In this interesting video of a webinar organised by our friends in the Society for Anglo-Chinese Understanding (SACU) the distinguished Sinologist Dr Frances Wood discusses with Michael Crook about his family’s long connection with China, the Chinese cooperative movement and some of the many British people who supported and helped the Chinese revolution.
Michael was born and brought up in China. He is the son of David and Isabel Crook, communists, internationalists and staunch supporters of the Chinese revolution. Born in 1915, Isabel still lives in Beijing. In 2019, President Xi Jinping awarded her the Friendship Medal of the People’s Republic of China. Among the small number of other recipients was Cuban revolutionary leader Raúl Castro.
In this session for the Marx Memorial Library on 1 July 2021, Jenny Clegg explores how Mao adapted Marxist ideology to drive the Chinese peasant revolution from 1925-1949.
Introduction
Edgar Snow’s famous book Red Star over China opens with a series of questions he was looking to answer as he set off for Yenan in 1936: was the CPC a genuine Marxist Party or just a bunch of Red bandits? was the Red Army essentially a mob of hungry brigands as the Right wing KMT Nationalists made out?
From the Left also, Mao was being accused of departing from proletarian politics – for Trotsky the CPC under Mao’s leadership had been ‘captured by the peasants’ rich peasants at that.
Today similar scepticism is directed at whether or not China is genuinely socialist referencing these doubts about the earlier CPC history.
Mao was indeed a peasant leader; the Communist Party could not have come to power without the support of hundreds of millions of peasants – they joined its mass organisations, they joined the Party itself, they carried out and conformed with its policies, and they gave material support in paying taxes and enlisting in its armies.
Mao’s strategy of protracted revolution, building Red bases in the countryside to encircle the towns, is familiar to most people and will not be my focus here.
To answer the question ‘was Mao a Marxist’ it might be expected then that I start with his essays on philosophy – On Practice and On Contradiction. But these essays in themselves are not the focus of my discussion either.
China’s Great Road features ten articles by Ross published between the years 2010 and 2021, all of which provide a clear analysis of China’s economic and foreign relations policies over the past decades. More importantly, Ross’ writing cuts through Western propaganda and directly addresses China’s socialist project, its history and growth, and what could be possible for future socialist countries around the world.
Speakers included:
John Ross (Senior Fellow, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China)
Su Yue (Senior editor, Guancha.cn)
Kenny Coyle (Editor, Praxis press)
Tings Chak (Lead Designer/Researcher at Tricontinental Institute)
We are reproducing this article from the Global Times, published on 9 July 2021, about Raúl Castro’s longstanding connection with socialist China. With the US and its allies stepping up their hostility against the socialist world, it is more important than ever to build solidarity against imperialism.
“The east is red. The sun rises. China has a Mao Zedong…” On the afternoon of November 18, 2008, a man in his seventies was singing in Chinese Dong Fang Hong or The East is Red, a most well-known song in China, on the Tarara Campus of the University of Havana. On this campus set up specially for Chinese students in Cuba, the several hundred Chinese students present were amazed by this improvised performance. They never expected “grandpa Raúl” would know this song, let alone to sing it with such a good rhythm and pronunciation. This “grandpa Raúl” is Raúl Castro Ruz, brother of the leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro, and then President of the Cuban Council of State and the Council of Ministers.
Raúl Castro has quite a long story with the song The East is Red. In 1953, the 22-year-old Raúl met a delegation from the People’s Republic of China when attending the fourth World Festival of Youth and Students in Bucharest. Deeply impressed by the performance of The East is Red by the young Chinese, he learned the song in just a few days and kept the melody in his heart ever since. When Cuba commemorated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mao Zedong in 1993, Raúl, then First Vice President of the Cuban Council of State and the Council of Ministers, led Cuban officials and the Chinese embassy staff in a chorus of The East is Red. Since then, the song has become a fixture when Raúl and Chinese comrades get together. His sonorous singing has been heard at Hotel Nacional de Cuba, Plaza Vieja in Havana, and the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, among many other places.
