Hundred years of CCP: A cauldron of contradictions

Beijing is gearing up to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started on July 1^st ,1921 at Shanghai in all grandeur and splendour. China’s propaganda machinery is pulling no stops to exalt the objectives of the CCP and phenomenal contribution of the current regime in taking the Middle Kingdom to the pinnacles of success.

Powered by an ideology that offered a different system of governance and administration contrary to the West, China, wanted to demonstrate the dominance of its system. Garnering international recognition after it became UNSC permanent member in 1971, China began to penetrate the ruled-based institutional framework and surreptitiously used the system to advance its agenda. Consistently expanding its role at UN and its allied agencies China began transforming the institutions to reflect its priorities and values.

Till the fall of the Qing dynasty, China was uninterruptedly ruled for 275 years by monarchs, who ingrained the concept of “Zhongguo” meaning the Middle Kingdom. They envisioned a China which is political, cultural and economic centre of the World. In other words, they aspired for a Sino-centric world. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 following a rebellion, the leaders advocated for “revitalisation of Chinese nation”¹. Chinese intellectuals influenced by the Bolshevik revolution and inspired by the Marxism, Leninism and world revolution formed the CCP in 1921. Under the helm of founding leaders- Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, CCP grew in strength and successfully drove away, Kuomintang’s Nationalist Forces to Taiwan in 1949 and established Peoples Republic of China (PRC).

As per the existing system, the leader of Centre Committee of CCP holds the offices of general secretary (civilian responsibilities), Chairman of Central Military (CMC), State President and is referred to as Paramount leader. By extension, the CCP is the singular guiding force of the country.

To deflect the charges of a single party governance and absence of basic democracy, China has intelligently come up with a rather jingoistic and flimsy explanations stating that China has multiparty system of cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of CCP. It enlisted eight political parties-the revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang; the China Democratic League; the China National Democratic Construction Association; the China Association for Promoting Democracy; the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party; the China Zhi Gong Party; the Jiusan Society and the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League and stated that all of them work together as single unit with CCP exercising state powers and others participating in the administration of state affairs. Prominent individuals without any political affiliations are also party of this system².

The designation of term political party to the above groups is a misnomer. Reading between the lines, the description of each of these agencies suggest that they are affiliate organisations of CCP actively contributing to different aspects of administration. The massive propaganda exercise days ahead of centenary celebration is just a hog-wash. True to their names, roots of majority groups can be traced to revolutionary phase of China and their relevance in contemporary times offers no justification to their current recalibration as political parties.

As opposed to the CCP’s current membership of 91.9 million the affiliates of these eight organisations barely run into lakhs. Each group now comprises of individuals specialised in various fields like- businessmen, entrepreneurs, doctors, overseas Chinese communities, peasants, workers, labourers, academicians, scientists, revolutionaries and Taiwan Compatriots as well.

Deeming it a parliamentary democracy the propaganda manual released by CCP says that on April 30^th 1948 parties responded to CCP’s call and accepted its leadership. In 1993 consolidating this system, the multiparty system cooperation added to the constitution endorsing the continuance of leadership of CCP for a long time in future.

The CCP propaganda manual which is toxic mix of ironies states that –“the non-CCP political parties exercise oversight over CCP mainly by putting forward opinions, criticisms and suggestions; the oversight is consultative and cooperative in nature. The CCP as the ruling party in a leadership position, willingly accepts the supervision of other political parties” ².

Interestingly for all the grand talks of projected inclusivity, not a whiff of criticism is spared in the country. Disappearance of the dissents has been a trend in China. When even the Noble Peace Prize nominee Liu Xiaobo diagnosed with cancer was incarcerated in jail on subversion charges for calling for greater democracy, how would the World even believe the existence of even an iota of democratic governance in China. With deceit and lies becoming the other name of CCP no amount of diligent propaganda purportedly indicating a semblance of democracy in governance is of no avail.

On the contrary, under the ruse of supervision, surveillance has become order of the day. With cameras continuously monitoring and tracking the individuals, Chinese citizens are now deprived of even basic minimum privacies in life.

