100 years of Communist Party of China: 6 achievements that shook the world
ITAHARI: “Imperialism dominated us for over 100 years and took things away without construction. The iron and steel, for example. From the Qing Dynasty to the defeat of Chiang Kai-shek the annual output of steel during this period was only 40,000 tons in Chiang Kai-shek’s areas. One may say we did not have iron and steel, nor did we have a machine-building industry, nor any geological work” said Mao to King Mahendra of Nepal on 5th October 1961, when he was on a visit to China.
This was the situation in China 12 years after the Chinese Communist Party came to power. Mao described the same situation to Mahendra during a meeting on the Nepal-China border treaty.
Mao and Mahendra’s dialogue is included in the content of Mao’s book ‘On Diplomacy’. Mao, who relayed China’s gloomy industrial story at the time, also painted a picture of the future. He told Mahendra, “It took ages for Europe and America to come to the present level. It would be great if China can overtake them a hundred years from now.”
What Mao said to Mahendra 60 years ago is about to be fulfilled. Mao’s underdeveloped China has overtaken European countries today in terms of economy. China is now the second largest economy after the United States. Based on purchasing power parity, China has overtaken the United States since 2014.
The leap is being led by the Chinese Communist Party. Today marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1921, 12 leaders, including Mao, founded the Communist Party in Shanghai. Mao was 27 at the time. Although the party was founded on 1st July, its first general convention was held on 23rd July.
The Chinese Communist Party has now been in existence for 100 years and has been in power in China for 72 years. During this time, China has been accused of denying political freedom and violating human rights, and of bringing about a one-party dictatorship. China, on the other hand, has argued that it has a different state system, which is suited to the country and its geography.
Despite some political criticism, the Chinese Communist Party’s seven-decade-long rule has made some remarkable progress in setting an example to the world. Let’s discuss point by point: –
1.Largest and longest-running Communist Party of the world
The largest communist party in the world is the Chinese Communist Party. The party has more than 90 million members. That is about 7 percent of China’s population, according to CNN.
However, the Chinese Communist Party is not the largest party in the world. India’s ruling BJP is the largest. The BJP has an average of 180 million members. The Chinese Communist Party is not only the largest party in the world, but also the longest-ruling party. The Chinese Communist Party has been in power longer than the party of the Soviet Union.
2.Success on all decisive battle fronts
On 1st August 1927, the Chinese Communist Party formed the People’s Liberation Army. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was formed after widespread interference in the trade union movement in Shanghai and the ban on communism.
The Communist Party of China has won various decisive battles fought by the same People’s Liberation Army. For example, before the end of World War II, there was a war with the Japanese colonial powers. Japan was forced to retreat.
At the time, Cheng Kai-Shek’s government and the People’s Liberation Army were at war with Japan. After World War II, the People’s Liberation Army fought Cheng Kai-Shek’s National Army. After nearly five years of war, Kai-Shek fled to Taiwan, a former Japanese colony, in 1949. From there, he ran the government under the name of ‘Republic of China’.
On 1st October 1949, Mao arrived in Tiananmen Square in Peking (now Beijing) and declared the country as “People’s Republic of China.” Interestingly, the People’s Republic of China was not recognized not just by the United States, but also by the United Nations.
Cheng Kai-Shek’s Taiwan was recognized in place of China, a permanent member of the United Nations. As Kai-Shek was one of the world leaders who helped during the establishment of the United Nations and as his government had the support of USA, Taiwan was able to secure the recognition.
Many countries took the initiative to bring the People’s Republic of China into the United Nations. Nepal’s first elected Prime Minister BP Koirala was also involved in this. At the 15th General Assembly of the United Nations in 1960, BP argued that the United Nations, which had been formed separately from China, did not represent all parts of the world.
Exactly 11 years later, in 1971, the People’s Republic of China replaced Taiwan as a permanent member of the UN. So far, Taiwan has not even become a member of the United Nations.
China faced US forces in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Even in that war, China was not defeated. Similarly, China won the war with India in 1962.
All of these war fronts have been taken over by the Chinese Communist Party. The war with Cheng Kai-Shek and Japan has been widely publicized through “red tourism” developed by China.
3.Successfully repatriated Macau and Hong Kong to China
Hong Kong and Macau have returned to China under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. China regained that territory through negotiations without war. Hong Kong arrived into China on 1st July 1997. Hong Kong was formally handed over to China from the United Kingdom on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.
Hong Kong was annexed by Britain in 1842 during the Opium War with the Qing Dynasty. The land that could not be returned even after the formation of the Republic of China in 1911 returned within 48 years of the formation of the People’s Republic of China.
Macau was returned to China from Portugal on 20th December 1999, two years after the return of Hong Kong. According to the BBC, Macau was formally colonized by Portugal in 1887.
4.Success in lifting a vast majority out of poverty in the shortest time
The World Bank says China has lifted the most people out of poverty in the shortest time. According to the World Bank, China has accounted for 70% of the eradication of world poverty since the 1970s.
According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, China has lifted 770 million people out of poverty between the 1970s and 2021. President Xi Jinping announced on 25th February this year that China was free of extreme poverty. According to the BBC, Xi has lifted 100 million people out of poverty in the last eight years.
5.Biggest rebel of US-led world order
After World War II, the American rule on the world map began. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it gained momentum. In the last decade, China has pushed back the US world order, albeit to some extent. The Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was established in January 2016 as an alternative to the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
It is headquartered in Beijing. The New Development Bank was established in February of the same year. It is headquartered in Shanghai. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization opened in 2001, not only in the economic field but also in the strategic field.
Known as the world’s industry, China’s economic and strategic influence is gradually increasing. China has been described by the British newspaper The Guardian as a “superpower-in-waiting”. The US leadership is unhappy about this. From the rule of Trump to Joe Biden, China is now America’s main rival. The United States is preparing to form an alliance with various countries to counter China.
6.A new world power, from technology to space
China has been a leader in various fields of information technology, from artificial intelligence to 5G. On 31st July 2020, President Xi unveiled his own technology called Baidu, an alternative to American GPS. Similarly, China is working to build its own space station by 2022.
According to the Global Times, China is planning to build its own station, citing the absence of Chinese astronauts on the US-led space station. China, which first launched its astronauts into space on 15th October 2003, recently launched three astronauts on 17th June.
They will be active in building Chinese space stations in space for three months. An additional three astronauts are being prepared to be sent after three months. China is the third country to send the highest number of astronauts after the United States and Russia.
China has launched a world-class infrastructure program called the Belt and Road Initiative. The US has a negative attitude about the project known as BRI. However, US officials have acknowledged that the US alone cannot compete with the BRI. This also shows Chinese domination, to an extent.
This win belongs to the Chinese Communist Party. Because in China, everything is under the control of the Communist Party. Speaking at the party’s 17th general convention in 2017, President Xi called for leadership of the party in all sectors of the country.
“In the east, west, south, and north, the party leads everything.”CNN quoted Xi as saying.
