LEARNING FROM CPC

By Sudheendra Kulkarni

The Communist Party of China (CPC) marked its 100th anniversary on July 1, 2021. Among the thousands of celebratory events taking place was a ballet by the National Ballet of China depicting two famous Chinese myths. In one, a 90-year-old “foolish man” named Yugong achieves the impossible mission of removing two huge mountains to create a pathway for villagers to get connected and also to increase land under agriculture. In the other myth, Nuwa, a compassionate goddess, protects humanity from catastrophe by mending a hole in the sky caused by a war between the God of Water and the God of Fire.

Mythologies like these shouldnt be dismissed as bunkum. They exist in all cultures and civilizations, and have inspired countless generations to accomplish incredible missions. India, like China, abounds with them. The Holy Ganga owes its puranic origin to King Bhagiratha, who is believed to have done tapasya (penance) for a thousand years to seek Shivas help in bringing the river from Heaven to Earth.

Even critics of communism will have to accept that what the Peoples Republic of China has achieved since its founding in 1949 under the leadership of the CPC, and especially since 1978, when Deng Xiaoping boldly redirected its progress with reform and opening up, is of mythic proportions. Emerging from a “century of humiliation” (1839-1949), in which foreign powers (mostly Western, but also Japan) attacked, fragmented and occupied China, and recovering from self-inflicted wounds, China has metaphorically moved mountains to march along the path of prosperity and all-round development.

At its birth, the Peoples Republic of China was poor, after being ravaged by imperialism and civil wars. Today it is the worlds secondlargest economy, and well on its way to toppling the United States from the top perch before 2030. With each passing year, it is gaining more strength to shape the new global order.

Its infrastructure is superior to that in Western countries. Consider this. High-Speedrailway (speeds of over 250km/h) started in Japan in 1965. Several European nationsbegan soon after. Chinasfirst high-speed railway waslaunched in 2007. By the endof 2020, its total length of37,900 kilometers was morethan two-thirds the combined high-speed railway in all thecountries in the world. It hasnow prototyped a maglev train with speed of 600 km/h.

Two more startlingfour decades since Chinasimplementation of reformand opening up. Accordingto the World Bank, more than 800 million people have beenlifted out of absolute povertysince 1978– the largest poverty reduction in such a short timein human history. When XiJinping was elected as generalsecretary of the CPC CentralCommittee in 2012, China still had around 100 million people living below the poverty line(US$1.9 per person per day).He had vowed then that Chinawould become completelypoverty-free by the end of 2020. Last December, he declaredthe goal had been achieved. Tomeet this goal, CPC mobilizedthe energies of the entire Party,the entire economy, and theentire society. More than 3million Party members weresent to rural and remote areasto implement an innovative“targeted poverty reduction”programme, which involvedaccurate identification of each poor family and each poorvillage and implementationof a focused and sustainedstrategy to comprehensivelyimprove their lives andlivelihoods. Xi said, “Ensuringthat poor people and poorareas will enter the moderately prosperous society togetherwith the rest of the country isa solemn promise made by our Party.”

This is not propaganda.As a frequent visitor to manyparts of China, I have seen how the quality of life of commonpeople has risen. ChinesePresident Xi Jinping, who hadexperienced rural poverty first- hand when he was a younggrassroots CPC worker, hasvisited more than 80 poor and backward areas for inspectionof Chinas version of GaribiHatao campaign. In thiscontext, is it unpatriotic to ask: How many poor villages hasour own prime minister, whoclaimed he was once a poorchai-seller, visited in the lastseven years?

Second example: ineconomic growth, nationaldefense and technologicalprowess, China has been farmore self-reliant than India.When China first emerged asthe“factory of the world”in1990s, the usual comment inimporting countries, includingIndia, was“Chinese goods arecheap in cost, cheap in quality.” But China, in the past 10 to 15years, has ascended the qualityladder so fast in manufacturing and services that a major partof its exports are now hi-techand value-for-money. It is now on its way to becoming a global leader in artificial intelligence and other technologies of thefuture.

China is far ahead of Indiain space research. In May2021, it successfully landeda probe, Tianwen-1, on Marswith a rover. Later, it sent three astronauts for a three-monthmission on a new space station. They performed spacewalksand carried out repairs andother scientific operations.Since 2003, China has sent II astronauts, including twowomen, into space. India hassent only one – Rakesh Sharma, who rode on a Soviet spacecraft way back in 1984. Four Indianastronauts are currentlyundergoing training in Russiafor Gaganyaan, which is aimed to take off before 2022 to mark the 75th anniversary of Indiasindependence.

China impresses not onlywith its bullet trains, beautiful airports, skyscrapers and Made in China exports, it has someof the worlds best universities, museums, art galleries, public libraries and sports stadiums. China soon will have moreforeign students studying inits universities than the U.S.It spends far more on culturethan India. Comparable toIndias district headquarters,small Chinese cities haveincomparably better concerthalls, parks, community carecenters and tourist attractions. No wonder, in 2019(beforethe outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic), China attracted66 million foreign tourists,compared to Indias 18 million.

Talking about parks, hereare a few stunning facts froma recent report in The NewYork Times. China spends huge annually for creating newpublic parks. It has achieveda five-fold increase in urbangreen spaces since 2001.Shanghai added 55 new parkslast year, bringing the totalnumber of parks in the city to 406, and it plans to build 600 more in the next five years.“The average Chinese city nowrivals New York in publiclyaccessible green space perperson. The latest 14th Five-Year Plan calls for building1,000 large parks around thecountry to encourage physicalfitness.”Lets not pooh-poohthe importance of parks, greenspaces and forests. They are as essential for human health and happiness as food, clothingand shelter.

Among the newly-builtparks in Chinese cities arethose near creeks and rivers,which were once highlypolluted. For telling contrast,lets look at the Mithi River inMumbai, Shanghais sister city. It flows like an open drain,flanked by slums in the heartof Indias financial capital. In 2005, it flooded after a delugethat killed nearly 400 people. Eight years ago, my colleagues at the Observer ResearchFoundation in Mumbai did acomprehensive study showing how the Mithi and its environs can be transformed. Thestudy was submitted to thegovernment of Maharashtra,which appreciated it but,beyond cosmetics, has donelittle to change the ugly reality.

After the degradation ofits environment caused byrapid economic growth, China has prioritized restoring its“blue skies, green mountainsand clear rivers,”in line withPresident Xis call for transitionfrom “industrial civilization”to“ecological civilization.”Chinas renewables nowaccount for 40 percent of itstotal installed capacity.(Chinasrenewables capacity is 850 GW;Indias 93 GW.) It is the worldslargest producer of renewableenergy, with over double thegeneration in the U.S., itsnearest competitor.

Most Indians, includingIndian politicians andpolicymakers, are notpaying adequate attention to Chinas progress on multiple fronts, mainly because ofthe widespread anti-Chinasentiment in our country.But any visitor, especiallythose with some historicalunderstanding of how poorand backward China was untildecades ago, can see thatcommon Chinese now eatbetter, reside in better habitat,have access to better education and healthcare, and live longer than the previous generation. They do have their own socialproblems, but they believe inthe“ChineseDream”and areconfident that life for the future generations will be even better. The“GreatRejuvenation”of the Chinese nation is not an empty Party boast. Its happening.