Raúl’s love for the song speaks to his longstanding, profound affections for China. He was the messenger who contributed to the establishment of diplomatic ties between the PRC and Cuba, the first Latin American country to do so. In the late 1950s, almost a decade after the founding of the PRC, quite a few Latin American countries still maintained so-called “diplomatic relations” with Taiwan. In July 1959, a Chinese press delegation visited Cuba, hoping to get a sense of Cuba’s attitude toward establishing diplomatic ties. In a press conference, the delegation asked Fidel Castro what was the expectation of the Cuban people for the people in China and Asia and Africa. Fidel said that the Chinese and Cuban people shared the same need in their fight for economic independence, and that most Cubans supported this need and he himself hoped that the Chinese people could make greater achievements. The next day, Raúl had a private meeting with the delegation where he asked China to send a liaison and, when conditions were right, set up an embassy in Cuba. This message reassured the Chinese delegation, bringing the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries officially on the agenda. One year later, Cuba became the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic.
The Cuban economy was hit hard following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Stressing that “beans are more important than cannons,” Raúl launched several small-scale market-oriented economic reforms. He believed that Cuba should draw on the development experience of China and other countries and explore a development path of socialism compatible with Cuba’s national conditions. Raúl showed a strong interest in China’s reform and opening-up which by then had been on-going for over a decade as well as the various changes China had undergone.
In 1997, Raúl Castro paid his first visit to China and stayed for 18 days for an in-depth understanding of China’s development experience. He travelled to Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the forefront of China’s reform and opening-up, where he took a close look at how China built special economic zones and reformed its state-owned enterprises. Through all the projects and presentations on that trip, Raúl gained a first-hand experience of the tremendous changes brought about by reform and opening-up in China. After returning to Cuba, Raúl shared with Cuban government officials what he had learned from his visit and carried out pilot reforms of some Cuban enterprises based on China’s experience. He visited China again in 2005 and 2012, during which he learned more about China’s reform measures and commended on multiple occasions China’s development experience.
Raúl said that the Cuban people are proud of the Cuba-China friendship. He pointed out that as Cuba explores a development path in line with its national conditions, it values China’s successful experience in development and would love to increase communication and mutual-learning with China on governance and socioeconomic development. During his talks with President Xi Jinping in 2014, Raúl fondly recalled his previous visits to China, and stressed again that China is a great country; it will surely succeed in building socialism with Chinese characteristics under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and make greater contributions to world peace and human progress with its own development.
On September 29, 2019, Raúl Castro Ruz was awarded the “Friendship Medal” of the People’s Republic of China for his long, outstanding contribution to China-Cuba relations and China-Latin America friendship. The then Cuban Ambassador to China Miguel Angel Ramirez Ramos said that the Cuban people are very much delighted by this award, for it was not only an honor for Raúl Castro, but also an embodiment of the friendship between the two peoples. With the passage of time, the everlasting friendship between China and Cuba epitomized by the song The East is Red will remain unshakable and grow from strength to strength.
The following is the text of a speech given by Evo Morales, former president of Bolivia and leader of the Movement to Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS-IPSP), at the CPC and World Political Parties Summit held on 6 July 2021. Translated by Carlos Martinez.
Greetings to brother Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China and president of the People’s Republic of China, and to the presidents and leaders of the political parties of the world.
On this day of enormous importance for the Chinese people, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, I send a revolutionary salute in the name of the Movement to Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples (MAS-IPSP) and of the Bolivian people.
Sisters and brothers, China is more than 17,300 kilometres from my country. But this distance has not been, nor is it now, an obstacle to deepening our ties of brotherhood and cooperation. Even more, the Plurinational State of Bolivia and the People’s Republic of China maintain a relationship characterised by wide-ranging and diverse cooperation and reciprocity, which in the course of 36 years of diplomatic relations have allowed for the development of political trust, economic complementarity and mutual learning.
As a trade union leader, I have always admired the revolution which China carried out over the course of decades – a revolution which has made huge achievements, improving the lives of 1.4 billion Chinese people.
For example, in February, China officially announced that it had lifted 770 million rural inhabitants out of extreme poverty, meaning that China represents more than 70 percent of the global figure for poverty reduction.
The policies of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics have put China on the road to becoming the largest economy in the world; an economy that works in a joined-up way with other countries and benefits the peoples of the world; the opposite to that which was imposed on us for decades by the US, in which predatory, individualistic and competitive capitalism looted our people’s resources for the benefit of transnational corporations.
China’s commitment to multilaterialism, to international law and to the United Nations is extremely important in facing up to global challenges.
The pandemic shows us how connected we are and how fragile life is. The current challenges such as the climate crisis and global inequality can only be resolved on the basis of truly global coooperation.
