Performers sing the song "Long March" in chorus during a song and dance performance commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of Red Army's Long March, a 12,500-km forced expedition that made history,in Jilin, northeast China's Jilin Province, Aug. 24, 2016. (Photo: Xinhua/Xu Chang)
Now is an opportune time for China and the whole world to discuss and draw strength from the military marvel of the Long March -- with will and wisdom, we can make the impossible possible!
Eighty years ago, the Communist Party of China (CPC) declared the successful completion of the Long March, a two-year adventure of great daring in which the Red Army of the CPC evaded the pursuit of the Kuomintang and trudged over 12,500 km on foot to reach its final destination in northwestern China.
In less than 15 years after the jaw-dropping feat, with the same wisdom and conviction that once led the long-tested party out of gunfire, hunger and death during the Long March, the CPC came to power and embarked on a new march for national stability and prosperity, another "mission impossible" for the country that had been stuck in division, warfare and poverty for more than a century.
In 1978, China began to initiate its reform and opening-up policy, a bold move that could be considered a new Long March for the party and the country.
In the last 35 years, China has made a meteoric rise to become the world's second-largest economy and the biggest trading nation.
Since history has proved the viability and vitality of Long March wisdom, it is advisable for China and the whole world, both challenged by a slew of fairly tough tasks ahead, to draw strength and wisdom from the marvel of the Long March.
The Long March teaches us first and foremost to remain true to the conviction that our undertakings, however strenuous and impossible they may seem, will succeed in the end. Indomitability, the core of the Long March spirit, needs to be demonstrated by China, which is now undergoing thorny economic and political governance reforms, and the whole world, which has been undergoing a tepid economic recovery and a refugee crisis.
Second, the Long March teaches us to always consider the wellbeing of all mankind, especially in the face of conservatism and selfishness. The CPC's policy would not have garnered public support 80 years ago without considering the wellbeing of the people undertaking the Long March. In the same sense, the ongoing reforms in China and the whole world will not succeed if they can not represent the interests of the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in the world.
Last but not least, the Long March teaches us to remain ready to make painstaking breakthroughs. China's thriving and stability would be impossible without the CPC's courage to break through the enemies' encirclement and submit to hardships along the way. Therefore, the whole world must shake off protectionist impulses so as to help the weaker groups undergo painful reforms and rebuild the people's confidence in a new global governance model.
