Socialism with Chinese Characteristics Enters a New Era

3. the party’s leadership is the fundamental guarantee for the prosperity of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics

The party’s leadership is the fundamental and lifeline of the party and the country, and the interests and happiness of the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country. Since the beginning of reform and opening up, the Communist Party of China has persisted in strengthening and improving the party’s leadership, actively coped with various risks and tests faced by the party under the conditions of long-term ruling and reform and opening up, continued to promote the new great project of party building, maintained the party’s advanced nature and purity, and maintained the flesh-and-blood ties between the party and the masses. Practice has proved that the Communist Party of China has undergone a long period of revolutionary forging and firmly walked in the forefront of the times, always being the backbone of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation, and always the leading core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. For some time now, there has been a serious erroneous tendency inside and outside the party to downplay or even negate the party’s leadership.

Some people are secretive and vague about upholding the party’s leadership, a major issue of principle, and some people downplay or even openly deny the party’s leadership, and so on. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Comrade Xi Jinping has taken a clear stand on upholding and strengthening the party’s leadership, expounded a series of major issues with direction and principle, effectively clarified ambiguous understanding, and declared a firm position and high confidence in the party’s leadership. Over the past few years, no matter what field and aspect of work the Party Central Committee has promoted, it has always started by strengthening the Party’s leadership and eventually settled on strengthening Party building. Through unremitting efforts, the weakening of the Party’s leadership has been fundamentally reversed, the Party’s institutional mechanism for leadership over all work has been continuously improved, the Party’s political leadership, ideological leadership, mass organization and social appeal have been continuously enhanced, and the political and organizational guarantees for the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics have become more powerful. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and the Chinese nation has ushered in a bright prospect of great rejuvenation, but it still faces risks and challenges on the way forward. From an international point of view, the contest between the two roads and systems of socialism and capitalism has never stopped, and hostile forces regard the development and growth of socialist China as a challenge to the capitalist road, system and values, constantly change tactics and methods to Westernize and divide China, strengthen political misdirection, strategic containment and value containment against China, and the struggle between infiltration and anti-infiltration in the political and ideological fields is complex and sharp, and there is no room for slackening in safeguarding national political and cultural security. From a domestic point of view, with the comprehensive construction of a moderately prosperous society entering the decisive stage of the people, the reform entering the period of tackling tough problems and deep-water areas, various contradictions, risks and challenges have become more severe, and the task of maintaining reform, development and stability has become more arduous. Only by adhering to and strengthening the party’s leadership and giving play to the party’s core role in controlling the overall situation and coordinating all parties can we effectively prevent and resolve various risks and tests on the way forward and ensure the stable and long-term development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Section 2: The Party is the supreme political leading force An important content of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is to clearly state that the Communist Party of China is the supreme political leading force. Comrade Mao Zedong once clearly pointed out: “In the seven aspects of industry, agriculture, commerce, study, soldiers, government, and the party, the party leads everything.”

The Party should lead industry, agriculture, commerce, culture and education, the army and the government. “1 In the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, Comrade Xi Jinping further pointed out: “In today’s China, there is no greater political force than the Communist Party of China or any other force. In the study of the party, the government, the military, and the people, in the east, west, south, north, and middle, the party is the leader of everything and the highest political leading force. “2 The national governance system is a complex system of many subsystems, the core of which is the Chinese Communist Party. The major political thesis that the Communist Party of China is the supreme political leading force has directly and thoroughly revealed the status and role of the Communist Party of China in the country’s political life. The Party is the supreme political leading force, which is determined by the nature of our country and the state system of government, established by the national constitution, tested by the great practice of China’s revolution, construction and reform, and has undoubted historical rationality, practical rationality and value rationality. The party is the highest political leading force, which is mainly reflected in leading the political direction, ruling the political system, deciding major issues, and leading social governance.

1. the Party is the leader of the political direction

The direction determines the path, and the road determines the destiny. Lenin pointed out: “Politics is to participate in the affairs of the state, to set the direction of the state, to determine the form, tasks and content of state activities.”3 The political direction pointed out by the Communist Party of China to the whole party and the people of all ethnic groups throughout the country is socialism, and the ultimate goal pointed out is to realize communism. During the revolutionary war years, the Party went through hardships and dangers, overcame one difficulty after another, corrected one deviation after another, led the people to overthrow the “three mountains,” won the great victory of the new democratic revolution, and established New China. After the founding of New China, the CPC, as the ruling party, inevitably had ties with various democratic parties and political organizations. In all these connections, the Communist Party of China “is the force of leadership”, “the Party relies on politics to lead”, and the Party always holds the steering wheel.