Furthermore, I want to highlight the impetus and the spirit of global cooperation that China projects through its Belt and Road Initiative, which will help to lift millions of people out of poverty in the participating countries.
Overcoming distances is a priority to strengthen our economies. It’s for this reason in South America that we have planned (along with China) the construction of the Central Bi-Oceanic railway, which will connect the Atlantic coast with the Pacific coast.
Sisters and brothers, on this important date, I want to thank the government and people of China for their solidarity with our country from the beginning of the pandemic. Up to now, we have received 2.7 million vaccine doses, and soon 6 million doses will follow, helping us to contain the Covid-19 virus. We are sure that only the unity of the peoples will allow us to overcome this global crisis.
The Movement to Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples, like the Communist Party of China, has demonstrated that it can govern with honesty, dignity and sovereignty, without submitting itself to the interests of the US empire. At 13 years, 9 months and 18 days, our democratic cultural revolution has brought about a social, political and economic transformation without precedent in the history of Bolivia. We have nationalised our natural resources. We have recovered the strategic companies for the benefit of the people. As a result, we have been able to reduce extreme poverty from 38.2 percent to 15.2 percent.
The size of the economy has increased considerably. Nominal GDP increased from 9.5 billion dollars in 2005 to 42 billion dollars in 2018.
Again thanks to the nationalisation of strategic resources and the resulting increase in fiscal income, transfers from the central government to the regional governments and to universities increased almost four-fold. Our foreign reserves increased from 1.7 billion dollars in 2005 to 15.1 billion dollars in 2014.
And we can continue enumerating more achievevements of the democratic and cultural revolution. These achievements benefit older people, professionals, youth, children, and run counter to the interests of the national oligarchs, who did not want a government which met the needs of the people.
Sisters and brothers, on 10 December 2019, radical right-wing groups, organised and financed by the US and its allies, perpetrated a coup in my country in order to gain control over our natural resources. This led to the formation of a de facto government which oversaw a rise in racism and intolerance towards the indigenous community and towards the poorest sections of Bolivian society.
But thanks to the conscience and unity of the people, on 18 October 2020, the MAS-IPSP consolidated itself as the largest political force in the history of Bolivia. Our brother Lucho Arce was elected president with more than 55 percent of the vote.
Brother Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China, the Chinese and Bolivians are both peoples with deep roots, thousands of years old. Those roots define our cultural identity and our outlook on life.
To finish, in my role as leader of MAS-IPSP, I express our will to construct spaces of cooperation and complementarity between our parties, joining forces to push forward a bright future for the people of both China and Bolivia.
The following is the text of a speech given by British author, academic and campaigner Jenny Clegg at a recent webinar hosted by the Morning Star and Friends of Socialist China to celebrate the centenary of the CPC. Jenny discusses China’s unique contributions to Marxism, as well as outlining the history of the revolution and analysing the reasons for its continuing successes.
The story of how the CPC, founded in secret by just a handful of people, grew into an organisation of some 95 million members is truly remarkable.
It is a story that goes together with that of China’s transformation from the ‘Sick Man of Asia’ into the world’s second largest economy. It is the Party that provided the political architecture that has made this possible.
Taking stock at 100 years means looking not only at China’s achievements but also what this has meant – and means – for the world.
The CPC’s story is one of twists and turns, of tenacity against adversity, retreating when retreat was necessary but also daring to seize the time when the opportunity arose. What has given the CPC its strength, its courage to face reality, to learn from mistakes, was and is Marxism. For the CPC, Marxism is not a dogma, but a set of tools applied concretely to solve China’s problems.
The key to the success of the Revolution in 1949 lay mainly in the Party’s ability to mobilise the people effectively both around national and around class goals. For this it drew on Marxist class analysis to devise a revolutionary strategy of shared benefit so as to unite all who could be united in the common goals of ending foreign domination and building the nation.
Fundamental here was land reform which gained the CPC the support of hundreds of millions of peasants – they participated in its mass organisations, they joined the Party itself, they carried out and conformed with its policies, and they gave material support in paying taxes and enlisting in its armies.
