To understand today’s China, we must first get to know the Communist Party of China (CPC). The sixth plenary session of the 19th central committee of the CPC held recently is such a golden opportunity. At the session, the central committee adopted the resolution of the central committee of the CPC on the major achievements and historical experience of the party over the past century.
The party has established comrade Xi Jinping’s core position on the party central committee and in the party as a whole and defined the guiding role of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. This reflects the common will of the party, the armed forces, and the Chinese of all ethnic groups, and is of decisive significance for advancing the cause of the party and the country in the new era and for driving forward the historic process of national rejuvenation.
The session summed up ten points of valuable historical experience of the CPC in the past century: upholding the party’s leadership, putting the people first, advancing theoretical innovation, staying independent, following the Chinese path, maintaining a global vision, breaking new ground, standing up for ourselves, promoting the united front, and remaining committed to self-reform.
The plenary and its resolutions are extensive and profound. I would like to focus on answering a few questions based on the concerns of Indian friends:
What kind of path is China taking?
Our direction determines our path, and our path determines our future. After the Opium War of 1840, China suffered greater ravages than ever before. Countless noble-minded patriots sought to save the nation from peril, yet they all ended in failure. Founding of the CPC 100 years ago profoundly transformed the future and destiny of China, and altered the landscape of world development. Socialism, with Chinese characteristics, is a fundamental achievement of the party and the people, forged through innumerable hardships and great sacrifices over a century, and it is the right path to realise national rejuvenation, to make our country prosperous and strong, and to bring happiness to the people. This path is a historical inevitability, and is the choice of the Chinese people.
The party’s 100-year history witnessed a process of continuing to adapt Marxism to the Chinese context and to explore creative and innovative ideas. In the course of long-term struggle, the CPC has established Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents and the Scientific Outlook on Development. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the Marxism of contemporary China and of the 21st century. It embodies the best of the Chinese culture and ethos in our times, and represents a new breakthrough in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.
As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. I think, “Rome” here refers to people’s aspirations to live a better life. Countries have different histories, cultures, political systems and development models, and each has the right to follow its own road to “Rome” independently. China adheres to its independence and self-reliance, adheres to the Chinese path, and firmly holds the destiny of China’s development and progress in our own hands. Meanwhile, China has no intention to sell its own development path around the world. On the contrary, China encourages all countries to find development paths tailored to their respective national conditions.
How does China ensure that it is the people who run the country?
In 1945, on eve of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese aggression, the famous Chinese educator Huang Yanpei asked Mao Zedong in a cave-dwelling in Yan’an, how did China break free of the wheel of history with the ‘vicious cycle’ of dynastic rise and collapse?
Mao replied: “We have found a new path, and this new path is called democracy. As long as the people have oversight of the government, the government will not slacken in its efforts. When everyone takes responsibility there will be no danger that things will return to how they were even if the leader has gone.”
Democracy is an abiding philosophy that the CPC and Chinese people are committed to. After long-term exploration, the CPC has led the Chinese people to develop a path of whole-process people’s democracy, which is the broadest, most genuine, and most effective socialist democracy. All major decisions in China are made through public opinion solicitation and democratic deliberation, and are based on scientific study and democratic decision-making.
Since the 18th CPC national congress, public opinion has been solicited on draft laws on 187 occasions, and more than three million comments from about 1.1 million people have been received. While formulating the 14th five-year plan, the Chinese government paid great attention to soliciting opinions from all sides; more than one million opinions and suggestions were collected online alone.
Civilisations are rich and diverse, and so is democracy. Democracy is not mass produced with a uniform model or configuration for countries around the world. Dismissing forms of democracy that are different from one’s own is in itself undemocratic. Whether a country is democratic or not should be left to its own people to decide. China has continuously explored and optimised the path of democracy, which is rooted in China’s history and culture, and fits the country’s conditions.
The Chinese democracy model enjoys popular support from an overwhelming majority of the Chinese people. According to the latest authoritative international poll, the Chinese people’s overall satisfaction toward the CPC and Chinese government exceeds 95 per cent and 98 per cent respectively.
