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'Absolute' Red! Communists turn 90 in China
China on Friday turned red as the ruling Communist Party celebrated its 90th anniversary with President Hu Jintao promising political reforms but only under the 'absolute control' of the CPC over military and government, as he warned that rampant corruption was eroding the party's legitimacy.
"We must adhere to the fundamental principle of the party exercising absolute leadership over the army and the fundamental purpose of the army as a people's army and cultivate core values for contemporary revolutionary military personnel," Hu said in a keynote speech at a grand gathering marking the 90th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People.
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'Corruption will cost the party the support of China'
Hu, who is also the party general secretary, said CPC will 'actively yet prudently' carry out political and structural reform, aiming to achieve the goal of people determining their destiny.
"Corruption will cost the party the support and trust of the people," the president said. The party is soberly aware of the gravity and danger of corruption, he said.
'Our power not an instrument for personal gains'
The whole party must remain vigilant against corruption, be fully aware that fighting corruption will be "a protracted, complicated and arduous battle," and give higher priority to combating corruption and upholding integrity, Hu said, as patriotic films, TV programmes and 'red' songs, praising the 62 year Communist Party rule dominated the airwaves.
He called on leading officials to bear in mind that power is entrusted by the people and can only be used in their interests. "We must not turn our power into an instrument for making personal gains for a handful of individuals."
'Development is critically important'
Hu, who is due to relinquish power next year along with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to a new set of leaders, said the party, however, will stick to its ideological line of socialist system with Chinese characteristics, propounded by Mao Zedong's successor, Deng Xiaoping in 1976.
"Development is critically important, and upholding stability is also a critically important task. Without stability, nothing could be done, and even the achievements already made could be lost," the president said, perhaps as a response to the growing demand for political reforms within the party and China in general.
'CPC's leadership over army key to ensure the perpetuity of its rule'
Most importantly, Hu emphasised the party's absolute leadership over the army, which is key to ensure the perpetuity of its rule.
CPC has ruled China for 62 years and the party is currently carrying out campaign to revitalise its units all over the country to retain firm hold on power.
It should comprehensively enhance its capability to accomplish a range of military tasks, and the most important one is to win limited wars under the conditions of IT application (cyber wars), Hu said.
'China's stature has not changed'
However, he noted that China's international status as the largest developing country in the world has not changed and development is still the key to solving all the problems in the country.
China is still "in the primary stage of socialism and will remain so for a long time to come," Hu said, adding that the party will intensify its efforts to combat corruption, which is crucial in gaining popular support for the party and ensuring its very survival as it has emerged as a major issue during past few decades.
'Cooperation system a unique political advantage of CPC'
While holding out the promise of reforms, CPC however ruled out multi-party democracy in the near future.
The future of the country's multi-party cooperation system remains secure under the leadership of the CPC, and the creation of new parties is unnecessary, a top CPC official said.
"The cooperation system is a unique political advantage of the CPC. It is different from the one-party system and the multi party system," Chen Xiqing, a deputy head of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee told media in Beijing.
'The CPC now faces new challenges'
Summing up the official thinking, state-run Global Times in its editorial on Friday said, "The CPC now faces new challenges. As the largest ruling party in the world, (80 million members) it can draw few experiences for reference from other sources.
"The CPC has many missions in the future, such as upgrading the mode of economic growth, improving social livelihood, removing corruption and accomplish relative social justice."
'Some Westerners underestimate CPC's wisdom'
It added, "Some Western observers see these tasks as impossible. They predict that China will either get trapped in political setbacks or collapse during future reform. Those observers underestimate the CPC's flexibility and wisdom."
The entire country turned red on the occasion with red banners, flags and buntings to recreate the revolutionary spirit of the past while the official media carried out the past clippings of CPC's victory over Kuomintang troops led by Chang Kai Sheik to take control of power in 1949.