China versus Government of China: Minor or Important Difference?

[Boojatta]

For example, consider stories about something that the government of China says. The stories sometimes use the words "China says ...", especially in the headline. The words "government of" are omitted.

Given such historical events as the internment of American citizens of Japanese descent, it might be a good idea to distinguish among:
1. people of Japanese descent who are American citizens residing in America,
2. people of Japanese descent who are Japanese citizens residing in Japan, and
3. the government of Japan.

Similarly, the government of China is quite different from the people of China.

After all, I haven't recently heard about any legal political parties in China other than the Communist Party. Can we conclude that nobody in China wants to establish or join any political party other than the Communist Party? I don't think that such a conclusion is warranted.

[Bradical79]

1. Doesn't bother me personally...

Usually I find it fairly obvious by the context it's being used in. But I know a lot of people out there don't bother to make the distinction. Israel is another example where the entire population gets stuck with the same label or view when it may be only a certain segment of the population being discussed, or a specific group (like their American lobbying group). Not all Chinese are in the CCP, not all Palestinians are in Hamas, not all Israelis think expansion and wanton destruction of Palestinian homes is a good strategy for dealing with their issues... and unfortunately, not everyone gets that.

[David__77]

2. China has a number of political parties, but they are not independent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China