,000 were

registeredt thecounty evel.18 hese range n nature rom cience&technologyssociations,o organizationsordifferentconomic ectors,ocultural rganizations,o health, ports, ocial welfare,nd public-affairsassociations. 9

China in this sense approaches tatecorporatismrom he oppositedirection s the East Asian NIEs: not as a mechanismoryet furtherstrengtheninghe tate'sgrip ver he conomynd over ociety,utratherthereverse,mechanismhroughhich he tate's rip ouldbe loosened. trepresentsshift rom Party ommandystemhat ominatedirectlyforwhich hat reightedord totalitarian'as arguablyccurate)20o one that

dominatesartly hroughurrogatesauthoritarianorporatist).n thls arly

17 Thisorganizationad beenfoundedn 1953 as thecorporatistepresentativeorpre-1949businessmenut ubsequentlyadbecomemoribundnderMao Duringhe1980sitsmembershiplimbed harplyomore han alf million.

18 ChinaDaily,7May1993,p.3

19 On thisphenomenon,ee GordonWhite,Riding heTiger ThePolitics fEconomicReformnPost-MaoChina Stanford tanfordniversityress,1993),esp pp225-9On thenumbersnd rangewithinne city, ee thedetailed iscussionnGordonWhite,

'Prospects orCivilSociety', sp pp.70-6, hepaper lso appearsnDavid GoodmanandBeverleyHooper eds),China's QuietRevolution- ew nteractionsetweentateand Society Melbourne. ongmanCheshire/Nework St Martin'sPress,1994),pp.194-218

20 See, for example,Jonathan nger, State and Peasant n Post-Revolutionhina',JournalfPeasantStudies, ol.17,no.1 October 989),pp 114-36



CHINA, CORPORATISM,AND THE EAST ASIAN MODEL 39

stage, hemain ctors nthese ssociationsften rebureaucracieshat takeout laims o representssigned onstituencies.hat s, nmany ases what sbeingwitnesseds a gradual evolutionf power romhe entre hatwidensthe perationalpaceof some fthe xisting ureaucraciesnd o-calledmassorganizations,atherhanhe ise f ndependentssociations.

The topChinese fficialnchargefregisteringhina'snew ssociationshas noted hat on theone hand he stablishmentf governmentrgans osupervisehe ssociationsught o be strengthened,ndon the ther,n orderto realize he tate'smacro-controlf associations,t s necessaryo draw

divide etween he ssociationsndthegovernmento that hey an functionnormally'.21A problem ere s that heParty nd state ureaucracies,heninstructedromon-high o help establish orporatistssociations, avesometimes een temperamentallynclinedto followthe government'sautocraticraditionsnd their wncareer xperiencendtosmotherhenewcreations hrough ll-embracingnterference.n at least somecases, thisembrace as been o tights to call nto uestion hetherven he ermstatecorporatism's warranted.et in a greatmany therases,as shallbe seenbelow, s time asses n ncreasingumberfassociationsavebegun akingonan dentitys sectoral epresentativesomewhateparateromhe tate.

Corporatisms nottheonlyframeworkhat ocialscientistsmploynexamininghephenomenonf ntermediaterganizationshat tand etweenstate ndsociety.he notion fa 'civil ociety',s conceivedyGramscindothers, imilarlyocuses n an intermediaryevel of associationsndon the'space' thathey elp ocreate.nnotinghe mergencef associationsnthePRC, someChina pecialists ave ascribed hisgrandlyo theriseofa civilsociety. ut such nanalyticalrameworkssumes oomuchndependencenassociationalife nDeng's China. tate orporatism,e contend, rovidesmore ccurate escriptionfwhat asbeen merginghere.

ThiscanbeobservedyviewingheChinese ssociationsncomparative

perspective.hegreatmajorityfthemurrentlyre ontrolledythe tatenmuch the same tightmanner s the state n Taiwan used to controlassociations.All Chinese ssociations, f all types,need to be officiallyregistered,nd only neorganizations recognizeds therepresentativeoreachsectoralonstituency.22lmostllof these ssociations ere stablished

21 Renmin ibao People'sDaily] domesticdition), May 1993, 3

22 So rigidly oes thegovernmentdhere o this egulationhatwhen woorganizationsfcalligraphyonnoisseursmerged n the cenedunng he 1980s,Beijingdecreed hatone and only ne couldbe legally egistered,ndordered hat hey hereforeerge nto

onenational ssociationAnd,more ocally,when ans f a popular occer eam nthecity f Shenyang pontaneouslyrganized hemselvesnto wofan lubs ncompassingtwo differentocial constituencies,hecity uthoritiesemandedhat ven fan clubsneeded o be egally ecognizedndthat he wo lubswould ccordinglyeed omerge,sinceonly ne couldbe recognized.Both xamplesrefrom personalommunicationfrom ordonWhite




on thegovernment'swn nitiative,rom henationaleveldownwards;ndfor numberf themoremportantssociations, emberships obligatory.For instance, he proprietorsf small businesses utomaticallyecomemembersfthe elf-Employedabourers' ssociation hen hey btain heirrequisite usiness ermit. shadbeen he ase nTaiwan, he perationsf llofthe mportantssociationsre subsidized y theChinese tate; nd theirleadershipsre selected y the government.ndeed, he appointedeadersfrequentlyold oncurrentosts n the elevantovernmentgencies.And sin Taiwan, oo, he ssociationsssist hegovernmentn mplementingublic

policy nd n communicatingovernmentolicy ines o theirmemberships.Somespecialistssociationsn thePRC evenhave nputs uringhepolicy-making process,much as if they constitute consultativerm ofgovernment.23n all of these respects,hese are quintessentiallytate-corporatistrganizations.

