US Politicians Slander the Chinese Communist Party

Published in Huanqiu
(China) on 29 July 2020
by Bo Wu (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Jaime Cantwell. Edited by Daniel Rosen.
Recently, some American politicians have been slandering the Chinese Communist Party, attempting to disturb the Chinese people’s relationship with the party. According to American politicians, one important reason behind America’s mistakes in China policy has been “not seeing the true colors of the Chinese Communist Party,”* which is seen as “America’s biggest failure in the past 30 years of foreign policy.”* They were optimistic that since they could defeat the Soviet Union in the Cold War without a fight, China surely would not be a problem, but “unfortunately, this was a very childish assumption.”*

The U.S. has indeed progressed to recognizing the importance of the CCP, and should reflect critically on its past. This kind of reflection, however, is still surrounded by a heavily subjective and intolerant atmosphere. In the past, this sort of subjectivity has been reflected in America’s definition of China’s path. Deep down, it not only refuses to acknowledge that there are multiple paths to modernization, but also refuses to acknowledge different styles of modernity. While China characterizes the capitalist system seen in the U.S. as “liberal capitalism,” it defines China’s socialist market economy as state capitalism. Taking this as a basis, it not only tries to explain the U.S.-China conflict as a “debate on capitalism,” but even proudly states that capitalism has “ruled the world” and socialism is now nonexistent.

Understanding the socialist market economy system as “state capitalism” shows a lack of understanding of the fundamental principles of the CCP’s market economy. The reason that no one has explored the combination of socialism and a market economy is that it unifies adaptability and transcendence. It is obvious that in the United States’ one-sided understanding of China’s path, it only has a vague understanding of the CCP. By equating the definition of China’s future path with the CCP itself, it becomes apparent that America has increased its desire to understand China. Its understanding of both China and the CCP, however, is still weak, which has led to a mistaken understanding of China and the implementation of policy. The main reason for this is the ideological presuppositions of American politicians which stem from their stubbornness, arrogance, prejudice and narcissism present in Western centrist thought. They say that in the past, they “did not see the true essence of the CCP,”* but as far as their actual perception is concerned, their confusion not only continues, but grows deeper.

The CCP is first and foremost the governing party of China, this is just speaking from the reality of its position in national politics. As it is the governing party, what kind of image do Chinese citizens have of the CCP? The Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University recently published a report called “Understanding CCP Resilience: Surveying Chinese Public Opinion Through Time” to answer this question. This research was conducted over the span of 13 years, and included eight surveys and the participation of more than 30,000 Chinese citizens. The results of the surveys showed that the CCP’s governance is solid, and its resilience comes from the widespread support of the masses. According to the survey report, the CCP’s approval rating is even higher now than it has been in the past few decades, with the majority thinking that the Chinese government’s effectiveness and ability to govern is better than it has ever been. More than 93% of Chinese citizens are satisfied with the central government, based on the experience of the vast majority of Chinese people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the masses feel that China is in no way a “country where all aspects of citizens’ lives are controlled,” but instead have a deep sense of security because of the CCP’s leadership in controlling the pandemic. In his book “On China,” former National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger stated as much: “Chinese people are always well-protected by the bravest among them.”*

The one-sided analysis of the governing party evidently has not even scratched the surface of understanding the CCP. When American politicians labeled the CCP as a “Marxist-Leninist organization” and a “Communist ruling party” instead of trying to describe the essence of the CCP, they were simply trying to display hostility toward the CCP. They even attempted to equate communism with fascism, slandered Marxism-Leninism, and projected some of the Soviet Union’s mistakes onto the CCP, trying to smear the party’s reputation. This not only furthered their selective ignorance about the reality of Chinese society, but even vilified and slandered the CCP as a Marxist party.

In reality, the people’s stance is the fundamental stance of the Marxist party. The CCP has always regarded the interests of the people as the center of all work. American politicians stigmatize the CCP because of its political affiliation, describing it with foul language at every turn, but this is just from the cliché garbage dump of Western ideology. In response to the question of whether the CCP is an evil organization, facts are the most powerful defense. When the COVID-19 pandemic was raging, many of the medical staff who were unafraid of the risks and sacrifice, charged forward on the front lines all had a similar title: Chinese Communist Party members. They proved that they were not communists in name only, and ruthlessly shattered all the negative stereotypes.

As a Marxist party, the CCP shoulders the mission of constructing a new type of civilization. Fundamentally speaking, the actions and efforts of the CCP today ultimately point to tghe liberation of mankind. The CCP has maintained concern for the people from the start, always using our revolution as the foundation and key component of the nation’s development. Since the 18th National Congress, the CCP has initiated an unprecedented revolution in response to the weakening of ideals and discipline, including powerful anti-corruption policies and the improvement and implementation of various systems of democratic centralism. All of these actions reflect the strong attention to and reflection about mistakes made by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

As for 21st century U.S.-China relations, both the U.S. and China should thoroughly think through and discuss the pressing issues at hand, as that is necessary for dialogue and cooperation. Using the historical experience and lessons of the 20th century as a guide, both parties should be able to grasp the bottom line and avoid the possibility that society will experience its darkest moment.

The author is a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

*Editor’s note: These quotes, accurately translated from the original, could not be verified.




