Speaking in front of a reported crowd of 70,000 at a highly-choreographed ceremony in Tiananmen Square, Xi delivered a strongly nationalist speech in which he positioned China’s rise as a “historical inevitability,” vowing it would no longer be “bullied, oppressed or subjugated” by foreign countries, to thundering applause and cheers.
Xi’s speech capped an occasionally rainy morning of celebrations in the capital to mark the party’s centenary, including patriotic songs, speeches from officials and flyovers by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.
The Chinese Communist Party was founded in secret in a small brick house in Shanghai’s former French Concession by around a dozen delegates, in July 1921.
Its subsequent rise and continued monopoly on power has confounded its critics, with the party proving itself adept at changing at crucial moments to ensure the survival of its one-party rule. Under its founder and former chairman, Mao Zedong, millions starved to death during protracted periods of famine and political crisis. Today, China is the world’s second-largest economy, with some estimates suggesting it is poised to overtake the United States.
Numerous challenges also lie ahead, from a slowing economy, an aging population and a shrinking workforce, to an increasingly united democratic West that is determined to counter China’s rise.
In his keynote speech, the Chinese leader didn’t just focus on the past, but instead looked to the next generation of the Communist Party, appealing to young people to “live up to the expectations of the times.”
“The Chinese youth in the new era should take the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as their own responsibility, strengthen their ambition, backbone, and confidence in being Chinese.”
Great rejuvenation is oft-used propaganda term to describe China’s assent under the party’s stewardship. Leaning into the theme, Xi said the only under the party’s continued leadership could the country fulfill the “Chinese Dream of great national rejuvenation.”
‘Sanctimonious preaching’
On the subject of Taiwan, the self-governed democratic island that the Chinese government has long maintained is part of its territory, Xi said its “reunification” with the mainland was part of the “historic mission” of the Communist Party.
“We must accelerate the modernization of national defense and the armed forces,” Xi said.
In response to Xi’s speech, Taipei said its resolve to protect the island’s sovereignty and democracy remained “unwavering.”
“No one should underestimate the great resolve, the strong will, and the extraordinary ability of the Chinese people to defend their national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Xi said.