Official logo of the 100th Anniversary of the Communist Party of China, displayed in front of Changsha Ecological Zoo, in Changsha, Hunan, China. Photo: Huangdan2060 (CC BY 3.0)
David Matters
The Communist Party of Australia rejoices and welcomes the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Communist Party of China. This anniversary provides an opportunity to pause and reflect on the events of these 100 years. The Communist Party of China (CPC) has made great political, social, economic and defence achievements for its people. It is a special institution, having gathered the most developed, committed, and heroic elements of Chinese society. The first gathering of Patriots in Shanghai had a gigantic task before them: to restore the Chinese nation by ending the colonial domination and division of the country; to liberate the peasantry from centuries of bondage, allowing them to create a life free from poverty and endless toil. The CPC liberated millions of Chinese Labourers, giving them the dignity to be masters of their country and their lives.
The Chinese civilisation has contributed much to human society, but the 19th and 20th century saw the Chinese fall victim to foreign powers. The Chinese people resisted with rebellions and popular movements including the Boxer Rebellion and the May 4th movement. The British used the first Opium War to gain control over Hong Kong in 1842, while US troops, as part of the Eight-Nation Alliance, looted and vandalised Peking (Beijing) in 1900. European nations, the United States of America (USA) and the Japanese partitioned China as spoils of war. Under the leadership of Dr Sun Yatsen a republic was proclaimed, but the partitioning of China continued. With the successful Russian Revolution of 1917, and the uprisings in central Asia, the role of the toiling masses in spreading revolution moved eastwards and the Party’s relations with the Soviet Union resulted in co-operation and support for the new republic.
The birth of the CPC bore the first steps towards the application of the theory and practice of Scientific Socialism to Chinese soil. The Party’s history can be measured by its experience and political development, creating the expertise to develop Marxist theory that produced the practical application of Scientific Socialism to the needs and reality of the Chinese nation.
The CPC put the nation first, co-operating with the Kuomintang and the new republic. Comrade Zhou Enlai played a significant part in the development of the Whampoa (Huangpa) Military Academy. The Party’s close connection to the people required great personal risk and sacrifice. Many times, Zhou faced death but in characteristic style went forward with the skilful and difficult task of advancing the interests of the people. Zhou played a vital role in strengthening the strategy of the Communists and in supporting Comrade Mao Zedong in the Eighth Army. He was in the centre of the struggles in Shanghai, Wuhan and played a strong role in advancing the Communist Party. A dedicated Communist and a man of the people, he was always there when the people needed a voice. The bond between Zhou and Mao was of great importance in the forging of a relationship that advanced the Revolution.
A revolution and a revolutionary party based on Scientific Socialism, learns from its experience along its difficult path to success. These experiences are embodied in the calibre of its leaders and the cadre of the Party that succeeded through tremendous personal sacrifice. Their struggle produced the mature collective leadership found in the Communist Party of China.
The Communist Party and China had a champion in Comrade Mao Zedong. His firm connection with the people and strategic thinking enabled success in founding the New China. Seeking truth from facts was revolutionary in its impact. By understanding the class structure of China and producing the tremendous force that the liberated peasantry brought about the economic powerhouse that is present China. Mao operated as a committed Marxist, developing new political theories, such as his epic work “On Contradiction.” To develop China required the building of Socialism to increase defence through the building of new alliances and by producing a united front of Progressive forces against Imperialism.
With the defeat of Japan in the Second World War, the Communist Party of China found itself in a life and death struggle with the Kuomintang forces, led by the reactionary General Chiang Kai Shek. The heroic victory of the CPC led the nation towards a new future of unequalled social and economic success. A country severely damaged by war and underdevelopment stood up to the Imperialist USA: trade sanctions and the recognition of the Comprador Government in Taiwan. The US refused to admit China to the United Nations resulting in a Soviet boycott of the Security Council in protest against this criminal act. The US retaliated by launching a war under the United Nations against the Korean people, including the threat to use nuclear weapons against both China and Korea.
Under the moral authority of the CPC a movement of Chinese Volunteers was developed, which included Mao’s eldest son, the martyr Mao Anying, to defend Korean sovereignty. Such internationalism continued with its support for the Vietnamese people in their struggle for independence against US Imperialism and the support of African nations’ independence struggles against the European powers. These colonial powers continue to control the economies of their former colonies through policies of underdevelopment and corruption, allowing them to plunder these countries’ vast resources.
The development of the crisis within the Soviet Party damaged the International Movement, subjecting Communist parties to interference and domination. This crisis was witnessed in the Communist Party of Australia, whose tried and tested leaders became subjected to vilification as “Stalinists.” Meanwhile, the Communist Party of China found its own road and maintained unity within its party.