Similar oTaiwan, hefastest rowingector ftheChinese conomyscomprisedfa multitudef small ndmedium-sizedirms,ftenocatedncountyowns,nd n China s inTaiwan,much f the xport oomderivesfrom uchfirms.Whereas he orporatisttructuresn Koreahadcentred nthe tate's ominationf relative andfulf arge onglomerateshichwere

allowed n turn o dominateheKorean conomy,heChinese tate as beenseeking o cast a loose skein fcorporatistetsovera verywiderange feconomicnd non-economicectors, uch s hadTaiwan.The Chinese tatedoes so, though,n themidst f looseningts owndirect dministrativecontrols ver he conomy. hus, s shallbe seen nsomedetail elow, hemore hat he conomy ecentralizes,hemore uch orporatistssociationsget establisheds substituteontrolmechanisms.n this astrespect, hinadiffers romTaiwan,whichwas satisfied o maintain elativelyweakcorporatist inkages vis-a'-vis small and medium-sized industry.State-corporatistffortsowardndustry,n intentf noteffect,re accordingly

strongernChina han adbeen rue fTaiwan.Yet attheveryame ime hat hese ew orporatisttructureset rectedandfirmed p bytheChinese tate, orces imultaneouslyreatwork hatunderminendweaken hecentral tate'spowers verthem. ora start,number f the associations ave been designateds therepresentativesfconstituencieshat roduce or markethatess and ess s dominatedythecentral tate.Moreover,n the ooser olitical limatefthe1980s nd1990s,as hasalreadyeen uggested,hese ssociationsre omingorecognizeheirownorganizationalnterestsnd he ottom-upishes ftheirssignedlientsand, s shallbeseen, reobtainingreaterspace'towork owardhesewithin

the orporatistramework.

23 Wang Ying,Zhe Xiaoye and Sun Bingyao, hongguo hehui hongjian eng. gaige yuZhongguode hetuan uzhi The Intermediaryevel of ChineseSociety Reform ndChina's Associational rganizations]BeijingZhongguo azhan hubanshe, 993), sppp43-69 Also seeWhite,Prospects or ivil Society', sp pp 70-86



CHINA,CORPORATISM,AND THE EAST ASIANMODEL 41

We shall nalyse hese rendst twodifferentevelsof organization:i)corporatistmechanisms rganizedat a national evel, that is, peakcorporatism;nd ii) corporatistnstitutionshat entre n theregional ndlocal evels.

(i) Peak CorporatismThe efforto seemresponsiveo an assigned onstituencys evidentt thenationalevel among ome oftheold 'mass' organizationshathad existedunderMao. As one importantxample, hepeaktrade nion ederation,he

ACFTU, anxious oth o retain upport rom elowand to enhancets ownstatus, as been increasinglyssertiven itsrequests o participaten theinternalargaininghat oes nto dministrativeirectivesnd ndrawingpnew legislation hatpertain o workers'nterests.24n 1985,based on aproposalby the unionfederation,he ChineseStateCouncildecreed hathenceforthhe tateCounciltself nd llrelevantdministrativerganswereto permithe unions o takepart n theirmeetingsn matterselatingoworkers'nterests.n 1987, akingurtherdvantagef tscorporatisttatus,theunion ederationenderedo the tateCouncil whole eries fproposalsdesigned o protect orkers' ghts,ncludingpecificegislationoprotect

theirwelfarewithlntate nterprises.25s of the arly1990s twaspushingwithinovernmenthannels or 5-dayworking eekfor he mployeesfstate nterprises.hese ffortstandnsharpontrastothe astAsianmodelofcorporatism,s observednpre-war apan,n Taiwan nd nKorea,whichhad ncorporatedndustrialnionsn order o exclude hem romnygenuinerepresentationr nput.

Inmost iscussionsfthe orporatistrrangementsn Westernconomiesa third italparticipant,esidesunionfederationsnd thestate, s largeindustry.lmost llofChina'sheavy ndustrynd ust bout ll ofthe argestenterprisesn other ectors f industryemain nder heownershipf the

central tate, ndstill ome under hediktatf the ndustrial inistriesndbureaus fa socialist ommandconomy. uta push s underwayathighlevelswithinhegovernmentnfavour ffreeinghisndustryromhedirectgripof the bureaucracynd of shiftingt intoa more ndirectorporatist

24 Informationasedon interviews ithACFTU officialsn Beijing n 1991.See AnitaChan, Revolution r Corporatism9',.53; the essay also appears n Goodman ndHooper, hina'sQuietRevolution,p. 62-93.

25 Wei Feng, Chinese radeUnionsMakeFresh rogressn Participation',hinese radeUnions, ovember990, p2-4. Also seeGongren ibao, 6 April 988, 3,andWing-

yue Leung, Smashing he IronRice Pot: Workersnd Unions n China's MarketSocialismHongKong AsiaMonitor esource entre, 988),p.121. To counteractheerosion f standardsfliving y nflation,hefederationlso unsuccessfullyroposedseveral imes uring he1980sthat ncomes e indexed o nflation.Informationroman interviewnBeijing uring ugust 991with memberf theExecutive ommitteeoftheAll-China radeUnion ederation




relationshipith overnment.nfact, he tateCommissionorReformftheEconomicSystem Tigaiwei), powerful ody under he StateCouncil,proposed n 1992 thatthe industrial inistriese abolished,with theirresponsibilitiesnd leadingpersonnel hifted o an association or eachindustry.26s one example, hepresenteaders f the ron nd SteelMinistrywouldbe shiftedver nstead ofill he eadershipanks fthe teel ndustryAssociation, hose executive ommittee ould also include he heads ofChlna'sfifteenrso largest teelfirms.hesteelmillswouldno longer esubject o theminutiaefgovernmentecrees utrathero ndirectuidance

plansemanating rom governmentgency imilar oJapan'sMinistryfInternationalrade and IndustryMITI) [arguably heTigaiwei tself] ndmediatedythe teel ndustryssociation.27

