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The Communist Party of China: A Hard Earned Legitimacy

By Ronald Kato – CAPC Beijing (People's Daily Online)    16:12, August 02, 2017

Decades of economic transformation and successes in the fight against poverty reaffirm the party’s revolutionary rule over China

China is a country of contrasts, some starkly stark. Flying north, out of Beijing, the terrain dramatically changes from flat to mountainous, with ranges looking like they’ve never been scaled by man. Built-up Beijing disappears to give way to desolate settlements punctuated by crop farms.

Further north the change is even more dramatic - the Kubuqi desert creeps in. swathes of sand tinged with specks of anaesthetic vegetation stretch for miles, as dusty winds gust through the blue sky.

And yet it is in this land that China’s ruling party, the Communist Party of China (CPC) pings with life and immense approval.

A section of the Kubuqi desert which has been turned green. Countering desertification has helped in the fight against poverty in Inner Mongolia. (Photo: Ronald Kato)

Found in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Kubuqi desert is China’s 7th largest, covering over 18,000 kilometres. When China began its reform and opening up thirty seven years ago, Kubuqi was a poor, dry, hot and extremely cold (during winter) land with very few prospects. Only the most stubborn Mongolian herders stayed. Many were quick to escape the biting poverty and hopelessness by traveling south to Beijing or southeast to Jiangsu, Guangdong or Fujian, provinces that were urbanising and industrialising expeditiously.

Tackle desertification, tackle poverty

Twenty years ago, Hanggin Banner, located north of Ordos city was mostly sand, sheep and dust. The ethnic Mongol herders were trapped by the Kubuqi desert; there was little access in and out of Hanggin Banner. Winter brought disease and death. Summer came with heat waves and dust. With direction from the central government, the regional government worked with a private firm, Elion Resources Group, to counter desertification, promote sustainable development and to deliver economic development and better standards of living.

In 2000, an ambitious effort to turn the desert green started. Today, 6,000 sq. km have been greened. The people here call it a miracle. But this is also a testament to the determination of the Communist Party of china to rid China of poverty and inequality.

In 40-year-old Siren Babu’s restaurant, a large portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping is hard to miss. Xi is celebrated here. Babu’s restaurant is housed in a new village, a settlement of over 100 homes built in 2006.

"I used to dig herbs and rear sheep for a living," Babu told me. On top of running an eatery, Babu also hires vehicles to tourists. Eco-tourism is fast growing in Hanggin Banner as a result of a desert greening campaign.

"You can see that life has drastically improved for us," he added.

Siren Babu sits in his restaurant with his friend as President Xi’s portrait hangs above them. (Ronald Kato)

Xi’s vision, China’s path

In January of 2014, just days to lunar new year celebrations, Xi visited the snow battered Inner Mongolia. It is mostly cold here in January. The average temperature ranges from -23°C (-9.4°F) in the northeastern part of the Region to -10°C (14°F) in the southwestern part. He asked the regional government to accelerate industrialization and the poverty fight. "The fundamental purpose of the party is to serve the people," he said. His guidance led the CPC Inner Mongolia committee and the regional government to devise a new development concept premised on four pillars; sustainable development, restructuring, coordinated development and harmonious growth.

Xi has made eradicating poverty the most important agenda of his presidency and ultimately the biggest goal of the party. He has visited over 30 impoverished villages in 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country since the 18th CPC National Congress in November 2012, getting firsthand information on the situation of poor people and encouraging them to shake off poverty in various ways. "I care about the poor the most," he said in his New Year address on December 31st 2016.

While legitimacy in western style democracies comes from elections, the CPC’s legitimacy is derived from determination to build a just and equal Chinese society. In the eyes of the average Chinese, Chinese socialism is the perfect embodiment of democracy and the Communist Party means liberation from backwardness, disease and poverty.

"A lot has changed here, the desert is a much better place to live today," Babu says. According to Babu, Xi is the champion and the party is the engine.

There may not have a contest pitting the Communist Party of china against others since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. But even if there was one, the Chinese would most certainly choose defeating poverty and inequality as opposed to untested promises of democracy and freedom.

More than 700 million Chinese have been lifted out of poverty since the start of China’s reform and opening-up in 1978. China’s 13th 5-year development plan expires in three years. The plan is to have lifted every Chinese out of poverty by then. About 30 million are considered to be still poor.

Champion of rural reform

"Where does a leader’s credibility come from? It does not come from relying on higher authorities, exerting power or using gimmicks. It is only built gradually by working for the people wholeheartedly, with dedication and perseverance. A leader must be proficient."

That Xi has made fighting poverty top of his agenda is good news. But poverty eradication has been Xi’s top mission his entire life. His first experience with poverty came nearly 50 years ago when he was sent to work in a remote village in Shaanxi province as a result of Chairman Mao Zedong's campaign for urban youth to experience rural labor.

He led the villagers in digging wells, building terraces and sediment storage dams. As secretary of the CPC Zhengding county committee in Hebei province between 1982-1985, Xi initiated robust reforms to get farmers harvesting more from the grain and vegetable fields. The reforms were a big success. Xi had struck the code to help peasants shake off poverty.

