Waging Peace:  China

Good Governance and Community Development

In addition to conducting voter education and monitoring elections for villager committees, the program cooperates with Chinese partners to introduce better election procedures and strengthen the capacity of elected deputies to oversee government performance. The program has formed close relationships with academic institutions and nongovernmental organizations in China to advance political and social change.

The Center recognizes that meaningful democracy requires informed and involved citizens. To that end, the program works in rural villages, in cooperation with China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, to expand channels for civic participation and build volunteer corps. In urban areas, the program works with local nongovernmental organizations to address the rights and practical needs of new homeowners.

The program also supports the Chinese-language National Information Network on Villager Self-Government (http://www.chinarural.org/), which facilitates the administration of local elections and the participation of rural residents in governance.

Read More:

The Inaugural Oksenberg Lecture: Click for transcript of "The United States and China: A President's Perspective," delivered by President Carter on May 6, 2002, at Stanford University.

Speech to Beijing (Peking) University: Read the full text of President Carter's speech to Beijing (Peking) University, Sept. 9, 2003.

Speech to the China University of Political Science and Law: Read the full text of President Carter's speech to the China University of Political Science and Law, December 2007.

Remarks by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter at the Li Xiannian Library in Hong'an, China, Jan. 14, 2009.
President Carter traveled to China in January 2009 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of normalizing diplomatic relations with Deng Xiaoping and to expand the Carter Center's working relations with government ministries.

China Program Director Yawei Liu's testimony on the current status of village elections before the Congressional Executive Commission on China roundtable "What Democracy Means in China after Thirty Years of Reform," May 22, 2009.

"Conversations at The Carter Center" discussion on Dec. 3, 2009, on U.S.-China relations.
Participants: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Carter Center Vice President of Peace Programs John Stremlau, China Program Director Yawei Liu, and Xiaolin Li, vice president of the China People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.