Xi says no more “harassment” as China celebrates centenary of Politics News

Shanghai, China – Chinese President Xi Jinping told crowds in Beijing that the era of “persecution” was over and that anyone who tried to separate the party from the Chinese was doomed to failure when the Chinese Communist Party celebrated its centenary.

Speaking from the balcony over the portrait of Mao Zedong in Tiananmen Square, Xi spoke for more than hours of the party since its founding in Shanghai in 1921.

In a speech full of confidence, backed by top leaders of the past and present, the party liberated China from an “exploitative” feudal system, created a “vibrant socialist market economy” and eliminated total poverty.

“Only socialism can save China, and only socialism with Chinese characteristics can develop China,” Xi said, dressed in a dark gray Mao-style suit.

The Chinese Communist Party defeated the nationalists in the country in the civil war and Mao Zedong named the People’s Republic of China with the aim of lifting people out of poverty. China is currently the second largest economy in the world and Xi is the most powerful leader in the country since Mao Zedong.

The celebration has come under pressure from Beijing over trade (where tensions have escalated with the United States and Australia, among others) and the far-western region of Xinjiang, as well as Hong Kong and Tibet. There are also questions about the COVID-19 pandemic that arose in central Wuhan and continues to wreak havoc around the world.

At the head of an increasingly trusted party and nation, Xi warned that any attempt to separate the party and the people would “fail”.

China, on the other hand, “welcome[d] friendly suggestions from around the world, ”Xi said the country will not accept“ arrogant talks ”.

The loudest applause and applause came when Xi said that the Chinese will accept that “they no longer have foreign power to persecute and oppress us,” and that anyone who tried to do so would do “serious harm to the perseverance of the Chinese nation.”

“No one should underestimate the will and power of the Chinese nation to fight against foreign power,” Xi added.

While Xi was giving his speech in Beijing, social media saw numerous celebratory messages.

The pages of almost every platform on social media featured strictly designed celebration posters; In the WeChat Moments feed, roughly the equivalent of Facebook news, people posted congratulatory messages and photos with words like “happy birthday – our great CCP”; and on Weibon, a social media platform like China’s Twitter, CCP’s centennial topics were added to the list of high-trend topics, with the # CCPTurns100Today theme garnering more than five billion views.

‘We can do anything!’

Beijing’s centennial celebrations began with a flypast, with about 30 military planes making up a “100” above the animated crowd in the sky. There were also trumpets and trumpets blowing communist songs and greetings from 100 guns thrown into the sky at strange celebrations of national pride.

The party’s centenary celebrations are taking place in Beijing and across the country [Roman Pilipey/EPA]

At airports and train stations, in advertisements, posters and propaganda materials on television and social media, China has become the red of the communist party.

In Longnan, northwestern Gansu province, the place where Chinese Communist Party fighters marched in the great march of 1934, the flags of each party hung on the roof of each house and placed large hammer and sickle statues a few weeks before July 1st.

The town has become a popular place for “red tourism”.

“We are all proud of the party members and we wanted to come here to pay tribute to the generation of old revolutionaries,” Shan’xi group member Ms. Guan told Al Jazeera when she was photographed with another party group. in front of a giant hammer and sickle on a tour of the village.

Longnan is not the only town celebrating the birthday of the country’s ruling party.

The whole nation has been mobilized to observe the day – from the founding of the PCZ in the giant city of Shanghai to the gathering of the party’s first congress – to the small towns of Xinjiang. Beijing has been accused of violating the rights of ethnic Uighur minorities.

Despite the general mood of exuberance, there have been some complaints that preparations for the event have hampered daily life. Prior to the celebration, special security controls were put in place for passengers traveling to Beijing, the roads surrounding Tiananmen were closed for days, and police and paramilitary forces were stationed in almost every corner of the city.

Wu, a Shanghai-based music concert gaffer, said he had called almost all of his autonomous concerts during June and July because of a “special time frame” that required “strict control of what could be allowed”.

Significant political sites, such as the towns along the Long March route, have become popular places for “red tourism” in the party’s 100th anniversary. Here, a group of tourists wearing a replica of the Red Army uniform shout slogans at Yingshan Long March Spirit Experience Park in Huanggang, central Hubei Province. [Stringer/AFP]

“I don’t care about the celebration, but I’m fine, but at least they don’t have to cancel so many music festivals and concerts,” Wu said, asking for anonymity. “I don’t understand how sensitive that is.”

Fu, for the photographer based in Anhui province, the big restrictions meant he couldn’t afford to buy a drone because it affected his work. As of June 11, all online platforms must take recreational drones off the shelf in order to meet the “relevant regulatory requirements,” and the measures will remain in effect until July 15.

“I’m used to these unnecessary and sometimes ridiculous measures,” Fue said, asking to be identified only by a nickname. “I hope to buy drones soon to resume my work.”

For the ruling party, however, it is worth the effort.

For Chinese leaders, the real challenge lies abroad. Beijing is facing increasing criticism and scrutiny not only in Xinjiang, but also in Hong Kong, where it was accused of diminishing the rights and freedoms guaranteed when the territory returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

On the peninsula, however, the Communist Party seems to have achieved an almost unprecedented level of praise and loyalty.

“Without the Communist Party, there would be no new China,” says the famous song of the Communist Party. A century after the party was formed, it appears that there is widespread party participation among the Chinese population, whether they are party members or not.

Planes are flying in a parade celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing [Wu Hong/EPA]

Data released on Wednesday showed a 2.43 million increase in party membership last year, the largest increase since Xi was president in 2013.

“I am very proud to be a party member, and I am very proud to be Chinese,” a Weibo user commented during a live broadcast of the Tiananmen Square celebration. “Under the leadership of the CCP, we can do anything!”