[Text/Observer Network Columnist Zizheng]
Today marks the 73rd anniversary of the founding of New China. After experiencing the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the drastic changes in the international political situation in recent years, the uniqueness of this country is becoming increasingly prominent.
At the beginning of its establishment in October 1949, the new China was mainly because it was a People's Republic. The new national positioning of " People's Republic of China " in Chinese history is not only different from the imperial dynasties of all dynasties, but also from the just overthrown Republic of China; on the world, it is not only different from the de facto empires such as the United States and the Soviet Union, but also from the substantial capitalist republic, aristocratic republic, chaebol or warlord republic; it is a completely new type of country.
People's Revolution, People's War, People's Republic, People's Congress , People's Political Consultative Conference , People's Government, People's Army, People's Police, People's Bank of China , RMB... These names that the Chinese people have long been accustomed to, were all distinct political statements facing the world at the beginning of their birth: the true People's Republic was founded. However, the new creation of , the new life of the country, and the new look of the people cannot guarantee the success of China as a big country in the process of industrialization and modernization. Looking back, the new China, which had just ended the full-scale war and was in a mess, barely avoided the overall failure of the country by re-realizing political unification.
starts from the brink of failure, and the road to success is destined to be long and rugged. At the Xibaipo Conference in early January 1949, Mao Zedong drew a blueprint for this road: "The 28th year of the Communist Party of China, plus two years, to complete the national revolutionary task, is to shovel the foundation. It took 30 years, but it takes decades to build a house. senior cadres must understand that if the whole country is opened, the matter will begin, and then it will feel more difficult than fighting a war."
The logic is very simple: only by shoveling the foundation can you build a new house. The flatter and firmer the foundation, the taller the new house can be built; but the reality is very complex, and the peaceful environment will not come automatically, and the modernization transformation from a backward agricultural country to an advanced industrial country is indeed "hard than fighting a war." History witnessed that the journey of New China for more than 70 years is full of dangers of failure. If a new new country wants to succeed, it must break through the layers of obstacles of the powerful defenders of the old order. The foundation is laid in the midst of the earth and the mountains, and the new houses are built in the midst of storm. Every five years and every ten years are dangerous obstacles to success or failure.
"Blessing the Motherland" giant flower basket from Xinhuanet
Unique confidence
However, the miracle lies in that the Chinese people have never doubted that their new country will succeed. During the most difficult period of more than ten years after the founding of New China, even though there was a serious economic recession and the gap with developed countries became increasingly wider and larger for a period of time, China's leaders did not lose their belief in victory for a moment. They always believed that socialism would definitely surpass capitalism and that China would definitely surpass the United States. A document circulated at the top central government in 1962 reads: "Capitalism takes more than three hundred years to develop to its current level. We will definitely be able to catch up and surpass it within a few decades, at most within a hundred years." Although China's comprehensive national strength was still at a very low level, the general diplomatic policy was "In three, five, and ten years, I would not care about all international organizations. If I want to be beautiful, I will not be beautiful. In the end, the United States must obey us." (quoted from "The Biography of Mao Zedong")
This is not blind arrogance, this is what people say today is a hundred times more precious than gold. In the world at that time, confidence in China came not only from the Chinese people themselves, but also from some international people with insights, who also predicted that China would soon achieve great success.
1960, British Army Marshal Montgomery visited China. When he met with Mao Zedong, he said: "I have an interesting question to ask the Chairman. What will be the fate of China in fifty years? At that time, China will be the most powerful country in the world."Montgomery is an eyewitness to the rise and fall of the British Empire. What he calls "fifty years" is a very short time scale in the historical cycle of great powers. In other words, he is convinced that China can become "the most powerful country in the world" in a very short time.
And another foreigner who knows China better - an American female writer Pearl Buck who grew up in China and won the Nobel Prize in Literature for many novels about Chinese lives, also expressed a similar meaning. In a speech in 1962, she said: "The Chinese people are a superior nation, and I know that when the Chinese people decide to adapt themselves to the modern life that other countries in the world know now, they will do so at a lightning speed. And they are doing it now. ......China will soon have a place in the world and become one of the greatest and proudest countries of all the countries in the world. ”
The huge event that these two foreigners believed did indeed happen as scheduled, although they could not witness the fulfillment of their respective prophecies with their own eyes. Unfortunately, they could not tell the people today what exactly is the basis of such an accurate prophecy?
