China Report ASEAN

“The history of the Communist Party of China [CPC] is the story of how the Chinese people, guided by the Party, navigated storms to complete notable achievements in economic and social development,” said former Lao Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad in a recent interview. “Under the leadership of the CPC, China has blazed a trail in developing socialism with Chinese characteristics suited to its national conditions.”

The Communist Party of China (CPC) is like no other party in the world. It requires us to rethink the very idea of what a political party is. It is a phenomenon intrinsic to China. It is ineluctably Chinese. The CPC’s extraordinary success is because it found a way during its 100-year history of combining a huge reforming capacity with a profound rootedness in Chinese society and culture. If the imperial dynasties defined Chinese governance for two millennia, the CPC has assumed a not dissimilar importance in China since 1949.

So many recent headlines in both Japanese domestic and international media have included the word “China.” Since the Biden administration took office, the U.S. has done everything in its power to work with its allies including Japan, Australia, and European countries to apply pressure on China. Ironically, however, the more Washington plays tit-for-tat with China, the more China’s global influence becomes apparent.

I first came to China in January 1989 upon an invitation from Song Jian, then State Councilor and Minister of the State Science and Technology Commission. I was part of a delegation of American investment bankers invited to advise Chinese research institutes on their fledgling efforts to reform and adapt to the incipient market economy.

Former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was known as the chief architect of China’s reform and opening-up drive, and his inspection tour of southern China in 1992 ushered in a new chapter of history characterized by “three sustainables”: sustainable economic development, sustainable social stability, and sustainable institutional support and leadership. Fundamentally, the “three sustainables” deftly balanced relationships among economic, social, and political entities. Enterprises represent economic entities, the people are the social entity, and the CPC is the political entity.

A full century has passed since the Communist Party of China (CPC) was founded in 1921. After 100 years of vigorous growth, the CPC has become the world’s biggest ruling party that has governed the world’s largest socialist country for more than 70 years and owns more than 91 million members. The CPC has led the Chinese nation to make a great leap from standing up to growing rich and becoming strong, creating a “Miracle of the East” that has attracted worldwide attention.