The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Nepal, the Friends of Silk Road Club and Nepal-China Center for Political Governance Studies jointly organized a commemorative programme titled “The CPC at 105: Historical Experience and Inspirations for Nepal’s Development” earlier last week to mark the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
Representatives from several political parties, including the Nepali Congress, Rastriya Swatantra Party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Shram Sanskriti Party and the Nepal Communist Party participated in the programme. Leaders gathered at the programme spoke about China’s unprecedented development, Nepal-China relations and the broad spectrum of bilateral engagements, ranging from party to party relations to people-to-people contacts to expanding areas of bilateral cooperation.They reiterated Nepal’s consistent and long-standing commitment to the One China Policy and unequivocally affirmed that Nepal would not allow its territory to be used for any activities hostile to its neighbours. It is worth noting that the CPC’s oldest political ties in Nepal have been with the Nepal Congress- the country’ premier political party and the principal torchbearer of democracy and modernity in Nepal.
In Beijing, President Xi Jinping, who is also the general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, addressed the party members and described the 105-year history of the party as the "most magnificent epic" of the Chinese nation and called on Party members to remain steadfast in their convictions. He also called for an all-out battle against corruption.
Founded on July 1, 1921 with just over 50 members, the CPC ultimately succeeded in overthrowing, on October 1, 1949, what it called the “the oppression of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism, which weighed like mountains on the backs of the Chinese people.” Chairman Mao proclaimed from the Tiananmen Rostrum, “This government is the sole legal government representing the entire people of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It is ready to establish diplomatic relations with any foreign government which is willing to observe the principles of equality, mutual benefit and mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty.”
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Chairman Mao put forward the three principles of “starting anew,” “putting the house in order before inviting guests,” and “leaning” to one side of socialism. In September 1949, a month before the proclamation of the PRC, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference held its first session to make final preparations for the founding of the new China. It adopted the Common Programme of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Diplomacy of Contemporary China (1990) notes, “The principle of the foreign policy of the People’s Republic of China is protection of the independence, freedom, integrity of territory and sovereignty of the country, upholding of lasting international peace and friendly cooperation between the peoples of all countries, and opposition between the people of all countries, and opposition to the imperialist policy of aggression and war.” This was said to make a clean break with the diplomacy of the Kuomintang government, initiating a new era and new chapter in China’s diplomacy.
In 105 years of its journey, the CPC has nearly 101.29 million members and over 5.43 million primary-level Party organizations. The Party stands as the longest and sole governing party of China with tremendous global influence. It presides over the world's second largest economy, largest armed forces in the form of PLA (People’s Liberation Army-a wartime creation of the party) and expanding high tech industry, among others. In December 1978, CPC held the eleventh Central Committee (CC), making a clear departure from the Maoist era with the arrival of Deng Xiaoping at the center and the consolidation of his leadership within the CPC.In 1979, CPC under the leadership of paramount leader Deng Xiaoping initiated “reforms and opening process.” Deng exhorted CPC officials “if we cannot grow faster than the capitalist countries, then we cannot show the superiority of our system.” In 1979, Deng said that any challenge to the party’s supremacy was strictly out of bounds. For him, the Communist Party was always the first, last and everything, and all else was subordinate to this principle. The 19th National Congress reaffirmed the saying “Government, the military, society and schools, north, south, east and west- party leads them all.” Clive Hamilton and MareikeOhlberg, in their book, “Hidden Hand: Exposing how the Chinese Communist Party is reshaping the world,” say, “Party is the people. Any criticism of the party is therefore an attack on the Chinese people.”
In the 1980s, Deng’s slogan was “to get rich is glorious,” and described his market focused economic programme as “socialism with Chinese characteristics.” “White cat, black cat,” said Deng “if it catches mice, it is a good cat.” His famous exhortation to his countrymen was to “hide your strength, and bide your time and build up your capabilities.” Prof. Ezra F. Vogel wrote that Deng presided over a fundamental transformation of China itself-the nature of its relations with the outside world, its governance system, and its society. “This transformation was largely facilitated by the nature of world institutions at the time, by the openness of the global system to sharing its technology and management skills, by the nature of the Chinese Communist Party, and by the contribution of a large number of creative and hardworking people.”