In any case, facts have proved that the confidence of contemporary Chinese people is unique, and this is even more so through horizontal comparison with other major nations. Since the founding of New China, even in the most difficult period and the period when the gap with developed countries is the largest, the Chinese have never lost confidence in their own country. This is also a great miracle of New China. And precisely because of the Chinese people's own confidence, outsiders also have full confidence in China's success on the road of modernization.
Unique success
The uniqueness of New China was mainly reflected in the new national system in the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China. In the past 70 years, it is mainly reflected in the miraculous confidence, and at the moment it is more reflected in the new national system "at a lightning speed". "The magnificent country, the people are proud, and the future is long", with great success, and continuous and comprehensive success, becoming the latest label of the People's Republic, which was once recognized by imperialists as inevitable failure.
The mutual strengthening of confidence and success makes China's steady and long-term development on the current road, and also makes China's bright future unquestionable. Is China's response to the new crown epidemic in the past three years correct? Will the stable growth of China's economy continue for a long time? Can China's high-quality development of be successful? Can China's long-term goals of 2035 and 2049 determined by China be achieved as expected? The answer to these questions does not require too much detailed analysis. With the understanding of the 70-year history of New China, it can be given with certainty.
It is under this situation that another international reaction has emerged. The prophecy about China's success is no longer interpreted as a wish, but is interpreted as a warning issued in advance. The reality that China is achieving success is no longer interpreted as a trend, but is interpreted as a threat to arrive early.
In the eyes of some people in the West, the incident of China's world-class success as a new People's Republic is completely unacceptable. Because China's success naturally has another rather ominous meaning to the West. In addition to the competition in comprehensive national strength, geopolitics, ideology, and other aspects seen on the surface, it actually triggers another invisible depth. hierarchical competition, that is, competition about "national success theory".
For a long time, a set of specialized theories produced from the Western academic community have been popular internationally, aiming to explain the reasons and reasons why the West is so rich, can become a role model for other countries, and must rule the world. Some well-known books, such as "The Rich Country and the Country Poor: The Causes of a Country Rich or Poor" published by Harvard University professor David Landers in 1995, "Why the West Rules the World to Today" published by Ian Morris at Stanford University in 2010, "Why the West Rules the World to Today" published by Harvard University professor Harvard University professor Neil Ferguson 2011 , etc.Of course, these books were all introduced as heavy academic works, and were translated into dozens of different texts, and sold well all over the world.
The global best-selling books launched by world-renowned universities have influenced many people, especially those intellectuals and policy makers who want to make their countries prosperous and strong as soon as possible. They are so eager to find the true scriptures from these books that discuss how the West is prosperous and strong. Of course, their final result must be nothing, because the real truth will definitely not be included in these popular popular reading materials.
To put it bluntly, this type of book is nothing more than a large-scale success theory, and there is no essential difference from the best-selling books that sell "success secrets" in the market that sells individuals or enterprises. There is one of the most important common points: the "secret recipe for success" is spoken by the "successful person" himself, which is definitely not true, and it must continue to serve the current and future personal interests of the "successful person".
The content of the book "Western Success" varies greatly, but the potential topic setting is the same, which is to downplay the fundamental driving force of imperialism in Western history as much as possible, avoid the fundamental factor of the West's "ability to rely on violence to seize land and labor", and attribute the current wealth and status of the West to the uniqueness of Western culture that is pieced together and the inherent ills of non-Western culture.
If there is no China in this world, if China, a non-Western, non-imperialist, non-colonialist, non-capitalist, and true People's Republic, has not successfully achieved rapid rise and successfully promoted Chinese-style modernization, then world history is likely to "end" like this, ending with the West's permanent rule over the world, and ending with the pattern of global wealth distribution such that the West is getting richer and the non-Western is getting poorer.
However, contrary to the desire of the West, the true story of China's success exposes the myth of "Western success theory", in fact declares the illegality of the West in dominating the world, and also declares the falsehood of the Western version of the world historical narrative.
Data map
From the perspective of modernization, from the initial stage of "modernization equals westernization" to the current stage of "modernization does not equal westernization", due to China's success, the prospects of a "de-Westernized modernization" stage have gradually shown. What this means to the West is self-evident.
This is the unique deep effect that China today brings to the world. The fact that China's success as a demonstration itself, and the contrast between this non-Western demonstration and the West's view of itself as a demonstration, changes the whole world's perception of the past, present and future every day.
The major changes unseen in a century, and China's continuous success is part of the changes.
I would like to use this article to congratulate the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
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