China marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Tuesday. The Straits Times China bureau looks back at how far the country has come and the challenges it faces as it moves towards achieving the 'great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation'.
Madam Wang Jing, 73, never enjoyed the fruits of the early New China when the Communist Party swept into power in 1949 after a bitter civil war with the Nationalist Party.
She was barred from attending university and later had difficulty landing a job, all because she had the wrong political pedigree.
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The People’s Republic of China at 70 – reforms, achievements and challenges
On Oct 1 this year, China celebrates the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
A central part of this celebration focuses on the country’s success in economic development and poverty reduction. Indeed, by next year, China hopes to celebrate the elimination of absolute poverty.
This momentous occasion is a good time to reflect on China’s journey over the past 70 years for three reasons:
- First, in getting the historical record right. This record is still shifting despite many volumes already devoted to the topic.
- Second, understanding the basis for China’s success will guide China’s future reforms—understanding the path travelled, the circumstances under which historical decisions were made and what their effects were on the course of China’s economy will inform decision makers‘ future plans.
- Third, China now also positions itself as an example for other countries. China’s presence in the world economy, as investor, destination for exports, and increasingly innovator and provider of ideas should increase the need to understand its development journey.
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The deep cuts of 70 years of Communist rule
China's version of its past is a story of prosperity, progress and sacrifice for the common good
China's extraordinary rise was a defining story of the 20th Century, but as it prepares to mark its 70th anniversary, the BBC's John Sudworth in Beijing asks who has really won under the Communist Party's rule.
Sitting at his desk in the Chinese city of Tianjin, Zhao Jingjia's knife is tracing the contours of a face. Cut by delicate cut, the form emerges - the unmistakable image of Mao Zedong, founder of modern China. The retired oil engineer discovered his skill with a blade only in later life and now spends his days using the ancient art of paper cutting to glorify leaders and events from China's communist history.
"I'm the same age as the People's Republic of China (PRC)," he says. "I have deep feelings for my motherland, my people and my party."
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The Guardian view on the People’s Republic of China at 70: whose history?
The 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, which will be marked on Tuesday by a mass military parade in the heart of Beijing, is less a historical commemoration than a political event. The Communist party of China (CPC) has understood the power of history ever since it seized the reins in 1949: in its earliest days, it encouraged citizens to “recall past bitterness”, to make the New China all the sweeter. Xi Jinping understands history’s importance better than any leader since Mao Zedong. Not long after taking power, he warned his colleagues that “historical nihilism” was an existential threat to the party’s rule on a par with western democracy.
The tanks, planes, troops and missiles tell a story: in 1949, the republic’s 17 aircraft were ordered to fly over twice, to make the display look more impressive. This time the west will watch closely as the People’s Liberation Army unveils new missile, stealth and unmanned vehicle capabilities. The PRC has outlived its big brother, the Soviet Union, and outgrown western economies. Yet it now faces new challenges.
Many in China are grateful for the party’s rule. It enjoys a level of support that many democratically elected governments would envy, and not only because of its mammoth propaganda and censorship apparatus. The last 70 years have seen extraordinary progress in lifespan, literacy and incomes: hundreds of millions are no longer living in poverty. Yet people were not lifted out of poverty; they worked their way out. The party banned the family tyranny of forced marriages, but brought the official tyranny of the one-child policy, and even now polices the womb. The advances came at a terrible and wholly unnecessary cost. The famine sparked by Mao’s Great Leap Forward took tens of millions of lives. Tens of millions more people were hounded in the Cultural Revolution.
related: China celebrates 70 years of People’s Republic – in pictures
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Here’s the People’s Republic of China 70th anniversary celebration in pictures
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established on Oct. 1, 1949 by the Chinese Communist Party. Since then, China has undergone massive changes, transforming from an agrarian society to an industrial power that currently takes up nearly 19 percent of the global economy.
Its phenomenal rise is of great interest to many. While some have been cautious in accepting her newfound place in the global system, others were quick to embrace a close relationship with the world’s second greatest economy.
Either way, China is a major global power whose growing influence in the world cannot be stopped, nor ignored.
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China opens world largest airport terminal ahead of celebrations of the Communist Party's 70th anniversary
President Xi Jinping on Wednesday inaugurated a second international airport for the Chinese capital with the world's biggest terminal ahead of celebrations of the Communist Party's 70th anniversary in power. Beijing Daxing International Airport is designed to handle 72 million passengers a year. Located on the capital's south side, it was built in less than five years at a cost of 120 billion yuan ($17 billion).
The airline's first commercial flight, a China Southern Airlines plane bound for the southern province of Guangdong, took off Wednesday afternoon, state broadcaster CCTV reported. Six more flights took off later for Shanghai and other destinations.
The main Beijing airport, located in the city's northeast, is the world's second-busiest after Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and is nearing capacity.
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The People's Republic of China Celebrates National Day on October 1
The PRC's National Day was declared at three o'clock on October 1, 1949, in front of 300,000 people during a ceremony in Tian'anmen Square. Chairman Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People's Republic and waved the first five-star PRC flag.
Called guoqqingjie or 国庆节 in Mandarin, the holiday celebrates the founding of the People's Republic of China by the Communist Party. In past times, the day was marked by large political gatherings and speeches, military parades, state banquets and the like. The last large military display took place for the sixtieth anniversary of the PRC founding in 2009 but parades take place in Beijing, Shanghai and the like every year.
Since 2000, as China's economy developed, the government has granted workers and students a seven-day holiday on and around October 1st. Typically a period of seven days are "holidays" with a weekend day or two being substituted for work days to give a seven-day holiday.
related: Golden Week in China Explained
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related:
The Big 70: China stood up and became rich
A China that stands tall in the world
China's forefront of global space race
Made in China 2025 initiative
The World’s Largest Airport Terminal
The Belt And Road Initiative: A new way forward
The ‘One China’ policy
Embracing, Leaning & Tilting towards China
