THE Communist Party of China (CPC) is celebrating its 100th birthday. CPC rightly called itself “great, glorious and correct” and will start its second century, no doubt CPC has good cause to be proud of. As not only has it survived far quite longer than its many critics predicted; it also appears to be on the up. After the USSR imploded in 1991, many pundits thought that China being a great communist power would be the next. But, we see how wrong they were, as US President Joe Biden, felt the need to declare not only that America was at odds with China, but also that much of the world doubted “whether or not democracies can compete”. This shows the strength of CPC at its 100th Anniversary of it founding. And, it is a great appreciation and compliment by the US and G-7.
CPC as one party has ruled China for more than sevendecads with success success bearing criticism from from the West since long. China was under Mao Zedong, the world’s second-largest economy, whose cutting-edge technology and infrastructure has sent a signal to the world’s biggest economies like US. This is fact that CPC is the world’s most successful authoritarian government. The Communist Party of China’s media dealing and handling across the globe has recently come under fire, as it happens always.
Western media and US politicians, especially since COVID-19, did not hesitate to criticize China on different grounds including socio-economic and political factorsTruth is that the CPC is the driving force behind China’s socio-economic miracles and political advancement.
Needless to say that the consistently rising progress and growth of China is taken as a threat by the world’s biggest economies who have been carrying this mantle for decades. Undoubtedly, the CPC has proven to be unique and distinguished since its inception as of July 192 when it combined Marxist-Leninist principles blending those with Chinese characteristics, thus creating a new model suiting its country, people and environment. Its eventual victory over the Kuomintang party led to the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Despite market reforms introduced in the late 1970s, modern Chinese state remains a basically socialist system maintained by the CPC’s functioning, leading role and unflinching strength. As the Party prepares for the 100th anniversary, it has brought about China’s rapid economic growth and rise as a global power, despite facing many formidable challenges at home and abroad.It was the strong will of the CPC and Chinese people that led to its victory in the War to resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53).
The CPC applied its collective wisdom to launch the five-year plan system in 1953. Next year will mark the 14th five-year period in this progressive series of growth and development.Each of the past 13 plans has projected the nation’s social, economic and political goals according to its actual situations and needs. The CPC’s decision-making is based on democratic centralism. It has succeeded in caring for 1.4 billion Chinese people and considerably improving their living standards. The 18th CPC National Congress in 2012 marked the peaceful transition from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping as General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. Xi is also President of the country and the Head of its military.Under Xi’s leadership, the CPC has revamped its anti-corruption supervision, tapped domestic vitality and pushed through ambitious plans, including the Belt and Road Initiative, to expand trade by building ports, railways and other connecting infrastructure.
The BRI principles of consultation and cooperation for shared benefits, and its aim for open, green and clean cooperation and development, showcase the CPC’s vision for better lives for all of the world’s people.Today, the CPC’s people-centered policy is a guide to the world’s largest poverty-relief campaign. China this year is making a great stride in its final battles to eliminate extreme poverty.
The country’s success in containing COVID-19 in a comparatively short period has again proved that it puts people’s life and interests first.The present escalating row between US and China over blame for the coronavirus pandemic is fast becoming a battle over the CPC’s legitimacy, raising the stakes in an already fraught relationship. In castigating China for its failure to contain the outbreak, senior US officials have gone out of their way to portray the crisis as a deadly threat posing to the entire world.President Xi Jinping, who is the supreme leader of the CPC has acquired power in 2012, has accrued more political power than any Chinese leader since Chairman Mao Zedong.Xi has amassed vast authority after being named party general secretary in 2012, effectively becoming leader for life. He took over as leader of the military to head party bodies that oversee economic reform and other important issues.
It was a break away with two previous generations of leadership, which were based on consensus among members of the ruling party’s inner circle of power, the Standing Committee.It has allowed Xi to push through ambitious plans, including the multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, to expand trade by building ports, railways and other trade-related infrastructure across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.Since 2012 President Xi Jinping came to power, he has consolidated his control over the party, with many experts calling him the most influential Chinese leader since Mao Zedong. In 2017, the CPC reaffirmed President Xi Jinping’s dominance and elevated new officials to support him in setting the agenda for l one of the largest world economies.
The CPC relies on three pillars: control of personnel, propaganda, and the People’s Liberation Army. Around 70 percent of its nearly ninety million members are men; farmers, herdsmen, and fishermen make up roughly 30 percent of its membership.The CPC convenes its National Party Congress (NPC) every five years to set major policies and choose the Central Committee, which comprises around 370 members and alternates including ministers, senior regulatory officials, provincial leaders, and military officers.
The Central Committee acts as a sort of oard of Directors for the CPC, and its mandate is to select the Politburo, which has twenty-five members. No doubt that CPC is in firm control of the People’s Republic of China and transformed China from less developed country to one of the most technologically advanced country of the world.
The CPC role is vital to ensure continuity of the ongoing progress and growth of China. The decision making is based on democratic Centralism that has taken care of more than one billion Chinese people in terms of socio-economic development and its trickle down effect to the people at grassroots level of the society. We can rightly mention CPC as a centrifugal force behind China’s Social, economic and political power.
(The writer is Secretary-General Pakistan-China Friendship Association Khyber Chapter & President Radio China Listener’s Club)