Atthe14th arty ongressnOctober 992,Deputy remierhuRongji,who holds special responsibilityor economicreform,penlyproposed,accordingly, hat 'governmentureaus be abolished and replaced bycommissions'san bu she wei),most specificallyan economicplanningcommission nd tradecommission' read MITI].28The PartyCongress

26 This nformationenvesfrom nterviewsonductedn Beijing n late 1992 byDr YouJi,UniversityfCanterbury,ew Zealand, o whomwe are ndebted

27 One strong ndication hat his proposalwas explicitlymodelled n MITI and theJapanese rade ssociations s containedn a policypaperby the ChineseEnterpnseReformnd Development esearch ureau Zhongguo iye gaige yufazhanyanjiuhuixueshu u), governmenthink-tanklosely llied otheTigaiwei

InJapan, hemanagementf ndustry,ncluding omestic ndforeigntrade, ll fallsunder he responsibilityf MITI, and there re noindustrialministriesnd in none of the cities are there ndustrialbureaus . It needs obe considered hethert is necessaryor ur

central overnmento possess several ensof industrialepartmentsand for very rovince o have several ens f ndustrialureausThe managementf each industryught o be graduallyhiftedromthehandsof state rgans nd into he handsof non-stateminjian]organs . like hevanouskinds ftrade/industrialssociations

This quote denves from classifiedournalpublished xpressly or theChineseleadership,nterprise eform ommuniqueQiye gaigetongxun), o.5 1992) (We areindebted oDr You Jifor hanng hisournalwith s Whilediscussionsargely avebeen proceeding ehind losed doors, dvocacy or heproposal lso appeared n the

publicmedia,mostforcefullyn an article ya formerradeministernJinglrnbao[Economic aily], 9January993, .7.

28 Jiushiniandai [The Nineties], ebruary 993, p46 In an address o theShanghaidelegation t theCongress, huRongji eportedlyeclared hat e had MITI explicitlyinmind. This atternformationerives rom n interviewonducted y Dr You Ji inBeijing.)



CHINA, CORPORATISM,AND THE EAST ASLANMODEL 43

cautiously nded up deferringuch a decision; utthe proponentsf thissystem of commissionsand corporatist ssociationswere alreadyimplementingheirrganizationallans t ower evels.For example, uring1992the ity fShanghai, hu Rongji'spolitical astion, bolished ourteenindustrialureaus nd installedntheir lace fourteenorporatistndustnalassociations,to enable he nterpriseso provide or hemselves ithin heirown associationsnd to take n the esponsibilityndcapacityo coordinatetheir wn ndustry'.29

In March 993, n a major ush orward,his ype f schemawasadopted

at thenationalevel,with he nnouncementhat even fChina's ndustrialministries ere o be abolished,nd atleast woof these theMinistryfLight ndustriesndtheMinistryfTextiles were ransformedirectlyntofederationsf ssociations.30

This is clearly ntendedo be a state-corporatistrrangement,ith hegovernmentndirectlyutfirmlyn control f affairs. et it has alreadybecomeapparentn recent ears hat rofitabletate nterprisesave beengaininghe everage obe moreprotectiveftheirwn nterests,ndwhenbanded ogethern ndustrialssociationstcanbe expectedhat heywillbebetter ositionedo collectivelyssert hemselvesnd that op-downtate

corporatistontrols ill teadilyiminish.Already,withoutny publicityhe Chinesegovernmentctuallyhasquietly ccepted he nternationalabourOrganization'sasicprinciplef atripartiteorporatisttructuren industrialelations.t has establishedworkingelationshipith he LO's Beijing ffice,eeking he atter'sdviceHenceforth,he unionfederationfficiallys to representheworkers,hegovernment'sabourBureau s to representhestate, nda newly-createdorganizationnown s theChlnese nterpnse irectors' ssociationCEDA)is torepresenthinesemployers.31embershipn CEDA for he ime eingis heldmainly y managersfbigstate nterpnses,utCEDA hasplansto

absorb rivate ntrepreneursn thefuture.he most ecentctivityponsoredbythe LO wasa workshopn collectiveargainingo which ll three artiessent epresentativesnequalnumbers.ynicswould aythat ll three artiesspeakfrom he samemouth. ut interviewsith ll three rganizationsnBeijingdunng 994enableus to detect hree istinctoices.Thiscan bestbe

29 Jingji ibao, 2 October 992,p 2.

30 Jingji ibao,17 March1993, p 2; ChinaNews Digest,11 March1993, citingJapanEconomicTimes, nformationlso basedon ourown nterviewsnBeijingduringmid-

1993.31 This nformationomesfrom isits o theLO Beijing ffice,heLabourBureau,ndthe

national nion nd CEDA headquartersn May 1994.The nterviews ith hese ariousofficialswere quite frank nd open, in that we were accompanied y academicresearchersrom hePRC, who sked he uestions.t was apparenthat he fficials elttheywere peaking o an n-group,atherhan o n out-group.




