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Last week, on October 8th, Wu Bangguo passed away. Yesterday, on October 14th, Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Zhongnanhai, and the front of customs and government offices across the country all lowered their flags to half-mast in mourning. According to CCP regulations, when a high-ranking national official passes away, they receive the honor of a national half-mast flag tribute.
In fact, there were early signs of Wu Bangguo’s declining health. On September 30th, during the CCP’s National Day reception, all surviving national-level officials gathered at the main table in the Great Hall of the People. However, several key figures were absent—Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, and Zhu Rongji. Of course, Song Ping was also missing, but at 106 years old, he has practically become a living legend, so his absence was unsurprising. The absence of Hu Jintao and Wu Bangguo, however, led many to speculate about their health conditions. As for Zhu Rongji, people already knew that, at over 90 years old, he was also in frail health.
Sure enough, only a few days after the National Day reception, on October 8th, Wu Bangguo passed away. The cause of his death was not disclosed, but I suspect it was likely due to cancer metastasis. As early as 2007, intelligence from the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai, leaked via WikiLeaks, indicated that Wu Bangguo had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Moreover, he wasn’t the only one—among the nine members of that Politburo Standing Committee, three were diagnosed with cancer. Huang Ju from Shanghai had pancreatic cancer, Li Changchun had liver cancer, and Wu Bangguo had lung cancer. Huang Ju’s cancer was discovered too late, and with pancreatic cancer being almost untreatable, he passed away in early 2007. Li Changchun underwent successful surgery for his liver cancer, and Wu Bangguo’s lung cancer was also treated successfully at the time. Nevertheless, Wu Bangguo only lived to 84 years old. Given the level of healthcare available to top CCP officials, 84 is not considered a long lifespan—many of them live close to 100. So, I strongly suspect that his early cancer diagnosis played a role in his passing.
With Wu Bangguo’s passing, the question arises—how should he be evaluated? Before his death, he served as Chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC) from 2003 to 2013, a full decade. Although, on paper, the NPC is China’s highest authority, everyone knows that real power resides in the CCP’s Politburo Standing Committee. The NPC is merely a rubber stamp, but the head of this rubber stamp still had to be a senior official with significant authority within the party. Despite the NPC chairman’s seemingly low-profile role, Wu Bangguo was a key political figure, ranking second in the Politburo Standing Committee and holding substantial influence.
How history will evaluate Wu Bangguo remains an open question. Many international discussions about him often mention his famous “Five No’s” policy, which he announced in 2011:
- No multi-party rotation of power,
- No diversification of guiding ideologies,
- No separation of powers or bicameral system,
- No federalism,
- No privatization.
This statement sounds similar to Deng Xiaoping’s Four Cardinal Principles, and as a result, Wu Bangguo was labeled as an extremely conservative figure. During his annual NPC report, he explicitly declared that China would never adopt Western-style political reforms, including multi-party democracy, separation of powers, or ideological pluralism.
However, if we analyze the context of the "Five No’s" in depth, it becomes evident that they were shaped by a specific historical background. I believe that many international media outlets have misinterpreted them. Wu Bangguo made this statement at a high-level NPC symposium on January 24, 2011. The event was attended by key figures, including State Councilor Ma Kai, Supreme Court President Wang Shengjun, Supreme Procuratorate Chief Cao Jianming, provincial-level NPC representatives, and over 400 experts and scholars.
The topics discussed at this symposium were actually different from the later controversy surrounding Wu Bangguo’s statement. For example, Ma Kai emphasized that “administrative regulations must not contradict the Constitution” and called for “creating conditions to allow the people to supervise the government.” Wang Shengjun advocated for “full implementation of an open trial system,” stressing that judicial fairness depends on transparent proceedings. Cao Jianming stated that the “procuratorate must exercise independent prosecutorial powers without interference from administrative bodies.” These discussions, at least on the surface, seemed to promote the rule of law.
Wu Bangguo’s speech focused on three main themes:
- Upholding the correct political direction to avoid chaos,
- Rejecting Western political systems,
- Advancing the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics.
The “Five No’s” were mentioned in the context of upholding the “correct political direction,” which, in CCP terminology, simply means maintaining the party’s rule. Saying “no multi-party rotation of power” was not a new stance—Deng Xiaoping had already made this clear decades earlier. The phrase “no diversification of guiding ideologies” primarily targeted the 2008 Charter movement and Premier Wen Jiabao’s promotion of “universal values.” At the time, Wen Jiabao had stated in an article published by Xinhua News Agency that freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights were universal values, not exclusive to capitalism. This stance was controversial within the party, and it was reported that Jiang Zemin was particularly displeased with Wen’s remarks.
The CCP has always been wary of the concept of “separation of powers.” Even during the relatively open political climate before the 13th National Congress, Deng Xiaoping himself rejected it, arguing that it was a Western concept unsuitable for China. The rejection of federalism was not particularly significant, and the claim of “no privatization” was largely rhetorical—after all, China’s Property Law was passed in 2007, effectively institutionalizing a form of privatization through 70-year land use rights.
In my view, the “Five No’s” were not groundbreaking; they simply reiterated Deng Xiaoping’s principles. Compared to Xi Jinping’s later “Seven Don’ts” directive from 2013, Wu Bangguo’s statement appears relatively moderate. Xi’s “Seven Don’ts” warned against:
- Promoting Western constitutional democracy,
- Promoting universal values,
- Advocating for civil society,
- Encouraging neoliberalism,
- Promoting Western media values,
- Engaging in historical nihilism,
- Denying the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
The "Seven Don’ts" were far stricter than Wu Bangguo’s "Five No’s." Moreover, Wu Bangguo’s symposium speech actually contained discussions on judicial transparency and strengthening public supervision of government—topics that, in some ways, hinted at modest reforms.
That being said, Wu Bangguo’s political career did have some positive contributions. For instance, he played a role in passing the Property Law, a crucial legal foundation for China’s market economy. One of his most notable achievements was the abolition of the "custody and repatriation" system following the 2003 Sun Zhigang case. This case involved the wrongful death of a young college graduate detained under the system, which sparked national outrage. Under Wu Bangguo’s leadership, the NPC contributed to the decision to abolish this practice, marking a significant human rights improvement.
A line from Sun Zhigang’s tombstone inscription stands out:
"Those in power and those among the common people should take heed of this case—always remember the importance of life, human rights, livelihood, and the rule of law, so that good and honest citizens are never treated as prey."
I believe this is a fitting sentiment. Wu Bangguo was a technocratic bureaucrat, pragmatic and middle-of-the-road. He did not push for radical reforms, but within his limits, he contributed to incremental legal progress. If I were to sum up my evaluation of him, I would say:
Every advocate for the people deserves support, and every effort to ease the burden on the people should be remembered.
- 作者:Xlens
- 链接:https://www.xlens.online/article/18edecdd-9dc2-80e2-8186-e54bfb712ff5
- 声明:本文采用 CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 许可协议，转载请注明出处。