China’s contribution to the defeat of worldwide fascism in 1945 is often overlooked in the West. It was Communist resistance together with the Nationalist armies that kept Japanese troops bogged down in China so that the Soviets could concentrate all their forces against the Nazis on the Western front. This cost up to 20 million Chinese lives. Nor is it widely understood that China the first country to end colonial rule as the Allies agreed to give up the Unequal Treaties in 1943. China was to be one of the four founding members of the United Nations and the CPC was present at the occasion.
This example of how the Chinese people, led by a Communist Party, gained liberation in 1949 shone a bright light for colonised people around the world. Its experience of people’s war, revolution and the transformation of rural society was to be the inspiration for national liberation movements in many different countries in the years to come.
We are republishing this article by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez, which originally appeared in the Morning Star on 9 July 2021. It is the sixth and final article in a series about the history of the Communist Party of China, which celebrated its centenary on 1 July 2021.
Many consider that “reform and opening up” was a total transformation of Chinese economics and politics and a negation of the first three decades of socialist construction.
Certainly, the strategy adopted by the Deng Xiaoping leadership from 1978 was in part designed to correct certain mistakes and imbalances; however, it was also a response to changing objective circumstances — specifically, a more favourable international environment resulting from the restoration of Beijing’s seat at the United Nations (1971) and the rapprochement between China and the US.
Thomas Orlik, chief economist at Bloomberg Economics, correctly observes that, “When Deng Xiaoping launched the reform and opening process, friendly relations with the United States provided the crucial underpinning. The path for Chinese goods to enter global markets was open.”
So too was the door for foreign capital, technology and expertise to enter China — first from Hong Kong and Japan, then the West. Then premier Zhou Enlai reportedly commented at the time of US secretary of state Henry Kissinger’s historic visit to Beijing in 1971 that “only America can help China to modernise.” Even allowing for Zhou’s legendary diplomatic eloquence, this statement nevertheless contains an important kernel of truth.
Mao and Zhou had seen engagement with the US as a way to break China’s international isolation. The US leadership, meanwhile, saw engagement with Beijing as a way to perpetuate and exacerbate the division between China and the Soviet. Union.
The tragic reality of the split in the world communist movement is that everyone was triangulating; for its part, the Soviet leadership was hoping to work with the US to undermine and destabilise China.
We are republishing the announcement of this important step taken by Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nicaragua, the State of Palestine, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria, and Venezuela, launching the ‘Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations’. We believe this launch marks a significant step forward in the shared struggle of the peoples of the world towards a multipolar future.
We, representatives of Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Nicaragua, the State of Palestine, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria, and Venezuela to the United Nations, are pleased to announce the official launch and establishment of the “Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations”.
We seize this opportunity to reaffirm that the Charter of the United Nations and its purposes and principles remain timeless, universal, and that they are all indispensable for preserving and promoting international peace and security, the rule of law, economic development and social progress, as well as all human rights for all. Similarly, upholding the Charter of the United Nations is fundamental for ensuring both the realization of the three pillars of the Organization and fulfillment of the yearnings of our peoples, which will ultimately benefit our common efforts to address the complex and emerging challenges and threats faced by humanity and to establish a peaceful and prosperous world and a just and equitable world order.
We renew our commitment to the defense of the Charter of the United Nations, which constitutes not only a milestone and a true act of faith that still today fills us with hope on the best of humanity, bringing us together to ensure the common wellbeing of present and future generations, but also with that code of conduct that has ruled international relations between States for the past 75 years, on the basis of, among others, principles such as the sovereign equality of States – large and small –, the right to self-determination, non-interference in the internal affairs of States, and the respect for the territorial integrity and political independence of all nations.
We reaffirm our determination to fulfill our promise with “We the Peoples of the United Nations”, as well as our pledge of leaving no one behind, while stressing the need to ensure the prevalence of legality over force. In this regard, we vow to spare no effort in preserving, promoting and defending at every relevant fora the prevalence and validity of the Charter of the United Nations, which, in the current international juncture, has a renewed and even more important value and relevance. We also underscore the need to avoid selective approaches and call for the full compliance with and strict adherence to both the letter and spirit of the tenets contained in the Charter of the United Nations, which are at the core of multilateralism and serve as the basis for modern day international law. We further stress that abiding in an effective manner by the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations fosters peaceful and friendly relations and cooperation amongst States and ultimately ensures international peace and security.
We invite those members of the international community that are committed with an effective and inclusive multilateralism, with the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and with the values of dialogue, tolerance and solidarity, to consider joining the Group of Friends at their earliest convenience, as we continue to work together in advancing our common agenda.