illustratedn the hree ifferentositionshatwere dopted uringhedraftingof the LabourLaw of 1994,with heunionfederationuccessfullyavingfoughtn uphillbattle o secure egal protectionorworkers' ights ndbenefits;heEconomic lanningommission,heTradeCommissionndtheother ureaucracieshargedwith evelopinghe conomyrguingn behalfof the nterestsf enterpnse anagement;nd theLabourBureau akingnintermediaryosition.32ooking orwardoward uture ecades, tbecomespossible oenvisage orporatistndustnalssociationsnd a peaktrade-unionorganization,nderhe egisofthe tate, egotiatinghe onditionsfwork n

state ndustry.Separately,hehigh-level hite-collaronstituenciesave also beenassigned peak corporatist epresentation.he most importantf theseassociationsre he o-called emocraticarties,esidues rom re-revolutiontimes hathadbeen powerless andmaidenso theParty nder he unitedfront'olicy f Mao's day.EachDemocraticarty as,and still s,assignedto recruitrom specific ocialgrouping:ne to serve s a representativeorhigh-levelntellectuals,notherpecificallyhetechnocratsnd scientists,another he doctors,nother choolteachers, nd yet others he overseasChinese, he Taiwanese nd peoplewithformer uomnntangonnections.

There reeight fthese o-called emocraticartiesnall,and he ighth,heDemocraticNational Construction ssociation,s reservedfor privateindustrialistsndbusinesspeople.heseDemocraticartiesre llspecificallyrestrictedromecruitingorkers,easants r oldiers.33

Under eng, he ight arties avebeenreinvigorated.utfor ll intentsandpurposesheireadershipsre till etted ytheCommunistarty.nturn,themembershipsrekepthighlyelective, ith he ntentionfcooptingndincorporatinghe lite fthese ectors while rantinghem mechanismoprovidenputnbehalf ftheir onstituenciesithinorporatisthannels. ofurtherhls,naddition o thenormaltransmissionelt'routes faccessto

theofficialdom,heDemocraticartiesre allowed o promoteheir ectoralviewsby wayof consultativessemblies, hich mploy orporatistelectionmechanismsimilar o what adexistedn the egislaturesnTaiwan. n boththeChinesePeople'sPoliticalConsultativeonferenceCPPCC) and to alesser xtent heNational eople'sCongress, disproportionateumberf

32 One consequence f suchnegotiating as that heLabourLaw hadgone throughomethirty rafts uring fifteen-yearrocess, efore inally eingpassedin 1994.Thisinformations basedon a 1994 nterview ith national nion fficial ho served s a

representativeor heunion n theLabourLaw Drafting ommittee. is accountwasconfirmedy theLabourBureau fficialwho was responsible or hefirst raft f thelaw.

33 AnitaChan, The Challenge o the ocial Fabric', n David Goodman nd Gerald egal(eds), China t Forty Oxford: xford niversityress,1989), sp.pp.81-3; nd JamesSeymour, hina'sSatellite arties ArmonkM. E. Sharpe, 987), hs7 & 8.



CHINA,CORPORATISM,AND THE EAST ASIANMODEL 45

seatsgetreservedor he epresentativesfthese emocraticarties.34nthemnd-1980s,n a bid to givefurtherectoralepresentationoChina'sgrowingbody of pnvateentrepreneurs,he All-ChlnaFederation f IndustryCommerceoined theDemocratic arties s a constituent ember f theCPPCC.

Mostof the ntellectualsndentrepreneurshooccupy uch seatsasdelegates rom hese orporatistssociations upport urtherconomic ndpolitical eforms but hey sually renotpro-democracy.or, t eems, rethe greatmajority f Chlna's intellectualsnd students.35hina's urban

educated generallylitisto the ore fear hat ny ystem fdemocraticelectionswouldputChina'sdestinynto hehands f a peasantmajorityll-equipped o votesensibly: arbetter o opengovernmenthannels o theadvice and nfluencef thewelleducated their wn kind throughnexpansion fthepower ndprestigefcorporatistorumsuch s theCPPCCand through reaterndependenceor their wn organizations.ven thestudentrotestersn theso-calledDemocracyMovement f 1989 werenotcalling or systemfmulti-partylections asedon universaluffrage,utrather eredemanding overnmentecognitionhat eoplecouldform ndcontrol heirwnrepresentativessociations.heprotestersncapsulatedhis

desire n thevery itles f thegroups hat heynitiated: or xample, heBeijingAutonomous tudents'Association nd the BeijingAutonomousWorkers' ederation. o theextent hat heyweredemanding structuralchangenthepoliticalystem,twas to effect shiftoa societal orporatisminwhich hey ould hoose heir wn eadershipnd et heirwn gendas.

If thatwas the pro-'democratic'osition,he mostpopular ounter-argumentmong ntellectualsuringhe ateEighties,which tsadherents

34 See Renminhengxie ao [People's Political onsultativeonferenceews], 8 March1988,p.1,for list f thenumbersf delegates otheCPPCC from achgroup.On his,also see James eymour, hina'sSatellite artlies, 131, n 47. As of 1986,out of the160,000members f China'seight emocraticarties, ,900 sat as People'sCongressand CPPCC deputies t thenationalndprovincialevels,meaning hatmore han percent of all Democratic artymembers ad beenassigned s delegates o high-levelofficial orumsSee People's Republicof China Yearbook, 986 (Beijing:Xinhuachubanshe),p.142-3.