近来,美国一些政客频频诋毁中国共产党,妄图挑拨中国人民同中国共产党的关系。在他们看来,以往美国对华政策之所以犯下“错误”,一个重要原因是“没有看清中国共产党的本质”,将之视为“上世纪30年代以来美国对外政策最大的败笔”,他们曾乐观地认为,既然能够在冷战中对苏联不战而胜,那么中国也自然不在话下,“遗憾的是,这原来是很幼稚的想法”。

美国的确有进一步努力认识中国共产党的必要,的确应该对以往认知开启批判性反思,然而这种反思至今却依然被浓郁的主观偏狭气氛所包围。在此之前,这种主观性已经在他们关于中国道路的定义中有所体现。在内心深处他们不仅拒绝承认世界上存在不同的现代化路径,也拒绝承认不同的现代化样态。他们在把以美国为代表的资本主义制度定性为“自由资本主义”的同时,把中国的社会主义市场经济制度定性为所谓“国家资本主义”。以此为基础,他们不仅一厢情愿地将中美冲突解释为“资本主义冲突论”,甚至还得意满满地自嗨,资本主义已经“统治世界”,社会主义“皮之不存”。

将社会主义市场经济制度理解为“国家资本主义”,是对中国共产党在市场经济中贯彻的价值原则缺乏全面的考察,社会主义和市场经济结合的探索之所以是一条前人未曾走过的新路,因为它是一种适应性与超越性的统一。很显然,在他们对中国道路的片面理解中,也显露出对中国共产党本质认知上的模糊。从定义中国道路转向对中国共产党的定义,虽然反映了美国深化对中国认识的欲望在逐步增强,但无论是对中国还是中国共产党,他们的解读依然苍白无力并由此导致多方面认识和实践偏差,至于主要原因,还是源于美政客对意识形态预设立场的根深蒂固,其中既有自身处于“价值制高点”的固执和傲慢,又有陷入“西方中心主义”窠臼中的偏见和自恋。他们说自己过去“没有看清中国共产党的本质”,就其现实认知而言,这个模糊不仅仍然在延续,而且在深化。

中国共产党首先是中国的执政党,这是就其在国家政治生活中的现实地位而言的。作为执政党的中国共产党在中国人民的心中是个什么模样?哈佛大学肯尼迪政府学院阿什民主治理与创新中心近日发布一份题为《理解中国共产党韧性:中国民意长期调查》的报告给出了答案。这是一份研究跨度长达13年,经过8次调查和3万余名中国城乡民众参与的实证研究成果。报告的结论是,中国共产党的执政基础稳固,韧性源于民众的广泛支持。根据这份调查报告,中国民众对中国政府满意率比过去几十年任何时候都高,普遍认为中国政府的执政能力和效率超过以往任何时候,事实上中国民众对中央政府满意度超过了93%。这是大多数中国人的经验性认识。新冠疫情期间,广大人民群众感受到的中国绝非“一个人民的生活被全面控制的国家”,而是深切地体会到中国共产党领导抗疫赋予的安全感,正如基辛格在《论中国》中所说,“中国人总是被他们之中最勇敢的人保护得很好。”

从执政党的单一角度分析显然还没有触及本质的层面。当美国政客指认中国共产党是“一个马克思主义、列宁主义组织”和“共产主义执政党”时,与其说他们是为了揭示中国共产党的本质,倒不如说是为了更加清晰地展示对中国共产党的敌意。他们甚至试图将共产主义与法西斯主义相提并论,污蔑马列主义蔑视自然人个体,把苏共所犯下的一些历史错误,生搬硬套到中国共产党身上,并试图涂抹成中国共产党的底色,不仅进一步暴露出他们对中国社会现实的选择性忽视,更是对中国共产党作为马克思主义政党的诋毁和污蔑。

事实上,人民立场恰恰是马克思主义政党的根本政治立场。中国共产党始终把人民利益当作一切工作的出发点和落脚点。美政客从政治属性上对中国共产党的污名化,每一个词语都散发出浓浓的霉味,不过是从西方意识形态垃圾堆里翻出来的陈词滥调而已。中国共产党究竟是不是一个让人谈之色变的组织,事实是最有力的自辩。在新冠疫情肆虐之际,不惧风险、不怕牺牲、冲向战疫一线的许多医护人员都有一个共同的名字:中国共产党党员。他们不仅用无畏逆行证明了他们不只是“名义上的共产主义者”,也无情粉碎了种种妖魔化论调。

作为马克思主义政党,中国共产党肩负建构新文明类型的历史使命。从根本上说,中国共产党今天的作为和努力,最终指向的是一个关乎人类解放的命题。中国共产党始终保持忧患意识,始终将自我革命作为社会革命的基础和关键环节。党的十八大以来,针对理想性和纪律性削弱的问题,中国共产党开启了一场前所未有的自我革命,无论是“打虎拍蝇”的强力反腐还是完善和落实民主集中制的各项制度,都充分反映了对苏共所犯错误的强烈警醒和深刻反思。

对于21世纪的中美关系,中美双方彼此都应把面临的重大问题想清楚、说清楚,这是开展对话和合作的前提。有了20世纪以来两制关系历史经验和教训为参考,双方应该能更好地把握住底线,避免人类社会陷入至暗时刻的可能。(作者是中国社会科学院研究员)
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