The quintessential objectives of CCP’s agenda have been restoration of global power status and establishment of an alternate global governance order. Accordingly, massive Sinicization of the so-autonomous regions is carried out at jet speed. Ruthlessly cracking down on the freedom of speech, expression, religion and worship CCP has crushed the indigenous culture of the autonomous region. The internment of over 1 million Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region, forced sterilisation to curb their population, demolition of mosques is now the major talking point at global platforms.

Though Beijing smartly managed to hide the self-immolation of hundreds of Tibetans and their struggle for autonomy during the 2008 Olympics, the horrors of Xinjiang have definitely reached a breakeven point. US Congressmen are calling for the boycott of 2022 Winter Olympics in China.

With respect to restoration of global power status which roughly translates into “unipolar Asia and bipolar World”, CCP made a huge leap. Keen on ushering the country into a “new era of socialism with Chinese Characteristics” the current regime has formidably hoisted the Middle Kingdom to enviable peaks by cementing its status as the manufacturing hub and promising economic superpower of the World. In the process, China has also become synonymous to slavery, genocide, suppression of basic freedoms, torture and religious persecution as well.

China’s enviable economic rise since its economic reforms in 1978 and its transition from a low-income country to an upper-middle-income country is nothing sort of a miracle. Consolidating its position as the global manufacturing hub, China has steadily emerged as a global power. China’s resource intensive manufacturing, exports and low-cost labour model is now doggedly adopted by several South East Asian countries.

A centenary of CCP should be evaluated on the basis of the epochal events that etched vicissitudes of country’s journey.  If CCP is to be lauded for the emergence of China as a global power, congruently it must be held responsible for the Great Leap Forward that led to a massive famine from 1958 to 62 killing 55 million; the Cultural Revolution in 1966-67 that claimed 20 million lives and undisclosed deaths of brutal Tiananmen Square crackdown.

But in the run up to the Centenary celebrations, China which believes that weakening of the Communist party in Soviet Union has led to its collapse resorted to White-washing vicious legacy of CCP leaders to lend it an aura of infallibility. By consequence, defiance to the orders of the Paramount leader has to treated as disloyalty to party. Using the twin handles of disciplinary action and anti-corruption drive, Xi purged close to one million office bearers including rival Bo Xilai  as part of the clean-up of the system.

Pursuant to narrative setting exercise a colossal attempt is made to reinterpret the history of China. Anyone who deviates from the party’s historical narrative is taken to task. As has been the case with Fang Fang’s Wuhan Diary, any literature that pillories the regime’s effort of coverup is systematically erased. All the inconvenient truths are being buried.

Commemorating the event, China’s education ministry held closed-door meetings with various scholars warranting them to be careful of what they write and say about the CCP’s grip on China’s history. Appealing them to be cautious about their presentation of events like the violent land redistribution campaign in 1950s that claimed lives of 2 million and other atrocities of Supreme leader Mao Zedong. Accordingly, all historical information inimical to the reputation of CCP and its leaders is going to be marked off as classified. Cadres are put through an ideological training regimen and Xi has been publicly administering pledges to the senior cadres to implant the “red gene”.

To firm up his position as “core for life” of CCP leadership, Xi’s achievements are lionised, glorifying his position, his teachings are turned into a religion and he is deified. Heralding his status as the authoritative interpreter of CCP history, Xi has even “redoubled efforts to clamp down on dissent among intellectuals and even former top cadres while also reining in leading private entrepreneurs whose wealth and influence may detract from the all-embracing powers of the party. Finally, Xi, who is also chairman of CMC that oversees the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), has masterminded a housecleaning of nation’s military and police forces”³.

Xi’s empowerment of the party is now a common refrain. Having eliminated the power limits three years ago, Xi, 68 is bound to remain in power till 2028 or later. With his unparalleled accomplishments both in economic and diplomatic frontiers, which pale in comparison to Mao and Deng, is inching closer to etching his name in the annals of Chinese history and constitution as well. Laying claims to the title of “transformational leader”, who has no equals in the contemporary history, he has literally ossified the party cadres.

But Xi’s operational style has undermined the doctrine of collective leadership and orderly succession. Orders passed from the top are to be executed. Everyone is restrained. Autonomy of local and regional officials is hindered. Participation of local villagers has shrunk as any suggestion is deemed as trigger to political instability.