35 Onthebeliefs f the ntellectualsnd tudentsee,for nstance, nita han,The Social

Origins ndConsequences f the Tiananmen risis', n David Goodman ndGeraldSegal (eds), China n theNinetiesCrisisManagementnd Beyond Oxford: larendonPress,1991),pp.105-30; nd AnitaChanand Jonathannger,VoicesfromheProtestMovementnChongqing: lass Accents nd ClassTensions',nJonathan nger ed.),ThePro-Democracyrotestsn China Armonk:M. E Sharpe, 991),pp 106-26, lso

pp.4-7.




entitlednewauthoritarianism',36osited hat hina's conomic evelopmentwas at too early stage o warrantuch iberalization.Newauthoritananism'explicitlyooked astward o the xpenence fTaiwan nd SouthKoreaandsouthward o Singapore nd proclaimed hatChlna needed a transitional'developmental'eriodof strong overnmentalbeit one thatwould payserious attention o the corporatist orumsof specialistsand otherintellectuals).hisphasewould astuntil hlna's conomic evelopmentadprogressedothepoint hat he peasant roblem'was resolvednd a well-educated rbanmiddle lasshadgrown umericallymportantmplicitn this

'new authoritarianism'rgument as that, hen heproper istantime ameto shift way fromuthoritarianism,heParty tselfwouldbe able toretainpower ndpromoteationaltabilityn a newbasis by puttingogethersocietal-corporatistatronagetructureimilar o what heLDP hadachievedinJapan nd,more ecently,hat aiwan ndSouthKoreahad ccomplished

(it) Regional CorporatismEach successivelyower ayer of regionalgovernmentn China - theprovince,ity,ounty,ownshlpndvillage increasinglyomprisessmallempire hat olds evers fcontrol ver he rganizationsnd ctivities ithln

its own borders. he provincial overnmentr,at a lower evel, he ity rcounty overnmenturrentlyolds orporatisteveragever he ssociationsthat peratet tsown evel,much s the entraltate etains holdover hepeakassociations. county-level omen's ederationranch,or nstance,comesunder hedirecteadershipf the ounty overnmentndcounty-levelPartyommittee.

But at thevery ame ime, he ounty ranch ftheWomen's ederationis also administrativelyeholden o thehigherevels of the Federation.nshort,t receivesnstructionsromwo etsofmastersOver hepast everaldecades, he elativealancenthis ystemf dual eadershlp',s theChinese

call it,hasbeen nflux.During omeperiods he ocal association rancheswerepredominantlynder he way fthe op-downierarchyhat ulminatesin thepeak-levelssociations, hich n turnwere ontrolledy thecentral

36 'Newauthoritarianism'ad beenpushed ard unng 988-89 y ntellectualsssociatedwith hink-tankshat he reformist'artyecretaryhaoZiyanghadestablished ut t

also wonsupportersmong omeof the iberal issidentssuchas thewriter ai Qing)andamong omemembersf theParty'sconservative'action, ho nthe ftermathfthe Beijing massacrepushed a similarplatformhat its criticsdubbed 'newconservatism' good election farticles n new uthoritarianism'oth ro ndcon scontainednLiu Jun t al (eds),XinquanweizhuyiNewAuthoritananism]Beijing:Beijing ingjixueyuanhubanshe,989).



CHINA,CORPORATISM,ANDTHE EAST ASIAN MODEL 47

state; uring ther eriods,heocalassociation ranchesamemore nderhedirect ower fthe ocalareas'governmentndPartyeadership.37

Underthecentral tate'spresent olicies n support f decentralizedeconomic nitiatives,s local leadershipsave gamnedreaterontrol vertheirown economicresources nd becomeless dependent pon highergovernmentevels for financing ocal government perations, heysimultaneouslyave been gaininggreater orporatistontrolover theassociationsn their alliwicks t the expenseof hlgheruthorities.hlsmessagewasdnvenhome o us inexplicit ermsytheParty ecretaryfa

wealthy ural ownshipn Yunnan rovince unngfieldworkn 1988. Histownship dministrationas gaining very ubstantialncomefrom heexploitationfmnnerals,nd from hlsncomewas activelynvestingnnewenterpnses,ery enerouslyndowingew ducationalndwelfareacilities,andbankrollinghe expansion fother overnmentervices,ncludingheactivities f the corporatistssociationswithin ts terntory.he Partysecretarywas adamant hat, lthough echnicallyhe personnel f theassociationsameunder he dual control' fboth he ownshipndthenexthigherevelsofgovernment,nrealityll of the ocal organizationsookedoverwhelminglyo his ownshipovernmentor uidance.

Incontrasttands secondllustration.heheadof n mpoverisheduraltownshipnYunnan oted o us that lmost ll of thepublic erviceswithinthetownshipad to be subsidizedy higherevelsof government.orthatreason,he nfluencefhigher overnmentrgansver hepersonnelf theseorganizations,e said,wasgreaterhanhlsown nfluence.n short, ewhopays he iper allsthe une.

That he orporatistssociationsnthewealthieristrictsndregionsreincreasinglyeholdeno the egionalr ocalauthontiess sometimesf ittleimport,nthat he ocal governmentdministrationsormallyerve s agentsand surrogatesf the entral tate. utthey re also at times ivals o it:for

control f economic esourcesndtaxrevenues,or xample.Andin thistoing-and-froing,heregional r local authoritiesormallyeem able todependupon the solid supportnd connivance f the associations ndconstituencieshat ie within heir ittle orporatistmpires.38his seemsespeciallyhe ase inregionsnd ocaleswhere here xistfewor nomajorindustrialnterpnsesirectlywned ndoperatedythe entral overnment.The- Int-c nrivnte entrenr&-neirc and Il cAlllctivae eniternrises havi their own

37 An analysis f this ystemf seesawing hiftss containednJonathannger,TheStruggle o DictateChina's Administration.he Conflict f Branchesvs Areas vs

Reform',heAustralianournalfChinese ffairs,o18 July 987),pp 15-4538 On thisalliance of local interests ithin corporatistramework,ee VictorNee,

'Organizational ynamics f Market ransitionHybndForms, ropertyights, ndMixed Economyn China',AdministrativecienceQuarterly,ol.37 (March1992),esp p.3. Also see JeanOi's excellent orthcomingook, entativelyitled ural ChinaTakesOff:ncentivesor ndustrializationBerkeley: niversityfCaliforniaress).




reasons to support heir ocal associations nd governmentsgainst heencroachmentsf the entral tate: n alliance f nterestsn behalf f ocalprotectionism.t times, herefore,t appears hat ocal corporatism orksagainst he tate nd gainst he eak evel orporatistssociations.