Friends of Socialist China co-editor Danny Haiphong interviews Carl Zha, political analyst and host of the popular Silk and Steel podcast, to explain the underlying reasons for the Communist Party of China’s widespread popular support. The interview appeared first on the Black Agenda Report presents: The Left Lens Youtube channel.
The following is the text of a speech given by Keith Bennett at a recent webinar hosted by the Morning Star and Friends of Socialist China to celebrate the centenary of the CPC. Keith shines a light on the CPC’s history of internationalism and the different forms this has taken over the years.
Comrades and Friends
On behalf of Friends of Socialist China, we are pleased to join our friends and comrades of the Morning Star in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. The role of the Morning Star is becoming ever more vital in opposing the new cold war and in defending and supporting China.
Friends of Socialist China is a new platform based on supporting the People’s Republic of China and spreading understanding of Chinese socialism. We have a website and a presence on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Our first webinar, held last Saturday on the theme of ‘China’s Path to Zero Poverty’, was watched live by several hundred people and featured speakers from China, Pakistan, India, Nigeria, Bolivia, Britain and the United States.
The Communist Party of China is the world’s most important political party. With more than 95 million members, leave alone the hundreds of millions more organised in diverse mass organisations upholding the party’s leadership, its membership is greater than all the other communist and workers parties in the world, and all other political parties professing a commitment to socialism, combined.
The CPC is a Marxist political party. It leads the world’s most populous country and the world’s second (or according to at least one method of calculation first) largest economy. China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and today, be it international financial crisis, global pandemic, the looming threat of climate change or regional hotspots, no major issue facing humanity can be successfully tackled without China’s active and constructive input.
The centenary of the CPC is, therefore, or at least ought to be, an occasion for celebration not only for the Chinese people but also for all socialists, anti-imperialists and progressive people throughout the world.
This keynote address by president Xi Jinping, delivered at the CPC and World Political Parties Summit on 6 July 2021, succinctly expresses China’s vision of multilateralism and multipolarity: working together with all countries to shape a shared future for humanity. The English translation was originally published on Xinhua.
Your Excellencies leaders of political parties,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Friends,
It gives me great pleasure to join you, leaders of more than 500 political parties, political and other organisations from over 160 countries as well as the ten thousand and more representatives of political parties and various circles, at this cloud event to discuss the important question of “working for the people’s wellbeing and the responsibility of political parties”, just as the Communist Party of China (CPC) reaches its one hundredth anniversary. Over the past weeks, more than 600 political parties, political and other organisations from over 170 countries have sent 1500-plus congratulatory messages and letters on the CPC’s centenary conveying their goodwill and best wishes. I wish to take this opportunity to express to all of you, on behalf of the Communist Party of China, our heartfelt thanks!
A few days ago, we celebrated the CPC’s centenary with a grand gathering. Over the past hundred years, the CPC has united and led the Chinese people in working ceaselessly towards the tremendous transformation of the Chinese nation from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong. Over the past hundred years, the CPC has persisted in closely associating the future of the Chinese people with that of other peoples of the world and steered the course of China’s development amid the general trend of the world and the currents of the times to promote common development and prosperity of all countries.
The historic achievements the CPC and the Chinese people have made would not have been possible without the generous support of world peoples.
Here, on behalf of the CPC and the Chinese people, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to political parties, peoples and friends of all countries who have cared about, supported and helped the CPC and the cause of revolution, development and reform in China.
We are republishing this article by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Danny Haiphong, which originally appeared on CGTNon 5 June 2021.
Popular enthusiasm was evident across China for more than a month leading up to President Xi Jinping’s speech at a gathering marking the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Americans gathered three days later to celebrate the founding of the United States over two centuries ago. To build excitement for the holiday, the White House published on social media that the cost of a cookout had fallen $0.16 in 2021. The announcement predictably failed to garner a rousing applause on social media as Xi Jinping’s speech received from the Chinese people.
As the U.S. continues to assume a dangerously aggressive posture towards China, there is a lesson to be learned from the differences in the two celebrations: leadership matters.