Anything that posed threat to CCP’s monopoly of power is eliminated or blunted. The private sector, which is now the top-performer in China is taking the brunt. Sudden disappearance of high-profile players from public view, placement of CCP cadres in the higher echelons of the private enterprises and imposition of heavy fines for infringement of the anti-monopoly laws are enforced to subdue their influence.

Even as China is busy employing technology to address “historical nilihism” (a term used in China to describe public doubt and scepticism over CCP’s description of past events) wherein 2 million posts inimical to CCP in various websites are cleansed⁴, the tyranny of Xi’s authoritarianism and his dictatorial tendencies are now affecting the global order. With no checks and balances in place, Xi’s unbridled power is having a bearing on this World.  

Ahead of CCP’s Centenary celebrations, 40 countries led by Canada introduced a resolution against China at UNHRC for its actions in Hongkong, Tibet and called for access to Xinjiang region to probe the human rights status. Beijing rejected the charges and despite the backlash from the West, China refused to cooperate any investigation. Though China continues to deny, numerous testimonies and complaints of disappearance its vehement disapproval for international probe has only confirmed the worst fears. But what really made news is coercive diplomacy of China that caused Ukraine to pull out its name from the joint statement at the council over threat of stalling of vaccine shipment.

The closure of the Apple Daily, a lone pro-democracy voice in Hongkong last week by freezing the assets of the owner Jimmy Lai under the newly enacted national security law illustrates the power dominance, control and subjugation of CCP.

Ordained by President Deng Xiaoping’s 24-character strategy in the aftermath of global backlash against the Tiananmen crackdown which roughly translates into- “observe calmly; secure our position; cope with affairs calmly; hide our capacities and bide our time; be good at maintaining a low profile; and never claim leadership”⁵ China maintained a low profile for long. Eventually this remained the central tenet of China’s foreign policy till late 2000s.

By 2010 when China surpassed Japan as the second largest economy, shedding away these pretensions, President Xi Jinping who assumed charge in 2013, enunciated Chinese Dream with a stated objective of “Chinese rejuvenation”. Invoking the national fervour, recalling the days of foreign invasion, referring to the century of humiliation (1849-1949) unleashed bold initiatives to reshape the World. With a declaration “we should unswervingly uphold socialism with Chinese characteristics…. the superiority of our system will be fully demonstrated through a brighter future”⁶, Xi underscored the paramount importance of a robust communist party.

The unabashed aggressiveness hallmark of Xi’s regime emboldened the latent expansionist tendencies of the CCP. Indulging in a triumphalist narrative and reinforcing its dominance, China insisted on a nine-dash line in South China Sea, non-existent before 1940s and laid claims to 90% of maritime region. Evading the constitutional principle of “one country two system” China stifled the basic freedom of Hongkong. Deeming Taiwan as renegade province under “One China policy”, Beijing renewed annexation bids, intimidatory tactics and intensified air incursions. Reminiscent of the imperialistic practices of the West, capitalising on the infrastructure development pursuits of small countries, China through a global connectivity initiative plunged them into debt-traps. Weaponising trade and water to settle scores with adversaries and lower riparian countries, Beijing with trope of “win-win cooperation” eventually emerged as a “bully”

Notwithstanding the global skepticism of being originator of the covid pandemic, Beijing launched Wolf Warrior diplomats in its defence, unveiled mask diplomacy, used covid supplies as strategic weapons. Not satisfied with this global infamy, China exported its WHO-approved vaccines to over 60 countries. The efficacy of these vaccines is under scanner with at least 10 of 26 doctors who received Chinese vaccines in Indonesia died of Covid. Seychelles, Chile Mongolia, Bahrain, UAE, Indonesia which relied on China vaccines have reported a massive surge in infections⁷.

Under pandemic cover, China stealthily ingressed the LAC which resulted in bloody clashes for the first since 1967 reinvigorating the border tensions with India. More than a year to the stand-off China is steadily entrenched across the LAC. In violation of all bilateral agreements Beijing amassed troops and is attempting to unilaterally change the status quo by ramping up infrastructure development close to LAC. To arm-twist India, as per latest reports, China has even reportedly occupied 5% Bhutan territory as well.

China’s hegemonic aspirations blew lid of the much touted “peaceful rise” paradigm. Coincidentally, China’s favourability ratings have plummeted. As China readies to sing paeans in glory of CCP, the emerging superpower has irretrievably consolidated its position as a revisionist power.

 

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