In short,ven f orporatistnstrumentsontinueo develop n China, t snot ikely o entail coherentetof corporatist achineryhat an be readilycoordinatedtthe op n Beijing hrough web of peaknational ssociations.Rather,o the xtenthatocal governmentsave he oom opursue heir wninterests,ational nd local corporatistrrangementsneasily o-exist, t

times ullingnopposite irections.Atthevery ametime, he urrentcenarios furtheromplicatedy thefact hat local orregional overnmentot nlymanoeuvreso safeguardtsprerogativesnd resourcesis-ai-vishe tate bove t,but imultaneouslysalso wrestlingo retain ts powers nd control verresources is-a'-vis heenterpnses nd citizenry elow it. Witheconomic iberalization, veryconsiderablemount fprivate nd semi-privatenitiatives emergingnthericher istricts,nd new tensions as well as new patronage/dependencyrelationships)re mergingetweenuch onstituenciesnd he ocalpoliticalauthoritieshooversee hem. hus,notwithstandinghe iesofsubordination

thatbind association rancheso the ocal authorities,he associations recoming nderncreasingressurerom elow orepresentnd obby nbehalfof their ssigned onstituencies,imilar o some of thepeak corporatistassociationsnBeijing.As ustone example,nthe maller ities omeof thelocalbranches fthe elf-Employedabourers' ssociationthe rganizationfor small and mediumbusinesspeople) eportedly ave begun reactingpositivelyo these xpectationsndpressuresf theirmemberships,lbeitwithin he constraintsmposed y the corporatistramework.his positivebureaucraticesponse s reinforcedy the desiresof the organization'sadministratorso widen heir wnorganizationalrerogativesnd interests

vis-a-vis higher-leveluthorities. s Susan Young, who has conductedgrassrootsesearchnvolving local branch f the ndustrynd CommerceBureau (ICB) and the local Self-Employedabourers' Association testablished,bserves:

The ICB hasbeen right ehind eforms hich ivert teadilymore ctivityothemarketitsownsphere f unsdiction)wayfrom heplan In many f itsactivities to develop theprivate ector . the CB is indeed implementing olicy,

but t salsoengagingna littlempire-building

The CB uses the elf-Employedabourers' ssociation]opublicize overnmentpoliciesand regulations,nd to assist n thepolicing nd taxation f privatebusinesses Thus, to some extent,t is dependent n pnvate entrepreneursthemselvesoassist t ncontrollinghepnvate ector Inorder o attracthem,the ssociation asto offermore hanustpolitical ducation his,plus the CB'sinterestnpromotingconomic eform,as meant hat heAssociation asoften



CHINA, CORPORATISM,AND THE EAST ASIAN MODEL 49

acted s a genuine dvocate or rivate ntrepreneurs. T]herespotential ort

to become uite significantobby or rivateectornterests .39

In themunicipalityfBeijing, illed s it s withhigh-levelovernmentpersonnel,he tatusfthe mall rivatentrepreneursstoo owly or hem ohave any similar nfluence n the Bureau's city-level fficials. hey aretreatedwith ondescension,ndtheSelf-Employedabourers'Associationremains otally top-down lay-thingf themunicipal-districtureau.40 utthe arger rivatentrepreneursavebeen bletoturn o theBeijing ity-level

officesftheAll-China ederationf ndustryndCommerce,he orporatistassociation hat nitially adbeenfoundedn the 1950sforpre-revolutionbusinessmen.orexample, delegationfnewly ichBeijing ntrepreneursrecentlypproachedhe ederationourge hat teps e taken o mproveheirpublic mage, ndthecity-levelfficeaunched media ampaignn theirbehalf.t wrote ndsuccessfullynsertedrticlesauding hem nPeople'sDaily,Economic aily, ndothermajor ewspapers.41

Ofall ofChina'sassociations,heAll-China ederationf ndustryndCommerces the most ndependentf local governmentominance. nimportantactorn this rowingndependenceromovernmenttringssthat

theFederationan rely ncreasinglyn tsown ources ffunding:ationally,it owns 28 profit-makingompanies nd publishes ts own successfulnewspaper.

The All-ChinaFederation f Industry nd Commerce s currentlyengaged, s a deliberatetrategy,nestablishingther ssociationshatwillcomeunder ts umbrella.With heFederations intermediary,heseneworganizations ill be one degreefurtheremoved rom irect overnmentintervention,oth ocal and state. n June f 1993,as justoneexample,tsponsored he establishmentf a nationalPrivateEnterprise esearchAssociation. he inauguralonventionn Taiyuan, hanxi,was financed y

wealthy hanxi ntrepreneurs,nd broughtogether ealthy usinesspeopleand Federation fficials rom hroughouthe country,longwith somesympatheticentral overnmentfficials.42nder heFederation'suspices,

39 Susan Young, PrivateEntrepreneursnd Evolutionaryhange', n Goodman andHooper, hina'sQuietRevolution,p 117-18.Also see Ole Odgaard,EntrepreneursndEliteFormationn RuralChina',TheAustralian ournal fChineseAffairs,o.28 July1992),pp.99-100.