The United States is currently experiencing a crisis of leadership. Historic inequalities and the empowerment of corporate shareholders have led to stagnation in all facets of the society. Racism continues to expose Black Americans to disproportionate rates of poverty, police violence, incarceration as well poor outcomes across all social indicators after centuries of enslavement and Jim Crow terror. Native Americans remain dispossessed of their lands and have yet to receive justice for the myriad of disasters caused by settler colonialism. The majority of workers in the United States across all racial groups cannot afford a $400 emergency.
The U.S. political leadership has doubled down on the status quo rather than adapt to the needs of the people. Instead of following through on widely supported policies such as universal healthcare, student debt relief and a living wage, the Biden administration has increased the military budget. Instead of reducing the prison population, the Biden administration has increased weapons transfers from the Pentagon to local police departments.
It should come as no surprise that U.S. presidents struggle to maintain favorability ratings above 45 percent while Congress generally hovers at around half of such support. Change is hard to come by, even when such change is desired by most of the population and is required to preserve human life itself in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic.
China does not have such a problem. The Communist Party of China (CPC) maintains popular support because adaptation is a key pillar of its governance model. Many in the U.S. and the West have been taught that the CPC does not allow criticism, both inside and outside of the organization. This is categorically false.
The CPC started with just about 50 members in 1921. CPC leaders such as Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai engaged in countless debates as the Party navigated often deadly encounters with warlords and aggressive foreign forces. This led the CPC to adapt from an urban-based organizing model to one focused on the more populous countryside, a change that was crucial in ending China’s “century of humiliation” once and for all.
Adaptation continued to be a theme following the CPC-led revolution that founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Over the course of the last 72 years, the CPC has continuously implemented reforms and acknowledged mistakes in the process of socialist construction. Early successes in socialist development failed to shake off absolute poverty. The CPC responded by introducing reforms to rapidly develop and open the economy. Rapid market-oriented growth produced new challenges such as political corruption and uneven development. The CPC has addressed these challenges by renewing its focus on party discipline and strengthening its leadership over the nation’s poverty alleviation campaign.
The achievements gained from the CPC’s ability to adapt cannot be understated. China has become a world leader in renewable energy and advanced technology. Extreme poverty has been eliminated and living standards continue to improve for every sector of the society. The CPC has demonstrated the capacity to both successfully preserve human life in the fight against COVID-19 and extend solidarity to countless nations in their own fight against the virus. It is for these reasons and more that the CPC enjoys a growing membership of 95 million and an approval rating well above 90 percent.
Political leadership reflects the legitimacy of a given society’s model of development. U.S. officials claim to represent “democracy” even though elections are largely dictated by a wealthy minority. The U.S. model of neoliberal capitalism, characterized by racial antagonism and military aggression, is losing legitimacy with large segments of the population. More than 60 percent of people support a third-party alternative to the two major parties and large numbers of young adults want a more egalitarian society. By contrast, young adults make up one-third of the CPC – a number that continues to grow.
It is clear that the people of China have chosen their preferred leadership. The same cannot be said in the United States.
On Saturday 26 June, Friends of Socialist China held its first webinar: China’s Path to Zero Poverty, supported by the Geopolitical Economic Research Group. This event brought together a diverse range of speakers with different perspectives on China’s successes in eradicating poverty. The entire webinar (along with the individual speech videos) can be watched on our YouTube channel. Below we provide a summary of the proceedings.
Introducing the event, Radhika Desai (Professor of Political Studies, University of Manitoba, Director, Geopolitical Economy Research Group) commended the extraordinary effort on the part of the Communist Party of China to eradicate extreme poverty. “It’s been a hard slog, as old as the revolution itself.”
Radhika noted that land reform, carried out in the liberated territories in the 1930s and 1940s and then extended throughout the country following the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, was the first step along the road to eradicating poverty, and provided the firm foundation for transforming what was then one of the poorest countries in the world.
Speaking of the targeted anti-poverty campaign of the last few years, Radhika pointed out that the threshold for lifting people out of poverty was not exclusively based on the World Bank daily income figure. This income figure is accompanied by ‘Two Assurances and Three Guarantees’: assuring that people have sufficient access to food and clothing, and providing guaranteed access to compulsory education (nine years), basic medical services and safe housing.
We reproduce below this important keynote speech by State Councilor Wang Yi at the opening ceremony of the 9th World Peace Forum, Tsinghua University, 3 July 2021.
