Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, delivers an important speech at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CPC in Beijing, capital of China, July 1, 2021. (JU PENG / XINHUA)
The remarks of top leader Xi Jinping at the centenary celebration of the Communist Party of China on July 1 testify to China’s success under the leadership of the CPC and its will to fulfil people’s mandate for national rejuvenation, experts say.
President Xi Jinping said the Chinese people will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate them
In a keynote speech during the commemoration ceremony marking the CPC centenary at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, Xi, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, announced: “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… 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.”
Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said that China has set a good example for the rest of the developing world. “China has become a moderately prosperous society. That’s no small feat for a developing country which has the world’s largest population.”
Noting Xi mentioned that China would continue to work with countries under the aegis of the Belt and Road Initiative, Oh said this is a “welcome development” and he hopes that China will double its trade and investments with its neighbors.
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George Siy, chairman emeritus of Association of Young Chinese-Filipino Entrepreneurs in Manila, said “China under the Communist Party of China is proving to be one of humanity’s greatest miracle stories and a viable, dynamic model of development for nations around the world.”
“His direct message of guidance and inspiration to the youth signals that although much challenges remain, there’s much optimism to look forward to,” said Siy. “Inevitably this will have a reverberating effect on the rest of the world, and if done correctly, will usher in new models, levels of development and progress for billions more people around the world.”
China has, thus emerged as a confident, determined and committed nation with the realization of the first centenary goal of becoming a “moderately prosperous society”, said Karori Singh, Emeritus Fellow and former director of the South Asia Studies Centre at the University of Rajasthan in India, adding that Xi’s oration is “full of confidence, applause, determination and commitment of the Chinese society”.
“China’s success hinges on the CPC,” said Kin Phea, director general of the International Relations Institute of Cambodia at the Royal Academy of Cambodia. He said Xi’s speech attached great importance to the role of the CPC and the unity between the CPC and Chinese people, both at home and overseas, as a mighty force to bring about the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
“Over the last century, the CPC has remained true to its original aspiration and mission of pursuing the well-being of the Chinese people, leading them in an arduous and never-ending struggle that has resulted in fundamental changes not only in the destiny and future of the Chinese people and nation, but also in the destiny and future of the peoples and nations in the region and the world,” said Phea.
Haruo Nishihara, former president of Waseda University in Japan, said the development of China is a constant work in progress and he is lucky to be a witness of it.
“I have visited China 89 times and have seen the transformations of many places, from rural to urban society,” the 93-year-old legal scholar and educator said.
Nishihara said numerous CPC members are leading the way forward and what gives each new generation purpose is to take up the unfinished work of the previous one and to carry it further than anyone might have thought possible.
Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said China welcomes helpful suggestions, but will not accept sanctimonious preaching.
Xi said the Chinese people will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate them. “Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people,” he said.
Henry Chan, visiting senior research fellow at the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace, a think tank in Phnom Penh, said the most important message is that any attempt to split the CPC from the Chinese people will not work. “The CPC is going to lead the Chinese people to fulfil the historical mandate that the people expect,” he said.
“The message is very clear that the Chinese people are determined. In the face of foreign challenge, they are confident that the Chinese way of socialism is going to work,” said Chan.
Singh in India said it is clear from Xi’s speech that “China will never allow any sectional or spatial divide to flourish and thus emphasized rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
“Moreover, China has a clear perspective of revitalizing different sectors of the economy and harmonizing diverse perspectives to realize the second centenary goal of modern advanced prosperous society before the given time line,” Singh said.
“The success of China’s development model under the 100 years of the CPC is a model for developing countries like the Philippines,” said Austin Ong, founding president of the Philippines-China Friendship Club, noting the Southeast Asian country is also a direct beneficiary of China’s global role and good-neighbor policies.
“The 21st century challenges will need a whole-of-humanity approach that no one country can solve alone. China’s role under CPC leadership will be more important than ever for the world to recover and progress together,” said Ong.
Irfan Shahzad Takalvi, founding president of the Eurasian Century Institute, a think tank based in Islamabad, said the speech showed the confidence of the CPC. “This confidence is about having a very successful, viable, workable and feasible model for the governance of a state,” he said.
“Without the CPC, there would be no new China and profound transformation of the Chinese nation,” said Talat Shabbir, director of the China-Pakistan Study Centre at the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad.
“Xi’s speech is manifestation of CPC’s achievement for a powerful and prosperous China,” he said, noting Xi highlighted that the Party has addressed the issue of eliminating poverty in China, which is a major contribution to mankind.
“The CPC as a party is a huge example to cite and its achievements are undoubtedly commendable,” said Shabbir. “If China wishes to move ahead and lead the world, it needs to continue the path set by CPC and its dynamic leadership.”
However, Chan said that the idea that China has created a new model for human advancement, as Xi said in his speech because of its Chinese characteristics, does not mean China aims to export it to the rest of the world.
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Yan An, former chairman of the Union of Chinese Residing in Japan, said the spirit of resilience and the faith of realizing national rejuvenation in its founding had seen the CPC through more pains and tragedies than most other political parties will ever know.
“Thanks to the reform and opening-up policy, I could have a chance to study abroad and find a career to promote Chinese culture in Japan,” Yan said, adding that he, like so many Chinese, owes a great debt to the Party and the CPC’s forceful vision of development.
Wu Jing, a PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences at Tokyo University said she found Xi’s speech thrilling in its forward-looking vision and exhilarating in its thought-provoking description.
“As a Party member and a student studying abroad, I am determined to learn from the Party’s predecessors and strive for excellency to be a good story teller of China in the new era through my own actions and example,” Wu said.