Fundamentals of the Chinese Communist Party

Pierre M Perrolle, Pierre M Perrolle

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351711845
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Política y relaciones internacionales
• Subtopic: Comunismo, poscomunismo y socialismo

This title was first published in 1976. From 1966 to 1969 the large-scale political turmoil and intense conflicts of the Cultural Revolution in China shattered notions of institutional permanence and unshakable legitimacy that many analysts had come to associate with the Communist Party of China, which had ruled the People's Republic for over fifteen years. Just as the high-level bureaucrats of the Party were shaken from their complacency, it seemed for a time, from the outside, as though it could no longer be taken for granted that the Communist Party would continue to provide the institutional core for political leadership in China. Fundamentals of the Party (Tang ti chi-ch'u chih-shih), which we are translating and publishing here as Fundamentals of the Chinese Communist Party, was published by the Shanghai People's Press in 1974 and constitutes an important source of the type needed to study the revival of the Party.

Fundamentals of the Chinese Communist Party

Quotations from Chairman Mao

"The central force that guides us is the Chinese Communist Party.

"The theoretical basis that guides our thought is Marxism-Leninism."

"A political party must lead the revolution to victory, it must rely on the correctness of its own political line and the consolidation of organization."

"Practice Marxism and not revisionism; unite and do not split; be open and aboveboard and do not intrigue and conspire."

"Socialist society covers a considerably long historical period. Throughout this historical period of socialism, classes, class contradiction, and class struggle still exist; the struggle between the two roads of socialism and capitalism still exists; the danger of the restoration of capitalism still exists. We must recognize the prolonged and complex character of this struggle. We must heighten our vigilance. We must undertake socialist education. We must correctly understand and manage the problems of class contradictions and class struggle, correctly distinguish between and deal with the contradictions between enemies and ourselves and contradictions among the people. Otherwise, this socialist country of ours will go in the opposite direction, will deteriorate, and [capitalist] restoration will occur. From now on, we must discuss this problem year in and year out, month in and month out, day in and day out, so that we may have a clearer understanding of this problem and have a Marxist-Leninist line."

1
The Nature of the Party

The Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party adopted by the Tenth Party Congress stipulates, "The Communist Party of China is the political party of the proletariat, the vanguard of the proletariat." A correct knowledge of our Party's nature has great significance in strengthening the Party's construction and unified leadership, in fully developing the leadership function of the proletarian vanguard, and in guaranteeing greater success to the cause of socialism in our country.

The Chinese Communist Party Is the Party of the Proletariat

Marxism views political parties both as the product ox class struggle and as the instrument of class struggle. In a class society, if a certain class wants to mobilize and organize its strength to defeat hostile classes in order to seize and consolidate political power and establish and maintain its control over the whole society, then it needs to build an organization and leadership which will represent its own class interests and bring together the will of that class — that is, a political party. Lenin pointed out that "classes are usually led by political parties" ("Left-wing" Communism, an Infantile Disorder). The political party is the nucleus of a class, and the class is the foundation of a political party. There is no political party without a clear class character. There has never been a political party in the world that transcended social classes; neither has there existed such a thing as an "all people's party," one that did not represent the interests of a particular class.

The Chinese Communist Party is the political party of the proletariat; it is the vanguard of the proletariat established according to the revolutionary theory and in the revolutionary style of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought.

The Chinese Communist Party is the political party of the proletariat because our Party embodies and epitomizes the characteristics and strengths of the proletariat. The proletariat is the greatest class in human history and, with respect to ideology, politics, and strength, it is the most powerful revolutionary class. It is the representative of a new productive force and is associated with the most advanced mode of economy. In the old society, the proletariat suffered the most severe exploitation and the harshest oppression. Its members owned nothing and possessed no means of production; they earned their living only by selling their own labor. This economic and political status of the proletariat is what determined that it would have the deepest hatred for all exploiting systems and that it would be the most exceptionally farsighted, the most unselfish and just, and characterized by the greatest abundance of revolutionary thoroughness, strictness of organization, and discipline. In addition to these characteristics which are shared by the proletariat in general, the Chinese proletariat has many other distinguishing qualities. The Chinese proletariat suffered from the threefold oppression of imperialism, the bourgeoisie, and the feudal forces, the severity and cruelty of which has rarely been witnessed anywhere in the world. Therefore, in the revolutionary struggle, the members of the Chinese proletariat are more determined and unrelenting than those of other classes. At the same time, the majority of the Chinese proletariat came from among bankrupted peasants; they therefore have a natural attachment to the peasant masses, which make up the vast majority of the Chinese population, and can easily form a close alliance with the peasants. Because of this, the Chinese proletariat demonstrated the greatest courage and determination in the course of the revolutionary struggle. Afraid of neither difficulties nor danger, neither bloodshed nor sacrifice, it always took the foremost position in the revolutionary struggle, becoming the strong leading force of the Chinese Revolution. It is this most conscious, most advanced, and most revolutionary class that the Chinese Communist Party takes as its class foundation. Therefore, our Party is not only equipped with all the characteristics and strengths of the proletariat, but also embodies the characteristics and strengths peculiar to the Chinese proletariat.