Distinguished Guests, Friends,
It is a great pleasure to join you at Tsinghua University for the 9th World Peace Forum. This year marks the first decade of the forum. Over the past ten years, the forum has embraced the trend of the times and focused on the world’s most defining challenges. It has provided a source of wisdom for deeper understanding between China and the world and contributed its fair share to advancing world peace. Its global influence as a platform for exchange of ideas and insights is increasingly growing. At the outset, let me extend warm congratulations on the achievement of the forum and on the opening of its ninth edition.
Just two days ago, we held grand celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC). In the important speech made on that occasion, General Secretary Xi Jinping gave a thorough account of the great accomplishments of the CPC leading the Chinese people through the past 100 years of struggle, and made a solemn declaration that China has realized the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, and is now marching in confident strides toward the second centenary goal of building a great modern socialist country in all respects. General Secretary Xi reviewed the course of history and envisioned the journey ahead, emphasizing that the CPC always keeps in mind the future of humanity and stands ready to work together with all progressive forces in the world on the way forward.
Throughout the past 100 years, the CPC has remained committed to peaceful development and worked tirelessly to uphold world peace and stability. The Chinese nation cherishes peace, amity and harmony, values that have been honored and carried forward throughout history. The CPC has written on its flag the faith in peace, development and win-win cooperation. From actively promoting an international united front against Fascism during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression to adopting an independent foreign policy of peace after the founding of New China, and from putting forward the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence to accurately identifying peace and development as the theme of our times, the CPC has unremittingly pursued the path of peaceful development. It has remained committed never to seek hegemony, territorial expansion or spheres of influence, and has achieved development by upholding world peace and promoted world peace through its own development.
We are republishing this article by Friends of Socialist China co-editor Carlos Martinez, which originally appeared in the Morning Star on 2 July 2021. It is the fifth in a series of articles about the history of the Communist Party of China, which celebrated its centenary on 1 July 2021.
From 1978, the post-Mao Chinese leadership embarked on a process of “reform and opening up” — gradually introducing market mechanisms to the economy, allowing elements of private property, and encouraging investment from the capitalist world.
This programme posited that, while China had established a socialist society, it would remain for some time in the primary stage of socialism, during which period it was necessary to develop a socialist market economy — combining planning, the development of a mixed economy and the profit motive — with a view to maximising the development of the productive forces.
Deng Xiaoping, who had been one of the most prominent targets of the Cultural Revolution and who had risen to become de facto leader of the CPC from 1978, theorised reform and opening up in the following terms: “The fundamental task for the socialist stage is to develop the productive forces.
“The superiority of the socialist system is demonstrated, in the final analysis, by faster and greater development of those forces than under the capitalist system.
“As they develop, the people’s material and cultural life will constantly improve… Socialism means eliminating poverty. Pauperism is not socialism, still less communism.”
Was this the moment the CPC gave up on its commitment to Marxism? Such is the belief of many.
A key message from Xi Jinping’s speech on the centenary of the CPC: the CPC is a Marxist party, and China’s success is proof of the enduring validity of Marxism.
Marxism is the fundamental guiding ideology upon which our party and country are founded; it is the very soul of our party and the banner under which it strives. The Communist Party of China upholds the basic tenets of Marxism and the principle of seeking truth from facts. At the fundamental level, the capability of our party and the strengths of socialism with Chinese characteristics are attributable to the fact that Marxism works.
China is led by a communist party, with Marxism as its guiding ideology. In the period since the foundation of the PRC in 1949, the Chinese people have experienced an unprecedented and extraordinary improvement in their living standards and level of human development. The social and economic position of women has improved beyond recognition, along with the rights and conditions of ethnic and religious minorities. In spite of all this, support for China within much of the Western left is a somewhat marginal position.
This article, written to coincide with the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), provides a brief overview of why we believe anyone considering themselves to be a socialist should support the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Poverty alleviation and improvement in living standards
In its 72 years of existence, the People’s Republic of China has accomplished more in the realm of poverty alleviation than any nation in history. China in 1949 was one of the poorest countries in the world, with a life expectancy of 36 years (9 years lower than the global average). Its GDP constituted 0.3 percent of global GDP. Malnutrition, illiteracy and homelessness were rife; millions died every year for lack of food. Population numbers had remained static between 400 and 500 million for a hundred years.
