China’s Communist Party at 90
by Bernardo Cervellera
The system’s ad machine extols heroic men and women in “red movies”, “red books” and “red songs”. “Pilgrimages” to the places of the revolution are the latest fad. Some scholars call however for a closer look to the Party’s failures: the great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the ongoing corruption. Meanwhile, democracy is waiting.
Rome (AsiaNews) – Many Chinese cities are staging various events, including singing, movies, exhibits and various ceremonies, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which falls tomorrow.
Communist cells existed already in 1920 in at least four Chinese cities, but the official birth of the party took place on 1 July 1921, in Shanghai, at a meeting attended by 50 people, including emissaries from Bolshevik Russia. Mao Zedong was not present.
Last night, Chinese President Hu Jintao and senior leaders from the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee joined an audience of more 5,000 people at a gala in the capital, that included a performance of “Our flag” in the at the Great Hall of the People.
In the run-up to the anniversary, the Communist Party has called on the Chinese people "to love the party, love the nation and love socialism".
Li Changchun, head of the propaganda department, recently ordered state media to create "a dense atmosphere of solemnity and ardour, joy and peace, unity and advancement and scientific development".
For months now, theatre shows and revolutionary songs have echoed across the land, among them, “The East is Red”, which celebrates Mao Zedong’s “eternity”. In many provinces, competitions were held for the best songs or performances.
In addition to “red songs,” the authorities have put on “red film” festivals and “red book” fairs, as well as encouraged “red tourism”.
Young people have been asked to watch at least 28 movies, highlighting the patriotism of heroic men and women. They include some historical blockbusters with famous actors from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China.
“Red tourism” includes “pilgrimages” to Yanan (Shaanxi, the “cradle of the revolution”) and Shaoshan (Hunan), Mao Zedong’s birthplace.
For Politburo member Liu Yunshan, “the promotion of travel to places of the revolution can bring the people closer to socialist values.”
However, the CPC has a major problem; it has shifted away from socialist values. Increasingly, being Communist is just a label as Communists fail to understand the needs of the people.
The shift began with Deng Xiaoping’s U-turn and his policies of economic modernisation, which propelled China on a path of technical and economic development that saved 150 million people from starvation but created other problems.
Economic expansion has in fact led to human exploitation, environmental pollution, corruption and one of the widest gaps between haves and have-nots. The party born from a peasant revolution is now responsible for the impoverishment of peasants. Farm annual incomes are on average 5,900 yuan against 19,000 in the cities.
At the same time, businessmen and financial operators have joined the party, certain that they could feed from the trough of the richest Party in the world.
A few days ago, Party officials boasted 80 million members. They did not mention that polls indicate that young people want to join it for the economic and legal perks it provides.
Criticising the party’s supremacy is immediately condemned as a “conspiracy against the state,” whilst those who use party connections for business purposes enjoy the protection of its top leaders.
As the party membership expands (by cooptation) among those who benefit from economic reforms, prisons fill up with scholars (like Liu Xiaobo), activists, human rights lawyers, religious leaders as well as ordinary citizens presenting petitions.
As China’s leaders reject out of hands the idea of Western-style democracy, the system crushes all those who use the country’s limited legal remedies to demand justice.
Recently, some Beijing scholars, like Zhao Shilin, have called on the government not “to deify” the Party and turn a critical eye instead onto its history, and see both its economic successes, as well as its great failures (the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the ongoing corruption, etc).
In my opinion, the problem of the CPC is even more deeper. It has failed in its mission and has betrayed its origins. Created to “serve the people” as China’s constitution says, it uses people to enslave and silence the people.
If the CPC really wanted to celebrate its 90 years with more truth and less rhetoric, it should open up to democracy and allow people to express themselves.
Sadly, the CPC has found a willing ally in the West to enslave and crush the people. The West too has praised Beijing for its economic success but has fallen silent when it comes to its human rights violations, deemed a “difference of opinion” between East and West that should not affect any important business deal.
Communist cells existed already in 1920 in at least four Chinese cities, but the official birth of the party took place on 1 July 1921, in Shanghai, at a meeting attended by 50 people, including emissaries from Bolshevik Russia. Mao Zedong was not present.
Last night, Chinese President Hu Jintao and senior leaders from the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee joined an audience of more 5,000 people at a gala in the capital, that included a performance of “Our flag” in the at the Great Hall of the People.
In the run-up to the anniversary, the Communist Party has called on the Chinese people "to love the party, love the nation and love socialism".
Li Changchun, head of the propaganda department, recently ordered state media to create "a dense atmosphere of solemnity and ardour, joy and peace, unity and advancement and scientific development".
For months now, theatre shows and revolutionary songs have echoed across the land, among them, “The East is Red”, which celebrates Mao Zedong’s “eternity”. In many provinces, competitions were held for the best songs or performances.
In addition to “red songs,” the authorities have put on “red film” festivals and “red book” fairs, as well as encouraged “red tourism”.
Young people have been asked to watch at least 28 movies, highlighting the patriotism of heroic men and women. They include some historical blockbusters with famous actors from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China.
“Red tourism” includes “pilgrimages” to Yanan (Shaanxi, the “cradle of the revolution”) and Shaoshan (Hunan), Mao Zedong’s birthplace.
For Politburo member Liu Yunshan, “the promotion of travel to places of the revolution can bring the people closer to socialist values.”
However, the CPC has a major problem; it has shifted away from socialist values. Increasingly, being Communist is just a label as Communists fail to understand the needs of the people.
The shift began with Deng Xiaoping’s U-turn and his policies of economic modernisation, which propelled China on a path of technical and economic development that saved 150 million people from starvation but created other problems.
Economic expansion has in fact led to human exploitation, environmental pollution, corruption and one of the widest gaps between haves and have-nots. The party born from a peasant revolution is now responsible for the impoverishment of peasants. Farm annual incomes are on average 5,900 yuan against 19,000 in the cities.
At the same time, businessmen and financial operators have joined the party, certain that they could feed from the trough of the richest Party in the world.
A few days ago, Party officials boasted 80 million members. They did not mention that polls indicate that young people want to join it for the economic and legal perks it provides.
Criticising the party’s supremacy is immediately condemned as a “conspiracy against the state,” whilst those who use party connections for business purposes enjoy the protection of its top leaders.
As the party membership expands (by cooptation) among those who benefit from economic reforms, prisons fill up with scholars (like Liu Xiaobo), activists, human rights lawyers, religious leaders as well as ordinary citizens presenting petitions.
As China’s leaders reject out of hands the idea of Western-style democracy, the system crushes all those who use the country’s limited legal remedies to demand justice.
Recently, some Beijing scholars, like Zhao Shilin, have called on the government not “to deify” the Party and turn a critical eye instead onto its history, and see both its economic successes, as well as its great failures (the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, the ongoing corruption, etc).
In my opinion, the problem of the CPC is even more deeper. It has failed in its mission and has betrayed its origins. Created to “serve the people” as China’s constitution says, it uses people to enslave and silence the people.
If the CPC really wanted to celebrate its 90 years with more truth and less rhetoric, it should open up to democracy and allow people to express themselves.
Sadly, the CPC has found a willing ally in the West to enslave and crush the people. The West too has praised Beijing for its economic success but has fallen silent when it comes to its human rights violations, deemed a “difference of opinion” between East and West that should not affect any important business deal.
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