As the Communist Party of China (CPC) celebrates the 95th anniversary of its founding, it is expected to become more legitimate, more effective and stronger as it meets future challenges, debunking some critics' predictions of a coming collapse.
Communist Party of China (CPC) committees from the neighborhood level up to provincial governments, from jails to universities, are organizing events and activities to mark the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Party.
In Beijing's Fangshan district a museum called "Without the Communist Party there would be no new China" (also the name of a famous red song) uses the latest technologies like virtual and augmented reality to showcase the Party's history, according to the Beijing Youth Daily.
The Party committee of the city jail of Wuwei, Northwest China's Gansu Province, organized contests to test the guards' knowledge of the Party's constitution; integrity and self-discipline guidelines; and disciplinary measures, the Legal Daily reported. Yan Qinglin, the jail's Party secretary, said he hoped the contests will make Party members working in the jail more motivated to study the CPC's rules and regulations.
In Qufu, East China's Shandong Province, over 200 primary and middle school students participated in a red song singing contest in Tianjiabing Primary School, during which they sang songs like "Under the Chinese Dream" to commemorate the occasion.
Some Party members celebrated the anniversary by hand writing the Party constitution. In Tongxiang, Eastern China's Zhejiang Province, for example, over 40,000 Party members participated in a campaign to copy the Party constitution over 95 days to celebrate the CPC's anniversary. Party members claim the practice revives their pioneering spirit and boosts their pride. "Now, copying the Party constitution has become my habit," Yan Xiaoting, a Party member working at a Zhejiang company, told Jiaxing Online.
In Julu county, North China's Hebei Province, 78-year-old Party member Zhang Moxian spent 30 days copying a 52-meter, 17,000-character long Party constitution to show his faith in the CPC.
Alive and well
The past 95 years have seen CPC grow from a small party with only 50-odd members, to the world's biggest governing party with 88 million members. Over the 67 years of CPC rule, China has evolved from a mostly rural, underdeveloped country to the world's second largest economy, with total GDP of over $1 trillion. Over 600 million people have been lifted out of poverty, development of science and technology has leapt forward, and China is now able to compete with developed countries as it continues to make breakthroughs such as launching manned spaceflights and deep-sea research submersibles.
Many foreign politicians and experts are known to badmouth the CPC. Some used to assert that the CPC would not be able to feed China's massive population. After the Reform and Opening-up, many voices started to predict that the Chinese government would be blown over by the winds of change.
David Shambaugh, professor of international affairs and director of the China Policy Program at George Washington University published a book China's Future, in which he predicted the eventual decline of the CPC unless certain reforms are taken.
"It is no secret that China has reached a series of key turning points on its developmental path and dramatic national transformation ... Diminishing returns have set in and it has become plainly evident that the main elements of the broad reform program first launched by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 are no longer applicable or sustainable for spurring China's continued modernization over the next decades," he told The Diplomat.
Stephen Harner, former U.S. Foreign Service Officer who served in Beijing and a Forbes contributor, rejected his view completely. Responding to Shambaugh's claims regarding tighter control by the CPC, Harner said, "It is rational and responsible statecraft and leadership, firmly in China's political tradition, to enforce a certain focus on messages and themes that positively advance the reform agenda."
He wrote further: "The economy and society have developed and hundreds of millions of people prospered within this system. It is almost impossible to imagine - given Chinese culture and tradition - a different system. And, to judge by examples in Taiwan, elsewhere in Asia and, indeed, in the United States, it is highly doubtful that the accoutrements of a democratic pluralism that he cites would make any material difference."