Deng believed that it was in China’s interest to have harmonious relations with its neighbors and to concentrate on peaceful development. The Sixth Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee in June 1981, adopted a 35,000 word ‘Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of Our Party since the Founding of the People’s Republic.’ Mao’s achievements were considered “primary and his mistakes secondary.” The source of the party's legitimacy, according to Oriana Skylar Mastro, has changed over time from ideology (under Mao Zedong) to performance (under Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao) to nationalism (under Xi Jinping).
Xi Jinping came to power at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2012. He then said, “there are many pressing problems within the party that had to be resolved, especially problems such as corruption and bribe taking by some party members and cadres, being out of touch with the people and placing undue emphasis on formality and bureaucracy. These must be addressed with great efforts.” President Xi underlined theories of “a new type of international relations with cooperation and win-win as the core” and “working to build a community with a shared future for mankind.” China has set 2049 –the centenary of the founding of the PRC in 1949 to achieve its long-term national development goal of making China as a “strong, democratic, harmonious and modern socialist country.”
The quinquennial National Congress is of great significance for China and the world. The Congress deliberates and agrees on policy matters. It is where over 2000 delegates gather, select the Party’s central committee, 25 member Politburo, the 11 member Central Military Commission, and the 7 member Politburo Standing Committee, which forms the country’s most exclusive leadership circle. At the 19th National Congress, President and General Secretary of the CPC, Xi Jinping spoke on the central theme of ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era’. He underlined the goal of achieving “national rejuvenation”, “moderately prosperous society", "need for a strong military capable of winning wars" and “a new type of international relations.” They are grouped under ‘Xi Jinping Thought’ which has been incorporated in the Communist Party’s Charter. Analysts believe that the inclusion of Xi Jinping Thought in the charter puts the president on par with only Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. President Xi said, “The Communist party must stick to the correct path of reform and opening up. We must be unwavering on the road to a prosperous country and people.” “Mao beat the foreign invaders and Deng ended hunger,” said Li Xiguang, a professor at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, “Xi talks about having confidence in our system. . . it’s a total breakthrough.”
The late Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew said of Xi: “He has iron in his soul, more than Hu Jintao, who ascended the ranks without experiencing the trials and tribulations that Xi endured.” Xi enunciated the Chinese Dream -a vision for “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” The CPC has made it clear that “reunification” with Taiwan is a national imperative. Speaking at the 19th CPC National Congress on October 18, 2017, President Xi described Taiwan’s reunification with the mainland as “essential to realizing national rejuvenation.” In his “vision volume” of speeches, The Governance of China has called for the development of a new “system of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics.” He has launched several initiatives including global security initiative (GSI), global governance initiative (GGI), global development initiative (GDI) and global civilizational initiative (GCI).
At the 19th Congress, President Xi stressed that Beijing would no longer shy away from world leadership, and would even aim to promote its economic model around the world. He said China “standing tall and firm in the east”, is ready “to take centre stage in the world and to make a greater contribution to humankind.” This makes a decisive departure from the past consensus on China’s role in the world. “A military force is built to fight. Our military must regard combat readiness as the goal for all its work and focus on how to win when it is called upon,” he said. “A military force is built to fight. Our military must regard combat readiness as the goal for all its work and focus on how to win when it is called upon,” he said. China’s foreign minister Wang Yi said that China had now “become the most active and positive force in global governance.”
The 20th National Congress, held in 2022, approved Xi Jinping for a third term as General Secretary effectively abolishing the two- term limit for the country’s top leadership. The 21st National Congress is expected to be held in 2027. China has made it clear that no matter what stage of development it reaches, it will never seek hegemony or engage in expansion.As CPC considers West promoting “universal values” as an attempt to weaken the theoretical foundations of the Party leadership, West’s idea of journalism, and challenging China’s principle that the media and publishing system should be subject to Party discipline. China says, “We will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress or subjugate us. Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by more than 1.4 billion Chinese people."
The author is a former ambassador and currently serves as Vice President of the Nepal Council of World Affairs.)
