中文
A flag-raising ceremony is held at Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China, October 1, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]
By Song Yuehong
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Seventy-five years ago, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese people claimed victory in the New Democratic Revolution and rose to a position of being able to determine the future of their own nation.
However, that same year, Dean Acheson, then U.S. Secretary of State, in seeking to explain the causes of the Chinese revolution by examining China's economic and ideological conditions, attributed the revolution to two factors: "overpopulation" and the "influx of new ideas from the West."
Acheson's theory of overpopulation is unfounded. Throughout history, wherever there is oppression and exploitation, there is resistance, though the forms and methods of that resistance may differ. This is the logic of history.
China's New Democratic Revolution sought to break the old order and create a new society where the people could stand up with dignity. With the establishment of the PRC in 1949, the Chinese people truly became masters of their own country. As the Chinese government has repeatedly stressed, among all things in the world, human beings are the most precious. Under the leadership of the CPC, as long as there are people, any miracle can be created.
Acheson and other Western observers believed that China was doomed, that the CPC would not be able to develop its economy, and that the country would remain in chaos. However, the development of the PRC has repeatedly proven them wrong.
Since 1949, the CPC led the people in rapidly restoring the national economy, which had been severely damaged by the old regime. Despite being a vast and impoverished country with a large population, China made great strides toward socialism, embarking on large-scale socialist construction and building modern agriculture, industry, national defense, and science and technology.
Even before the launch of the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, China had managed to gradually put in place an independent and largely complete industrial and national economic system.
Since 1978, China has continued to deepen economic reforms while advancing reforms in governance, culture, society, and other areas. The country transitioned from a highly centralized planned economy to a dynamic socialist market economy.
From establishing special economic zones like Shenzhen, to developing Pudong New Area in Shanghai, to the opening of coastal, border, riverine, and inland cities, and finally joining the World Trade Organization in 2001, China moved to comprehensive openness. Utilizing both domestic and international markets and resources, moving from only "bringing in" to also "going global," China has achieved a historic transformation to becoming fully integrated with the world.
Today, China is advancing its comprehensive modernization, building upon the establishment of a moderately prosperous society. Over the past 75 years, China has created two great miracles: rapid economic growth and long-term social stability.
As for the "influx of new ideas from the West," Acheson's argument was even less plausible. The Western capitalist class attempted to reshape China through so-called "Western ideas," but those efforts repeatedly failed. It was Marxism-Leninism that helped China defeat imperialist rule. Marxism's people-centered and practice-oriented nature has been thoroughly implemented in China, and its openness has been vividly demonstrated.
China's development has always been connected to the world, just as the world's development has always required China. In the history of human development, the Chinese people have stood on the right side of history and progress and consistently served as a key force driving human advancement.
Song Yuehong, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is deputy director and research fellow at the Institute of Contemporary China Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
