Editorial | Communist Party rule is steadfast, a confident Xi tells nation and the world
- President’s address at centenary celebrations makes clear that the nation, its people and the party are inseparable and that no force, domestic or foreign, can change a system that has delivered so much
One hundred years ago, a handful of young pioneers helped form the Chinese Communist Party in search of a way out of the country’s myriad troubles at the time, including a corrupt dictatorship, poverty and foreign invasion.
Yesterday, President Xi Jinping, party general secretary, led the nation in celebrating the centenary of their vision which, finally, has been fulfilled under 72 years of party rule with victory over absolute poverty earlier this year.
The founders, including Mao Zedong, first leader of the People’s Republic of China, could not have foreseen then, in the wake of the influenza pandemic that killed millions, that nearly 100 years later their party would have to pass a test of its political legitimacy in its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The theme of Xi’s hour-long speech at a ceremony in Tiananmen Square demonstrated his confidence that the party could lead China to even greater success in the next 100 years of development, whatever the internal and external challenges.
Xi’s confidence that China has chosen the right path sends a clear message to the United States that it is not going to change its political system. While the party welcomed helpful suggestions and constructive criticism, “we will not, however, accept sanctimonious preaching from those who feel they have the right to lecture us”, he said.
