The Sunday Mail
Kuda Bwititi
News Editor
THE Communist Party of China (CPC) turns 100 years on July 1, marking an extraordinary journey for a political party.
The number 100 is just as impressive as the party’s colossal milestones.
With the party leading China to being arguably the world’s biggest economy and global leader in a multi-polar environment, there are so many things to celebrate and take instruction from.
CPC is a powerful institution that has not just given the world great leaders and thinkers — from Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping — but also new ways to re-imagine governance and leadership in a fast evolving world.
But, how did it all begin?
The party was formed in 1921 following disastrous eras of imperialism and monarchy. In 1912, the Qing Dynasty was overthrown and the “First Republic” was formed.
However, the intervening years snuffed out early promises of a new order, leading to young revolutionaries and academics to find a model that would endure.
This came in the form of the communist ideology that had taken root in some countries such as Russia, France and Germany.
With this, the party was constituted on July 1, 1921 under the leadership of scholars Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, with assistance from the Russian Communist International (Comintern). A convention held later that month had delegates from across the country.
One of them was one Mao Zedong, representing Hunan Province.
The early years of CPC were characterised by seeking to unify China — something the First Republic had failed — and get a foothold for communism in the country.
Another feature of this era was an attempt to unite with the brotherly organisation of Kuomintang, which failed as the ideological differences spiralled into civil war and the banishment of Kuomintang to Taiwan.
A huge development in the period was the defeat of the Japanese invaders in 1945, which meant that China would finally put behind the baneful history of foreign domination — forever.
Mao Zedong’s decisive leadership came in 1935 at a conference that met to discuss the direction of the party after it lost many cadres in war. The military strategist Mao, an advocate for guerilla style combat which proved to be effective against enemies, came to the fore. This was significant because Mao was a homegrown cadre, signalling the drift towards localising the concept after several years of inspiration from outside.
The following years of Mao’s accession saw difficulties of a raging war between internal and external enemies, but CPC was victorious, albeit with huge losses, on both counts with the national effort to defeat the Japanese first, and later in the civil war against the KMT.
On October 1, 1949, Mao declared Independence following the huge victory against the KMT.
Mao’s leadership in the following years comprised efforts to unite the nation and build economic prosperity through agriculture and industry. A distinctive feature of this era was a focus on looking inwards to ensure self-sufficiency.
However, there were weaknesses in the system — fatal flaws even — that militated against Mao’s policies leading to loss of support and stunted growth of the economy.
His successor, Deng Xiaoping, in 1976 signalled a new era of reform and opening up. Deng is considered a great reformist and the key to unlocking China’s potential — bottled over centuries — onto the international stage.
He took China from being a backwater and set in motion policies and actions that would lead to the country being a global powerhouse in just 40 years.
Today, President Xi Jinping represents the ever-rising stock of China that soon will be capped off with yet other milestones that will cement China’s greatness.
Time to celebrate
Achieving 100 years is a truly inspirational feat. The CPC is now regarded as the biggest political party in the world with more than 90 million members.
The party has stood the test of time having undergone all manner of trials and tribulations; wars and leadership change.
It is the party that gave the developing world an ideological template and supported liberation movements in Africa to defeat imperialism.
In the case of Zimbabwe, in the 1970s, liberation movements found a useful template in Mao’s tactics and lessons in warfare and communion with the people.
These led to victory against Britain with Independence in 1980.
Countries such as Zimbabwe continue to look up to China under the CPC for a model in ideological direction, mass mobilisation, economic reform and governance.
It has given us five generations of leaders, all coming with era-changing qualities.
Through the leadership of the party, China has offered a credible and formidable example of how nations can succeed without being copycats of Western systems — something that is credible given the fact that there is actually more convergence of culture and systems between most developing countries and the Asian giant.
What is more important is that China is actually engaging the world in building a new order, through its engagements in multilateral platforms such as the Belt and Road Initiative and Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac), as well as bilaterally with countries such as Zimbabwe.
This is part of a series of articles celebrating the centennial of CPC. The next instalment will focus on aspects of the Party and its significance on the world.
