Threat of “broken heads and bloodshed” as Chinese Communist Party celebrates 100 years

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday warned that anyone who tries to intimidate China “will be heartbroken and bloodshed”. Xi’s provocative speech hailing the country’s ascension drew applause from a carefully chosen crowd during a celebration of the centenary of the founding of the ruling. Communist Party.

In unusually forceful language, Xi appeared to strike back at the United States and others who criticized the rising power’s trade and technology policies, military expansion, and the human rights record. In an hour-long speech, the Chinese leader also said the nation should stick to its one-party rule, stressing the role of the Communist Party in raising China to the forefront of the world stage.

The rally – which featured a military flyby and people waving Chinese flags and singing patriotic songs – was in some ways reminiscent of the mass events staged by Mao Zedong, the founding leader of Communist China. Xi even wore a button-down gray suit like Mao’s preferred ones and spoke from the same balcony atop the Tiananmen Gate where the revolutionary leader declared the start of Communist rule in 1949. More than 70,000 people attended the ceremony. Thursday’s ceremony, according to the Xinhua official. Press Agency.

Xi, who leads the party and is considering a third term from next year, received the biggest applause when he said the party had restored China’s dignity after decades of subjugation to Western powers and in Japan in the 19th and 20th centuries. Communism had made China the world’s second-largest economy in recent decades.

“The Chinese people will absolutely not allow any foreign force to intimidate, oppress or enslave us, and anyone who tries to do so will face broken heads and bloodshed in front of the 1.4 Great Iron Wall. billion Chinese, ”said Xi, who has removed the limits on his tenure, sparking speculation he could rule for life, as Mao did.

megaphone
Meanwhile, in what is arguably the most influential megaphone in the Chinese propaganda machine, the July 1 editorial of the People’s Daily, Xi Jinping’s predecessors, Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping, are each mentioned only once, while Xi himself receives seven citations, and “Marxism” is honored 13 times. The July 1 home page of the People’s Daily also highlights a link to a page emphasizing “studying the history of the Party” – but a carefully edited version of that story, where all negative references to the CCP or Xi’s rule were deleted.

In pompous language, the newspaper celebrates the party’s centenary, boasting that the CCP is “the largest ruling Marxist party in the world, which has been in power in a socialist country for over 70 years and has over 95 million people. members, has received the widest support and backing of more than 1.4 billion Chinese. ”

He admits that the century-old road from rags to riches was reached by “passing thousands of rivers and mountains through struggle and overcoming obstacles”, but no mention is made of political catastrophes like the Great Leap in before or the Cultural Revolution, which claimed the lives of millions of people as a direct result of the CCP’s mismanagement. The more recent Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, which marked the last major turning point in the history of the CCP, is also not mentioned.

(With PA)