Historic Successes of “Party Commanding the Gun”

The flag of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the national flag of China, and the flag of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) were raised high by soldiers in sequence during a military parade celebrating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the PLA at Zhurihe training base in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on July 30, 2017. The sequence reinforced the principle of the “Party commanding the military.”

August 1, 2017 marked the 90th birthday of the PLA, and a series of activities were organized across the nation to celebrate the occasion.

In the early 1920s, the Chinese people launched a monumental revolution against imperialist aggression and feudal oppression. However, Kuomintang reactionaries betrayed the revolution by tearing apart the Kuomintang-CPC cooperative alliance when they began frantically slaughtering members of the CPC. Both the CPC and the Chinese revolution plunged into serious crisis. With pricey lessons paid for with blood, sweat and tears, “the Party realized profoundly that without revolutionary armed forces, it wouldn’t have defeated the armed reactionaries, led the Chinese revolution or propelled Chinese civilization to emerge victorious—they changed the fate of the Chinese people and the nation,” as Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said at a rally marking the 90th anniversary of the founding of the PLA. On August 1, 1927, the Nanchang Uprising broke out, heralding the dawn of the CPC-led armed revolution as well as the inception of a people’s army in China.

Unfortunately, the Nanchang Uprising, as well as the Autumn Harvest Uprising that followed (led by Mao Zedong), failed. Lessons that cost many lives led Mao to attribute the failures to a “lack of central revolutionary forces.” So, when he reorganized the remaining troops from the Autumn Harvest Uprising in Sanwan Village, Yongxin County, Jiangxi Province, Mao called for a Party branch in every company and a Party group in every squad, with the purpose of admitting excellent soldiers into the Party. Moreover, each military unit at or above the company level was staffed with a Party representative, who also acted as secretary of the Party organization at the same level. Since then, the people’s army has maintained a strict Party organizational system, which laid a solid organizational foundation for CPC leadership over the military. At the end of 1929, the participants of the Gutian Conference voted to make “setting up a Party branch for each company” a regular system, which is still a basic principle and system of the PLA to this day.

Propelled by the leadership of the CPC, the PLA is an army of lofty ideals, and only lofty ideals can make a force invincible. Deng Xiaoping, considered “chief architect of China’s reform and opening up,” once said: “Why could we overcome so many difficulties and emerge from the revolution victoriously despite the insurmountable conditions of the past? Because we have lofty ideals and firm faith in Marxism and Communism.” Since its establishment, the PLA has remained devoted to such lofty ideals and the noble cause pursued by the CPC: emancipating the Chinese people from the oppression of the “three big mountains” (namely imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism) and achieving the independence and rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Such lofty ideals make the people’s army an unstoppable force that only grows stronger. The pursuit of lofty ideals provides the spiritual power fueling the PLA to constantly move forward despite any setbacks and difficulties. Soldiers in the people’s army believe no missions cannot be accomplished, difficulties overcome, or enemies defeated. Lofty ideals and faith have served as the guiding light of the PLA from the early struggles on Jinggang Mountain, the marvelous Long March, the arduous War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation to today’s tasks of resolutely defending national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, tenaciously safeguarding the lives and properties of the people through disaster relief efforts, selflessly contributing to the nation’s economic and social development and actively maintaining regional and global peace.

Under the leadership of the CPC, the PLA is an army whole-heartedly devoted to serving the people; only by placing the interests of the people first can an army be ensured the trust and support of the people. A wartime ballad goes: “We used our last bowl of rice to feed the army and our last piece of cloth to clothe the soldiers; we used our last cotton pads to dress wounded soldiers on the stretchers, and we sent our last son to the battlefield.” The song vividly depicts the intimate ties between the PLA and the people and evidences that the soul of the Chinese army is the people and that the strength of the Chinese army comes from the people. Mao Zedong once exclaimed, “If the military and the people unite as one, they’ll be invincible.” In his speech at the rally marking the 90th birthday of the PLA, President Xi Jinping pointed out that history attests that the people’s army will be invincible and unstoppable around the world if it has the people’s hearts, meets the people’s aspirations and pools the people’s strength. He called on all of the armed forces to continuously keep the people in their hearts, keep their sacred responsibility to fight for the people in mind and resolutely secure a peaceful working and living environment for the people.

The principle of the “Party commanding the gun” has been proved effective by the CPC with bloodshed paid during its struggles against enemies and continues to serve as a guarantee for the PLA to maintain its soul and preserve its initial purpose. As President Xi once said, “the CPC’s absolute leadership over the military is a fundamental feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics, an important political advantage of the Party and the state, and the foundation and fuel to build a stronger people’s army.”

The international situation changes fast these days. As a major developing country, China voluntarily accepts the role of world peace builder, contributor to global development and protector of international order. Addressing global security challenges, actively performing duties and obligations commensurate with China’s international status and promoting the construction of a community of shared destiny for mankind have become the solemn duties of China’s armed forces. The path to completion of these duties will never be smooth and only sated with risks, challenges, and barriers. Both history and reality have proven time and again that the “Party commanding the gun” is the fundamental guarantee that ensures the people’s army maintains strong cohesion, solidarity, creativity and combat capacity while fulfilling its duties.

The author is executive editor-in-chief of China Pictorial.