Communist China at 60

The People’s Republic of China is 60. It celebrated this landmark occasion with a stunning display of old-fashioned state power and military might in Beijing.

The spectacle consisted of goose-stepping soldiers and the display of 52 new weapons systems followed by 180,000 civilian performers and floats with mottos such as ‘Socialism is Great’.

Although, over the years, China has modernised and liberalised its economy, last week’s parade was, to a great extent, a throwback to the country’s orthodox Communist past.

President Hu Jintao, who swapped his usual business suit for a dark grey Mao suit, remarked during celebrations that the Communist Party was “realising the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. He also said: “Only socialism can save China and only reform and opening up can ensure the development of China, socialism and Marxism.”

China has certainly come a long way since the Communist People’s Republic was established 60 years ago by Mao Zedong. It will soon replace Japan as the world’s second largest economy, it is an important player on the world stage, it has recovered its self-confidence after so many years of colonial humiliation, it has opened up its economy to foreign investment and has introduced key economic reforms. However, as last week’s celebrations showed, the Communist Party is still firmly in control.

There is no doubt that the transformation of China from a backwards, weak, isolated and poor nation into a relatively prosperous, stable country which hosted the Olympics and which found its rightful place in the international community is a positive development.

Having said that, it is a sad fact that China still has to come to terms with its recent past; it has also been reluctant to introduce political reform and loosen the Communist Party’s grip on power.

Mao Zedong might still officially be revered in China, but the cost of his one-party rule has been very high. For example, Mao’s ‘Great Leap Forward’, his attempt to industrialise China’s peasant economy, was one of the biggest human disasters of the 20th century in which 36 million people starved to death between 1959 and 1961.

Shortly before that, in 1957, Mao launched his Anti Rightist Campaign in which 500,000 intellectuals and professionals were targeted, most of whom were either executed or died in prison. The Communist Party has never apologised for these terrible mistakes.

Furthermore, the Cultural Revolution, which lasted from 1966 to 1976 and which Mao launched to purge his political opponents, destroyed the lives of millions of people and almost tore apart the country’s social fabric. It is true that upon Mao’s death in 1976, his widow and three other radicals were charged with orchestrating the Cultural Revolution and later sentenced to lengthy jail terms.

However, once again, the Communist Party never apologised for such fanaticism, nor has it ever discussed why Mao allowed such a widespread witchhunt to take place.

Thirteen years after Mao’s death, in June 1989, the Communist Party showed that it was as reluctant as ever to tolerate political dissent when it ordered troops to crush pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, resulting in hundreds of deaths.

The crackdown was ordered by none other than Deng Xiaoping, who ironically was China’s chief architect of economic reform in the post-Mao era. The onslaught by the army against civilian demonstrators killed off any hopes that China would embark on a process of political reform. Unlike the communist parties of Eastern Europe, China’s Communist Party was determined to hold to power, whatever the cost.

Of course, one may argue that the countries of Eastern Europe had communism imposed on them by an outside power, the Soviet Union, while China had undergone a genuine popular revolution that established the People’s Republic and brought about many important social reforms.

This is a valid argument, but should not be used as an excuse for the Communist Party to keep a grip on power forever and to stifle dissent. Claiming China has no basis for pluralism and democracy should also not be overdone.

Yes, China has its own set of particular circumstances, but, for example, both Japan and Taiwan are democracies – even though they have no history of a democratic system. The former became a parliamentary democracy after World War II and the latter – which was part of China until 1949 – became a presidential democracy in the early 1990s.

So, as Beijing celebrates the 60th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s declaration that “China has stood up”, it has a lot to reflect on. It has achieved an extraordinary amount of economic and social progress – at a huge human cost – and is a respected global actor.

However, the Communist Party needs to review its 60 years in power, come to terms with its past, admit past mistakes and contemplate introducing genuine political reforms.

Its ability to hold on to power over the past six decades is no guarantee that it will remain in power indefinitely.