40 This informationerives rom ur own extensiventerviewinguringMay-June 993with ureau fficialsndpnvate eijing hopkeepers.41 Informationased on interviewsn mid-1993with fficialsrom heBeijingbranchf

the ederation.42 One of us attended he naugurationnd, as theonly foreignersonage resent, as

asked toaddress he ssemblage f a hundred elegates. he new association lans to




in the guise of this 'research'association, ew direct ross-provincialorganizationalinkages mong hebusinesspeoplere being emented,ver-leapingregional overnmentaldministrations.ooking outhwardowardGuangdongnd Fujian, fficials f theAll-China ederationf ndustryndCommerce old us that hey reestablishingocal Chambersf Commerce(Shang Hui) that re similarlyne stepfurtheremoved rom overnmentoversight.

In a parallelvein,the Shanghaimunicipal radeunionfederationassought o establish financiallyndependentesearch ssociation, ith he

intenthat t would obbyforworkers' ights o an extent hat heunionfederations a government-alignedrgan annot.We were oldby Shanghaiunion eaders nmid-1993hat he xplicittrategys to createn nterveninglayer f sponsorshipo as to bufferhenew associationrom hemunicipalandnational overnments'rit.

ElsewherenChina ome fthe ocal union rganizations,hich anrelyupon secure ncome asedupon fixed ercentagefthewagebillof state-owned nterprises,irectlyavebegunmanoeuvringwithhe ncouragementofhigherevels ftheunion ederation)or reaternion utonomyrom helocal officialdom.hiswas the ase,for xample,na provincialityn Hubei

whose associations ave been studied n depth.There,the city's unionorganizationad gainedcontrol ver twoperiodicalsnd had introducedgreaterreedomnthe roceduresorocalunion lections.43

Energeticorporatistssociationsuch s this ocalunion ave lso beentaking he nitiativeo enlarge hebase of their onstituencies,ven fthatentails estinghe orporatistule hat nly ne associationan berecognizedas representinggiven ector.nthis articularubei ity nd ts urroundingcounty,he rade nion rganizationnd themunicipalWomen's ederationended up contestingome of the same constituencyurf,with heunionestablishing omen-workers'ommitteesn enterprises,nd withboththe

Women's ederationndtheunion ompetingoorganize orking omennruralommunities.44n a parallel ashion,avid Wank'spapernthisssueofThe Australian ournal iscloses n fascinatingetailhow in thecityofXiamen, heAll-China ederationf ndustryndCommerce'socal ChamberofCommerceponsoredhefoundingf a new ocal associationorprivateentrepreneurshatwas indirect ompetitionith hemunicipalndustryndCommerce ureau's elf-Employedabourers' ssociation.nthis ase,theBureau ppealed o the entraluthorities;ndthe entral overnment,ntruecorporatistashion,uled hat nly nesetof associations as to be allowed,

establish 'foreignersdvisory oard' s a means f assertingtsrelativendependencefrom hegovernment

43 Wang Ying, Zhe Xiaoyeand Sun Bingyao,Zhongguo hehui hongjian eng,alsoWhite, Prospects orCivilSociety', p 73-4 This unionhad also sought oacquire nadditionalndependentncome y stablishingts wn ravel gency

44 White,Prospectsor ivilSociety', 74



CHINA, CORPORATISM,AND THE EASTASIAN MODEL 51

and that his was to be the governmentureau's.The Federation-backedassociation asforcedoceaseoperations.

Exclusion rom orporatist epresentation

Whereas orporatistssociationsuch s these re seekhngoexpand nd tolobby n behalf f constituencies,wo arge roups avebeen xcluded lmostentirelyromccesstocorporatisttructures thepeasantrynd workersnthenon-statendustrialector.

Even though e-collectivizationn the early 1980s had freed easanthouseholds o engage in independentamily arming, number f theeconomic ontrolmechanismsf the prior griculturalommand conomyhave remainedn place, nd thishas given he ocal officialdomcontinuedhold overthepeasantry.his pastdecadeChinese armersave had o turndirectlyo state channels or theprovision f credit, or the affordablepurchase f agriculturalnputsuch s fertilizersndhybrideeds, ndfor hesale of much f their roduce. p through992mostChinese easantswereevenmandatedosellmuch ftheir ice nd certainther asiccrops othestate t below-marketrices,45ustas Japanese easantsfter 938 had been

forced o do throughheir tate-corporatisto-op. Significantly,ecause nChinaall of thesemechanismsre survivingemnantsrom heperiod fcollectivegriculture,heofficialdomas feltno needtodepend pontheintermediationf a corporatistrganization. state-dominatedeasantassociationadbeenpoliticallyctive n behalf fthe artynderMao's rule,but it has becomealmostentirelynactive ince then, nd has whollydisappearedn some districts.46he peasants ace a governmentolicyofexclusion,without farmers'ssociationnplaceat the ocal and nationallevels hrough hich ocietal-corporatistatternsouldpotentiallyevelop.nthisrespect, he peasantry'sircumstancesreentirelynlike hoseof the

workers n China's state-owned ndustry,who have been assignedrepresentationythe ncreasinglyctive nion ederation.So, too, hebulk ftheblue-collar orkersntheburgeoningnvate nd

collective-sectoractorieshat re spnnging p locallyall over China areexcluded romhecorporatistechanisms.or themostpart, hisnon-statesectorompriseshe ame ypesf abour-intensivendustryhat adpoweredhighgrowthn the nitial conomic hrustfpost-war apan nd theAsian

45 The Chinesecentral overnmenteclaredn 1992 that hismandatoryales programwouldbe halted, ut o date largenumberf theprovincesavenotmade nymove o

abandon t.46 Specialist ssociations ave beenestablishedor ig breeders,hicken armers,nd the

like,but hese ssentiallyre technicalutreach rganizationsurther,hey end o beopenonly o huanye u thewealthyspecialized ouseholds' not othegreat ulkof ordinary armers.Informationromnterviewsn rural ountiesn Yunnan andGuizhou, 991, ndHainan rovince,993.)