1989: Xi Jinping, then-secretary of the CPC Ningde Prefectural Committee of Fujian province, leads party cadres to help clear a local canal. (Xinhua)

In one of his speeches as deputy secretary of the CPC Fujian provincial central committee in 1989-now summarized in a book "Up and Out of Poverty," Xi stressed the importance of party leaders maintaining close ties with the people.

He asked, "Where does a leader’s credibility come from? It does not come from relying on higher authorities, exerting power or using gimmicks. It is only built gradually by working for the people wholeheartedly, with dedication and perseverance. A leader must be proficient."

"We are a socialist country. Having taken the first steps to prosper, the coastal regions in the east should not leave other areas alone. We need to achieve common prosperity," he said in another speech.

Xi’s poverty eradication credentials are bolstered by his intolerance to corruption. In a 1990 speech in Fujian, he stressed that clean government was the historical mission of communists.

He said "No matter how great or small the power of us Party members, it is given to us by the people. We can only follow the will of the people and work for their interests. In building a clean government, we must also be worthy of the honorable name of communists."

While China is still not entirely corruption free, Xi’s fight is keeping the Party legitimate in the eyes of the Chinese public.

Africa and the tragedy of elections

About five African countries head to the polls this year - most though to honor a routine as opposed to ushering democratic, legitimate governments. In Angola, Eduardo dos Santos will not be on the ballot but his party, The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola, is expected to maintain its firm grip on power in the oil rich country. Rwanda will most certainly maintain the status quo when it votes in June, giving Paul Kagame, in power since 2000, another seven years. In Kenya, President Uhuru is seeking a second term in office. The biggest accomplishment of his first term has been the $3.4bn standard gauge railway project, which was inaugurated in May.

Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto’s legitimacy questions need no emphasis. The International Criminal Court (ICC) charged them for crimes against humanity. Those charges were later suspended following a spate of witness murders, disappearances and failure to cooperate on the part of the Kenyan government.

While elections are a good measure of democracy, they have delivered quite the opposite in many African countries. They are often used by repressive regimes to beat ordinary citizens into fear while the opposition is allowed limited space to organize and campaign.

They are also used to entrench one man/party rule and often result in constitutional changes meant to stifle civil liberties, a free press and political activism.

While the leaders of most of Africa’s republics today are in power courtesy of elections, most if not all would actually not qualify even as prefectural secretaries of the Communist Party of china. Some of them are ideologically empty, morally corrupt and politically incompetent. I will, on another day, write about how one becomes a Communist Party of china cadre.

They admire China and often liken their own parties to the CPC and its vision. Some even reference China’s leaders in their speeches. The difference is theirs are devoid of ideology, credibility, and truth.

Their rise to power is only legitimized by the gun and patronage and for those with a bit time to feature on a ballot paper - by regional and continental blocks such as the East African and the African Union and sometimes by lazy observer missions led, many times, by their corrupt peers who were unlucky or unwilling to extend their own rule.

As a result, many face low public approval ratings. Citizens perceive their governments and state institutions as repressive and corrupt-only designed to serve the interests of their rulers.

Transformed desert

Opening up Inner Mongolia through building infrastructure is a conviction held by the CPC. Infrastructure would be central to unlocking the potential of Inner Mongolia and opportunities for the region’s people who have long depended on herding.

The region now boasts of 190,000 km of roads and a railway mileage of 13,700 km. There are also 21 airports .The infrastructure is used to move trade north into Mongolia and Russia, and east into North Korea. The region has also successfully diversified from herding to becoming a clean energy champion.

The 1,000MW solar power plant in Hanggin Banner. Under the stewardship of the CPC, Inner Mongolia has become a renewable energy hub. (Ronald Kato)

A few kilometers out of Hanggin Banner, a 1,000MW solar plant has been commissioned. Along with it came 1,000 new jobs, bigger family incomes and 800 households lifted out of poverty. One and a half hours west of the city of Hohhot, the Huitengxile wind power farm is a statement in many ways. It mirrors the CPC’s ambition to turn the world’s second biggest economy into a global leader in clean energy and climate action.

With the guidance of the Party, Inner Mongolia has successfully diversified from a herding region to become a clean energy hub, a vibrant steel industry, agro-processing and a tourism giant. Last year, the region welcomed 98.5 million domestic and foreign tourists.

The diversification has brought along a revolution in incomes here: 32,000 RMB ($4,637) disposable income urban dwellers and 11,000 ($1,594) for their rural counterparts. In 2016, the region’s per capita GDP grew 6.9% to 74,000 RMB ($10,724) with primary school enrolment standing at 100%, a big success for a developing region and country.

According to the office of Poverty Alleviation of Inner Mongolia, only 530,000 people remain poor. The region’s population is 25.2 million people.

Ronald Kato is a journalist and broadcaster with the Vision Group in Uganda and is an intern at China Global Television Network (CGTN) 

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Web editor: Wu Chengliang, Bianji)

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