CIAO DATE: 11/2009
January 2002
This report describes in detail The Carter Center’s activities in China from July 1998 to January 1999 with a focus on the observation of China’s village and township elections and recommendations to improve the quality of those elections. The report is divided into two parts. Part I is a report on the Center’s observation of township elections in Chongqing. Part II covers the Center’s activities with respect to village elections in cooperation with the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA). Appendices of this report contain press releases from The Carter Center, a list of press articles on the Center’s activities in China by Western and Chinese news agencies. A brief introduction of the Buyun election, China’s first-ever direct election of a township magistrate, a list of Western press articles on this election and two Chinese editorials on this elections are also included in the Appendices. The Carter Center and the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in March 1998, outlining a wide range of cooperative activities in the area of village committee elections. Both sides agreed to work together: to set up a computer network system for election data gathering; to standardize electoral procedures; to design and organize training sessions of election officials; and to promote exchanges between China and the United States on election observations and researches on election-related topics.
Resource link: Observations on The Township People's Congress Elections in Chongqing [PDF] - 260K