NIEs. It is the availabilityf cheap abour hatmakes hese mallChinesefirms nternationallyompetitive,nd a freemarketn labour nsures hatmost ftheworkersnthis ector, rawn o theirobsoutof the ountryside,receive ow pay.As first-generationorkers, ost f themonsiderndustrialemployment,ven underDickensianworkingonditions,n improvementover a livelihood iedto the and.47 aking dvantage fthis,andeagertofurtherevelop hina's heap-labourxport oom, he tate enerallyhoosesnotto intervenen this ector o enableunion ranches obe installed r toenforcehe abour tatuteshat reon thebooks.Asof1992,nationwidenly

0.1 per cent of the county-townnd ruralfirms ontained rade-unionbranches.48his non-interventiony the stateamounts,n short, o anexclusion f such abour, oday otallinglose to half fChina's ndustrialworkforce,imilar o the xclusion f much f thepeasantryrom ven okencorporatistepresentation.

Tracking heFuture

OthermportantroupsnChina, s has been een, ncreasinglyre tied ntocorporatist odesof operation:hroughheunion ederationnd other eak

organizations,nd through myriad f branchssociations hat re locallyoriented;hroughhenew ndustryssociationshat rebeginningosupplantthecommand-economyinistriesnd bureaus; ndthroughheDemocraticParties ndPolitical onsultativeonference.

Thesedifferentenres fcorporatistrganizationsll still peratewithinthestate orporatist' ould, till ominatedy he entraltate rby he ocalgovernmenthatnitiatedhem. utyearby year, s hasbeendiscussed,tleast omeofthe ld massorganizations'ndnew ssociationsregraduallycoming nder he nfluence f, and beginningo speakon behalf f, theirdesignatedonstituencies.omeofthem re, nshort,hiftingraduallyut

perceptiblyn a 'societalcorporatist'irection. o theextent hatChinacontinues o loosen up politically,t is far more ikely o involve uchincrementalhiftsnto ocietal orporatismatherhan he ntroductionfanyform fpolitical emocracy.

The exclusionfrom he corporatistrena,thusfar,of the farmingpopulationndofmost fthenon-state-sectorndustrialorkforcetandss aworryingounterpointo this cenario. or he ulk fthe opulace o bekeptoutsidethe emerging tructures,ithoutny such mechanisms ortheir

47 Therehave beennumerouseports f horrific orking onditionsndill-treatmentf

workersndwidespreadmploymentfchild abour See, for xample,AnitaChan,'PRC Workers nder CapitalismwithChineseCharactenstics"',hina nformation,vol 5, no.3 spnng1991),pp75-82; Keith orster,TheWenzhouModelfor conomicDevelopment', hina nformation,ol 5, no.3 winter 990-91), p 53-64,andLeungWing-yue,mashinghe ronRice Pot, h.3.

48 Renminibao domesticdition), 8 April 992, 1




interestso be articulatedndweighed,s a recipe or build-upf socialandpolitical ension.Whether hinaestablishestructureso incorporateheseconstituencies,rdeliberatelyxcludeshem,maywelldeterminehe uccessor failurefChina's ngoing oliticalransformation.

CanberraOctober 994

TheAustralianationalniversity - ' '

ContempraryChina Papers J t

Limitedtocks fthe ollowingre vailable

2 Robert 'Neill,Peking-Hanoielationsn 1970,30 p (1971)A/US$4 04 Stephen itzGerald,alking ith hinaTheAustralianabor arty isit

andPeking'soreignolicy,4 pp (1972)A/US$4 05 Coln Mackerras, mateurheatrenChina1946-1966,0 pp (1973)

A/US$4 0

7 Ralph Pettman,China in Burma'sForeign olicy,56 pp (1973)A/US$4 0

8 Leslie W Chan, TheTaching ilfieldA MaoistModel orEconomicDevelopment,8 pp (1974) A/US$3 0

9 GordonWhite, hePoliticsfClass andClassOriginTheCaseofthe

Cultural evolution,i, 7pp (1976) A/US$7 011 Stephen itzGerald,hinand heWorld,, 126pp (1977) A/US$5 012 FredTeiwes,EliteDisciplinen China, 950-1953, , 216 pp (1978)

A/US$7 0

14 JBruceJacobs, ocal oliticsn Rural hinese ulturaletting FieldStudy fMazuTownship,aiwan,x, 47pp (1980) A/US$7 0

15 StephenFitzGeraldnd PamelaHewitt, ds, China n theSeventiesAustralianerspectives,ii, 87pp (1980)A/US$3 0

16 Audrey onnithome,entre-ProvincialconomiceformsnChitna,v,42pp (1981)A/US$350

18 Beverley ong, ed, NewPapersn Chinese anguage se,%, 190pp(1984)A/US$900

19 John incher nd PanCheng-lieh,ds, nBusiness ith hinaPlanningandManagingino-Australianconomicooperation,xiii, 84pp (1986)A/US$19 95

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1995 China, Corporatism, And the East Asian Model

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