The Communist Party of China’s 100th Birthday

The birth of new cold war

17 July 2021 (Wall Street International)* — The contrasts are apparent between the two poles of power in the world.

In Beijing, there were huge celebrations, with fanfare and fireworks, marking 100 years of the founding of what is today the world’s largest political party (95 million members), holding power for the longest duration (72 years), in the most populous country of the world (1.4 billion).

And in Washington, DC, legislators, policymakers, and the security Establishment were working overtime to give the finishing touches to a China-specific law, The Strategic Competition Act, which is a recipe for a new Cold War, planning for a grand strategy on how to contain, counter and confront China.

It’s like the lyrics of a popular American song, ‘Yesterday Once More’! The visions and worldviews between these two poles of power couldn’t be more different.

Take the Communist Party of China (CPC). During its 100-year history, the CPC has been through many trials and tribulations but has surmounted difficulties with fortitude and bounced back to achieve success.

It was nearly decimated thrice in its long and eventful history. In 1927, the CPC attempt to foment a peasant uprising was ruthlessly crushed by its nemesis, General Chiang Kaishek’s Kuomintang regime.

In 1935, a bruised and battered CPC retreated to the mountains of Yenan through the Long March. And during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976, the party lost many of its most experienced leaders and cadres. However, the CPC has always demonstrated an instinct for survival and an extraordinary resilience that only a battle-hardened party can muster successfully.

Several factors account for this resilience of the CPC. An ability for course correction or what President Xi Jinping calls ‘self-reform’ is an essential ingredient of such a survival strategy.