During the first three decades of socialist construction, feudalism was eliminated, comprehensive land reform carried out, and basic medical services were set up throughout the country. However, although the basic problem of feeding the population was solved – and famines had become a thing of the past – hundreds of millions of people in the countryside still endured harsh conditions.
Since the launch of reform and opening up in 1978, the number of people in China living in internationally-defined absolute poverty has fallen from 850 million to zero. And although market reforms have resulted in high levels of inequality, the inverse correlation between wealth and poverty has been broken – life for ordinary workers and peasants has continuously improved, at a remarkable rate and over an extended period.
China’s average life expectancy is now 77 years (4 years higher than the global average) and its per capita GDP over 10,000 USD. Its GDP constitutes 18 percent of global GDP. The entire population (of 1.4 billion) has secure access to food, shelter, clothing, education and healthcare. By any measure, this progress is extraordinary and historically unprecedented. Anyone considering themselves socialist should appreciate the far-reaching significance of these steps forward in wiping out poverty and improving the living standards of the Chinese people.
President Xi Jinping gave a speech in Tiananmen Square on 1 July 2021 to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. It features a succinct and powerful analysis of the party’s history and its enduring relevance to the project of Chinese socialism and contributing to a peaceful and prosperous world. Below we reproduce the official English translation of the text.
Comrades and friends,
Today, the first of July, is a great and solemn day in the history of both the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese nation. We gather here to join all Party members and Chinese people of all ethnic groups around the country in celebrating the centenary of the Party, looking back on the glorious journey the Party has traveled over 100 years of struggle, and looking ahead to the bright prospects for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
To begin, let me extend warm congratulations to all Party members on behalf of the CPC Central Committee.
On this special occasion, it is my honor to declare on behalf of the Party and the people that through the continued efforts of the whole Party and the entire nation, we have realized the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. This means that we have brought about a historic resolution to the problem of absolute poverty in China, and we are now marching in confident strides toward the second centenary goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects. This is a great and glorious accomplishment for the Chinese nation, for the Chinese people, and for the Communist Party of China!
Comrades and friends,
The Chinese nation is a great nation. With a history of more than 5,000 years, China has made indelible contributions to the progress of human civilization. After the Opium War of 1840, however, China was gradually reduced to a semi-colonial, semi-feudal society and suffered greater ravages than ever before. The country endured intense humiliation, the people were subjected to great pain, and the Chinese civilization was plunged into darkness. Since that time, national rejuvenation has been the greatest dream of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation.
To save the nation from peril, the Chinese people put up a courageous fight. As noble-minded patriots sought to pull the nation together, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Reform Movement of 1898, the Yihetuan Movement, and the Revolution of 1911 rose one after the other, and a variety of plans were devised to ensure national survival, but all of these ended in failure. China was in urgent need of new ideas to lead the movement to save the nation and a new organization to rally revolutionary forces.
With the salvoes of Russia’s October Revolution in 1917, Marxism-Leninism was brought to China. Then in 1921, as the Chinese people and the Chinese nation were undergoing a great awakening and Marxism-Leninism was becoming closely integrated with the Chinese workers’ movement, the Communist Party of China was born. The founding of a communist party in China was an epoch-making event, which profoundly changed the course of Chinese history in modern times, transformed the future of the Chinese people and nation, and altered the landscape of world development.
We are reproducing this important analysis by economist Michael Burke from Socialist Economic Bulletin, with permission.
The Communist Party of China was founded on July 1, 1921. In a short series of graphs this note aims to highlight some of the consequences of that decision for China and the world. In particular, the trends in rapid growth in Chinese living standards after the Chinese Revolution is highlighted in a way that is designed to be more readily understood in societies where nothing similar to this has taken place over a similar timescale.
Background
The Communist Party of China was founded after a series of attempts by young radicals and nationalists to agitate against foreign domination of the country. In 1839, Britain invaded China and there followed a ‘century of humiliation’ as it was territorially and economically carved up among the Western imperial powers.
One aspect demonstrating the degree of that humiliation was the enormous decline in living standards under British Empire-led rule. This is shown in Chart 1 below (all data from Angus Maddison, unless otherwise stated).
Chart.1 Per Capita GDP in China in the Century of Humiliation, Int’l $
Under rule by foreign powers, China’s per capita GDP fell over a period of a hundred years (1850 to 1950) from $600 to $448. By contrast, and for comparison, British per capita GDP rose from $2,330 to $6,939 over the same period.