How does China balance “making the pie bigger” with “distributing the pie fairly”?
Common prosperity is an essential requirement of socialism and a key feature of Chinese-style modernisation. With victory in the anti-poverty fight and in the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects, China has favourable conditions for promoting common prosperity. Now, China is at the historical stage to solidly advance common prosperity.
Common prosperity requires “making the pie bigger” by all means as a priority. China is transmitting from rapid growth to high-quality development, taking a scientific approach to the new development stage, and pursuing the vision of innovative, coordinated, green, and open development that is for everyone. China also speeds up to build the new development paradigm featuring dual circulation, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay.
Common prosperity also requires “distributing the pie” fairly and reasonably. It never means undercutting the rich to benefit the poor or implementing egalitarianism, but optimising the income distribution system to reflect efficiency and promote fairness. By reasonably controlling the distribution gap, improving the social security system, and increasing support and assistance for low-income people and poverty-stricken areas, China is working to gradually form an olive-shaped income distribution structure of large middle and small ends.
How to understand the CPC’s global vision?
Over the past century, since its founding, the CPC has been seeking not only happiness for the Chinese people, rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, but also progress of mankind and the common good of the world. Facing the question of our times of “What kind of a world do we want? What should we do to build a world that we desire?” President Xi stands at the height of the future and destiny of mankind, and puts forward the important concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind, to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security, and common prosperity.
There is only one earth in the universe, and we, mankind, have only one homeland. Increasingly, all countries have become stakeholders sharing a common future. No country can address alone the many challenges facing mankind; no country can afford to retreat into self-isolation. The core of the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind is to pursue peace rather than war, development rather than poverty, cooperation rather than confrontation, and win-win rather than monopoly. It reflects the universal aspiration and common value pursuit of all mankind, and is increasingly becoming the consensus of the international community.
China does not believe in the out-of-date logic that power inevitably leads to hegemony. Instead, China advocates to foster a new type of international relations, of which the nature is going beyond traditional one featuring power politics and the law of the jungle, with its core value being mutual respect, fairness, justice, and win-win cooperation. China advocates practicing true multilateralism, upholds the international system with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law, to advance democracy in international relations.
International affairs can only be addressed through consultation by everyone, and international rules can only be made by everyone. Decision should not be made by those who simply have bigger fists.
The world today is under the combined impacts of the pandemic and worldwide changes, both unseen in a century. Global economic recovery has been uneven. As the international development cause stands at a crossroads, President Xi solemnly proposed the Global Development Initiative. He called on the international community to accelerate implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals for more robust, greener and more balanced global development, leaving no countries and no individuals behind. The initiative pointed the way forward for global development and international development cooperation, and is another important public good that China provides to the international community.
How to look at China-India relations?
Deng Xiaoping once said that no genuine Asian century would come without the development of China, India and other regional developing countries. Both as ancient civilisations, China and India have always pursued the visions of “universal peace” and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world being one family), and advocated the principles of inclusiveness and harmony. Both as major developing countries with over one billion population, China and India are facing arduous development tasks and broad development prospects. Both countries are also important emerging economies, which maintain close cooperation in multilateral organisations, including BRICS and SCO. We share similar positions on climate change and other fields. Our common interests far outweigh the differences. China’s development provides India with an opportunity rather than a challenge.
China-India relations are comprehensive and multi-dimensional, which should not be defined by just one certain issue. It is obviously a strategic misjudgement to deem China as a “major threat” or “strategic adversary” to India, which is inconsistent with fact and not constructive. We need to view China-India relations from a long-term perspective rather than being short-sighted, with a broad vision rather than being narrow-minded, with cooperative thinking rather than zero-sum mentality.
China has shown willingness and taken actions to improve our relations. However, it needs both sides to meet each other half way and properly handle the differences.
It is hoped that more Indian friends can have the right understanding of the CPC and China from the objective and rational perspective, and help to enhance mutual understanding, trust and friendship between the two peoples, so as to enable the two neighbouring major countries to live in peace and harmony, and achieve common development and rejuvenation.
The writer is the People’s Republic of China’s ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to India.