The strength of the Chinese nation is that the Party had the strength to override any political crisis. The revolutionary spirit within the Communist Party of China had the strength to resist counter-revolutionary forces, which culminated in the overthrow of the Soviet Union and the dissolution of communist parties around the world. Under the party leadership the theory of a Multi-Polar world was developed as a strategy to defeat the Bi-Polar world formed around US imperialism to defeat the Soviet Union. China is opposed to great power chauvinism and has set up its international relations to encourage the independence of developing nations.
Under the leadership of Comrade Deng Xiaoping, China opened its economy and sought new ways to develop the economy, to advance the interest of the mass of the people. The leadership of the Communist Party of China pays attention to international and internal contradictions and leads with timely campaigns. China reaches out to the world with increased engagement through trade, tourism, education exchanges, and economic development, creating a powerful environment for world peace.
Modern China today is a far cry from before the CPC first led China to prosperity. China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, upon which the Imperialists tried to force the Washington Consensus on the Chinese economy. The CPC firmly combatted this with a campaign against corruption and criminal behaviour within the Party. The Chinese dream of Scientific Socialism was a timely reminder of the aspirations of the Chinese nation and served to remind everyone what would be lost if the people embraced the ideology of the Imperialists. China is today a world-leading economic power, having overcome the US’s policy of restricting technological transfer, it now produces over 300,000 patents annually, the largest in the world. It presently has a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of over US$17 trillion. Such economic success was built upon spending 2.5 per cent of GDP on Research and Development. The 13th Five-year Plan (2016 to 2020) aimed to make China a leading power in science and technology, making it today a world leader in the sciences, from theoretical mathematics to Artificial Intelligence. Its technologies have produced the Tiangong II Space Lab to conduct experiments in space and the Long March 5 rocket allows for the sending of unmanned probes to Mars. The recent retrieval of Moon rocks proves China’s capacity for great scientific achievements.
President Hu Jintao and the veteran leadership saw the need to revitalise Marxism within the Chinese nation and the Party by establishing the Chinese Academy of Marxism. Strengthening Party Schools and taking the struggle to the educational institutions, ensuring the winning of a new generation of Communists by actively engaging and combating Bourgeois Liberal views that potentially could undermine Scientific Socialism within China. The CPC possesses the enormous strength to recognise and correct its errors, through its Scientific Socialist approach of Self-Criticism, ensuring that no leader is above the Party, but all are part of a healthy party. Under Comrade Xi Jinping, the Chinese Nation has now reached a New Era. The task of eliminating absolute poverty has been achieved and now the goal is to build a mature Socialist society through the high level of participation of its people in national development and economic production. China’s Belt and Road Initiative contributes to a sustainable world, based on promoting peace, independence and Socialism.
The Communist Party of China has heroically struggled against the distortions of Marxism and the enemy of Scientific Socialism – Opportunism and Dogmatism. In the working-class movement, the present attitude to China and the CPC portrayed in the media is becoming a test of our ability to apply Marxism as a science, calling for a struggle against opportunism to restore and strengthen our own understanding and practice of Marxism. The task for Communists is to determine what is universal and what is specific to the reality that we encounter in society. The Communist Party of China gives us an example of how to apply the universal laws of Socialism and the dictatorship of class struggle depending on the class forces in any nation. While the CPC leads through its examples of Marxism in practice, with flexible and dynamic application to the reality of modern China, it does require Communists to not mechanically apply the model to realities for which it is unsuited. This has contributed to our understanding of Scientific Socialism, and the importance of theory and practice to overcome opportunism and dogma.
At our present point in history there remains many challenges to understand and confront. We do not yet know the impact that a mature Socialist system will have in the world. The Capitalist forces were confident that they could corrupt and destroy Chinese Socialism, and the CPC. The living science of Marxism, freed from dogma, continuing to seek truth from facts, is alive and well in our world. Imperialism constantly shifts between Liberal Bourgeois and Fascist solutions to intensify the world Capitalist crisis. The predatory Imperialist class has identified the Communist Party of China as standing with Humanity against their predatory intentions. The CPC has shown that it has the strength to lead the Chinese nation through many trials and to advance the nation and its people, steadfastly holding to the principles established by generations of Communists.
As Communists in Australia, we must stand calmly and firmly against the lies being told about our good friends and comrades, the Communist Party of China, and resist the pressure of the Bourgeoisie and Left Liberals in the workers’ movement. The ruling class have grown fat on the exploitation of others and sees a significant challenge to their racist domination, forcing them to rely on lies as they see their grip on the world loosening.
The Communist Party of Australia opposes colonialism, racism, war and all forms of oppression upon which our nation was founded. We must develop the fraternal friendship and comradeship between our peoples to strengthen this struggle and campaign for our liberation. From friendship with the Communist Party of China and the Chinese people we will find the strength to change our Nation.
Long Live the Communist Party of China, at one with the Chinese people, and the guarantor of the Chinese people’s prosperity and independence.