In 1954, Comrade Mao Zedong proposed at the First National People’s Congress that the core force leading our cause is the Communist Party of China. In March 1957, he once again pointed out that “China’s reform and construction depend on our leadership.“1 On May 25 of the same year, when receiving delegates to the Third National Congress of the Chinese New Democratic Youth League, he emphasized even more clearly: “The Communist Party of China is the core of leadership of the entire Chinese people. Without such a core, the socialist cause cannot triumph.” 2 During the exploration of the road of socialist construction, although the Party experienced setbacks of all kinds, including the twists and turns and mistakes of the “Cultural Revolution”, it always maintained the spirit of self-revolution, persisted in self-correcting mistakes and deviations, firmly grasped the direction of socialist progress, and finally established the correct political, ideological and organizational lines, and successfully created socialism with Chinese characteristics. In China, a large country with a history of more than 5,000 years of civilization and a population of 1.4 billion, there is no textbook that is regarded as the golden rule, and there is no teacher who can command the Chinese people. The Communist Party of China firmly grasps the direction of progress of socialism with Chinese characteristics, neither follows the old road of closure and rigidity, nor does it take the evil road of changing the banner, fully mobilizes the enthusiasm of all parties under the background of market economy and globalization, unites forces of all aspects, and gathers into a majestic force to promote the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has held high the great banner of socialism with Chinese characteristics and set the steering wheel of reform and opening up in the new era. This direction is the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, not any other path. Today, reform and opening up enter a new era, “what to change and how to change must be based on whether it meets the overall goal of improving and developing the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and promoting the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. “3 Make sure not to make subversive mistakes in the political direction.

2. the Party is the leader of the political system

The national political system is a large system, which consists of the fundamental political system, the basic political system and the specific institutional mechanisms of all aspects of national governance, covering state organs, political party organizations and various political subjects. In this large system, the Chinese Communist Party is in a dominant position. The Communist Party of China is the ruling party, and the Party leads state and social affairs through the system of people’s congresses. The Party leads, supports and guarantees that the people are masters of their own country, mobilizes and organizes the masses of the people to manage state and social affairs and economic and cultural undertakings in accordance with the law. The Party leads the people in formulating the Constitution and laws, and the Party itself operates within the scope of the Constitution and laws. The Party’s leading role in the system of people’s congresses is good at transforming the Party’s propositions into the will of the State through legal procedures, at making candidates recommended by the Party become leading personnel of organs of state power through legal procedures, at implementing the Party’s leadership over the state and society through organs of state power, at using the principle of democratic centralism to safeguard the authority of the Party and the State, safeguarding the unity of the whole Party and the whole country, and supporting and ensuring that organs of state power carry out their work proactively, independently responsible, and in a coordinated manner in accordance with the Constitution and laws. The Communist Party of China is the core force leading China’s various undertakings, and the national governance system must adhere to the leadership of the party. Since the beginning of reform and opening up, no matter how the party has adjusted the relationship between the party and the government, one thing remains unchanged, that is, upholding the party’s leadership has always been the fundamental prerequisite for handling the relationship between the party and the government. Compared with many large countries in the world, China’s national governance system is unique. Most of the world’s countries with more than 100 million people are federal, and China’s 1.4 billion people, unitary production is the organizing principle of state power, and it is very successful, and the secret is the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. In contemporary China, the Communist Party of China has inherited the idea of “one game of chess” national governance formed by Chinese society for a long time, coordinated, comprehensive, and represented the interests of all parties, sought the “greatest common divisor” of all interests, and coordinated all forces to advance in the same direction, and the party’s leadership has become the core component of the national governance system. “As a basic political system in our country, the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC is a great political creation of the CPC, China, various democratic parties, and personages without party affiliation, and is a new-type political party system that grows out of Chinese soil.” "

“It is not only in line with the reality of contemporary China, but also in line with the excellent traditional culture advocated by the Chinese nation, such as serving the common good, being inclusive, and seeking common ground while reserving differences, and is a major contribution to human political civilization.“1 This political system is different from the multi-party system or two- party system of many capitalist countries, nor the one-party system of some countries, but is an original system rooted in China and has distinct Chinese characteristics. This characteristic is first embodied in the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Party leadership is the conscious choice of all democratic parties and is also the basic prerequisite of China’s political party system. The relationship between the CPC and other democratic parties is the leadership of the CPC, multi- party cooperation, and the ruling power of the CPC and multi-party participation in politics. The democratic parties are not opposition parties and opposition parties, but friendly parties and participating parties that cooperate closely with the CPC. Adhering to the leadership of the Communist Party of China is not to stop democracy, but to form a broader and more effective democracy. The CPC and the democratic parties have conducted democratic consultations, made concerted efforts on major national issues, and concentrated their efforts on major affairs.