BY MELAKU MULUALEM K –
The Communist Party of China (CPC) was founded on 1 July 1921. The party will celebrate its 100th year of establishment on 1 July 2021. Currently, the party has 91 million members that put the party to be the largest in the world. In the last hundred years CPC has reformed itself to adjust with the economic, political and social development of China.
Celebrating the 100th year is a key milestone in the history of the Communist Party of China. In this long period the party has passed through a lot of ups and downs to improve the life of the Chinese people. Not only has the CPC survived for a century, it has also played a commendable role in creating strong national unity in China. We can trace the historical backgrounds all the way back to Chairman Mao Zedong, the founder of the party. His doctrine is called Maoism. He is praised for setting pillars of development, improving literacy and education in China.
There are very few parties in the world that celebrate their centenary. African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa is one of them. In this long period of time, the Chinese Communist Party has proven to be an engine of economic development. It has benefited the peoples of China and the world at large.
Party discipline is a mechanism to keep members functioning effectively and efficiently. To make a party very strong, there has to be high quality leadership, crafting implementable vision, presence of strong party discipline, ability to mobilize people for common vision, to be resilient to internal and external political shocks, to promote interests of the people, increasing internal cohesiveness of the party and the like. CPC is enjoying the above quality of a party. It is exemplary to many other political parties in the world.
Democratic centralism of CPC makes the decision to be implemented at all level of government structure. Democratic centralism has two important concepts i.e., to discuss and decide democratically in a party and make the decision to be implemented through centralized leadership. Decision through this system is binding upon all members of the political party. To deviate from implementing such decision will put members for serious penalty.
The strength of political parties is highly interconnected with well-founded political program, the number and quality of its supporters. At one time president Xi said: “The history has made it crystal clear that a government’s top priority should be its people; people are the very foundation of a government. People’s support is a matter of life and death for the Party.” A party with inclusive approach will continue to exist as dominant party. Party members of CPC have come from different sections of the society-be it poor or rich, educated or illiterate, student or professor, young or adult, employed or unemployed, farmer or factory worker and the like.
China is not running for a hegemonic power in the world. This basic principle is stated and underlined by the government of China. China has a totally different ideology from the Western powers. Even if there are challenges and obstacles from the Western powers, CPC has made China to be the second largest economy in the world. The economic development of China has become an opportunity not only to its people but also to the stability of world economy.
Currently, China is passing through two remarkable achievements i.e., poverty reduction and economic development. At the present time the GDP of China has surpassed hundred trillion Yuan. It has also pulled multi million poor people out of poverty. This is the result of leadership through CPC. For many countries in the world having big population number is a curse. For China 1.4 billion population is an opportunity. As long as there is great leadership, the government can use of the brain of its people for development.
Unlike the former Soviet Union, China is not trying to spread its socialist ideology. The noninterference policy of China can be clearly seen in this respect. China doesn’t copy the theories and experiences of other countries as they are. In my opinion, the secret behind the success of economic development of China is the presence of strong leadership and the adaptation of knowledge, model and theory of other countries into their own realities. This approach helps CPC to survive for hundred years without interruptions.
On the other hand, those countries that copied socialism from the Soviet Union collapsed together with their patronage. During the Dergue period, Ethiopia was also a victim for coping socialist ideology from the Soviet Union as it is. Many East European countries also failed together with the Soviet Union ideology. However, China adapted Socialism ideology by taking their reality into consideration saying “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics”. Various researches show that it is coined by Deng Xiaoping in 1982. The world has to get lesson from China in taking theories and models of others by considering their own realities.
Expansion of various forms of corruptions will make governments weak in all respects. It will also increase the gap between the rich and the poor citizens of a country. CPC has strong position in fighting against corruptions-grand, political and administrative. This zero tolerance to corruption has made China to use of its resources effectively and efficiently. It is one of the cornerstones of good governance. It has also huge significance in ensuring the cohesion in the ruling party.
The other strong side of CPC is guiding the people and its economy through Five-Year-Plan in which the government set the national socio-economic and political priorities. This planning and executing strategy was designed and implemented starting from 1953. Now it is on its fourteenth round. After the end of each five years, the success and failure will be evaluated. The strong sides will be taken as inputs for the next five years plan. The weakness and failure will be corrected. In 2021 China has plan to grow its economy by six percent. The new Dual Circulation strategy of China will support its vision of recovering from the impact of COVID pandemics and subsequent economic development.
President Xi Jinping, who is also General Secretary of CPC, has introduced two great concepts i.e. “the Belt and Road Initiative” and “Community of Shared Future for Mankind”. The former is a global project that links many countries of the world through infrastructure, people-to-people relations, and through various networks. Similarly, the latter focuses on benefiting the peoples of the world through coordinated efforts. Both initiatives will speed up globalizations from which both developed and least developed countries can get benefits. These initiatives demonstrate China’s determinations to promote prosperity to both itself and the world at large. It is at this juncture that CPC is celebrating its hundredth years of establishment.
Ethiopia is benefiting from both initiatives. The 753 KM railway that links Ethiopia and Djibouti is part and parcel of the Belt and Road Initiative of China. It is the first cross-border electrified railway in Africa. China has also constructed many industrial parks in Ethiopia. Highways and light rail system in Addis Ababa are also constructed by Chinese. Many Ethiopian students are getting scholarship through Silk Road global projects to study in China. Foreign Direct Investments are flowing from China to Ethiopia. It would have been difficult to launch the two satellite of Ethiopia without the financial and technical support of China. China is distributing COVID-19 vaccines to many countries in the world through the initiative of “Shared Future of Mankind”. Ethiopia has also got COVID-19 vaccine from China in order to prevent its people from the pandemics. The formal diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and China started before half a century. The strategic and comprehensive partnership between the two governments is taking the long friendship a great leap forward.
To sum up, the Communist Party of China has changed the life of its people. Before the establishment of CPC the economy and living standard of the Chinese people was not different from many other African countries. The leadership through CPC for a century has made China to stand second in economy from the world. CPC is a living witness to show that strong party can transform people from zero to hero.
The writer is a researcher at the Institute of Strategic Affairs (ISA)
He can be reached at Melakumulu@yahoo.com
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
The Ethiopian Herald June 25/2021