The Chinese Communist Party is the political party of the proletariat; this is even more so because our Party is the product of a combination of Marxism-Leninism and the Chinese Revolutionary Movement. The Chinese proletariat has unceasingly undertaken the struggle against oppressors and exploiters from the very day that it was born. Prior to the May Fourth movement, however, the Chinese proletariat was still in a stage of spontaneous struggle and had not formed its own independent political force. Under the influences of the October Revolution and Marxism-Leninism, in 1919 the anti-imperialist, antifeudal May Fourth movement burst forth in our country. In this act of the great revolutionary movement, the Chinese proletariat ascended to the stage of history as an independent political force, displaying the great might of the proletariat and also reflecting the expansion and strength of the ranks of the proletariat. At the same time, the May Fourth movement led a group of intellectuals who already had a basic understanding of communist theory to appreciate the importance of learning and propagandizing Marxism-Leninism and to recognize the historical status of the proletariat in the process of revolution. They began to spread Marxism-Leninism to the vast masses and marched forward along the road of uniting with the workers and peasants. The May Fourth movement marked the beginning of the combination of the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete practice of the Chinese Revolution and, in the areas of ideology and cadre [leadership], provided the conditions for the founding of the Party. Following this first step in the combination of Marxism-Leninism and the Chinese Revolutionary Movement, the Chinese Communists, represented by Chairman Mao, plunged actively into the task of Party construction. On July 1, 1921, representatives from various Communist cells around the country held the First Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in Shanghai, solemnly declaring the birth of the Chinese Communist Party. This historical process tells us clearly that the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party was the inevitable result of the development of the Chinese proletariat's revolutionary movement in modern times and is a product of the combination of Marxism-Leninism with the Chinese Revolutionary Movement.

The Chinese Communist Party is the party of the proletariat, furthermore, because our Party epitomizes the basic interests and class will of the proletariat and seeks to enhance the interests of the majority of the people of China and the world. The great teachers of the proletariat, Marx and Engels, pointed out in the "Communist Manifesto" that "all previous historical movements were movements of minorities, or in the interest of minorities. The proletarian movement is the independent movement of the immense majority and is in the interest of the immense majority." The great leader Chairman Mao has also pointed out that "the Communist Party is a political party which works in the interests of the nation and people and which has absolutely no private ends to pursue" ("Speech at the Assembly of Representatives of the Shensi-Kansu-Ninghsia Border Region"). These instructions clearly explain the nature of the proletarian political party and reflect the unanimity of the Party's interests with those of the proletariat and working people. To build a party for the interests of the vast majority or for the interests of the minority: this is the watershed between a political party of the bourgeoisie and the political party of the proletariat. The proletariat builds its own political party in order to effect a complete overthrow of the bourgeoisie and all exploiting classes, to destroy all systems of exploitation, and to fight for the total liberation of the proletariat and all mankind; the party is established for all, for revolution, and for the people. All the political parties of the bourgeoisie and revisionists, on the other hand, [are established] to defend the interests of exploiting classes and to protect the systems of cruel exploitation of the proletariat and working people by the bourgeoisie; these parties are established to serve selfish ends, the private interests of a handful of people and the exploiting classes. From the first day it was founded, our Party has fought unwaveringly for the realization of the basic interests of the proletariat and for the realization of its highest ideal — communism. In the period of democratic revolution, Chairman Mao led the whole Party and the people throughout the nation. Insisting on the road of seizing political power by force of arms, they overthrew the "three big mountains" that oppressed the Chinese people and built the new China. During the period of socialist revolution, following Chairman Mao's theory of the continuing revolution under the proletarian dictatorship, our Party again led the proletariat and the people throughout the country to carry out socialist revolution on the economic, political, and ideological fronts. In particular, through the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, initiated and guided by Chairman Mao himself, the proletarian dictatorship was consolidated more securely than it had been before and the cause of socialism progressed by leaps and bounds. Internationally, our Party insists on proletarian internationalism and unites with all the genuine Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations in the world in firmly opposing modern revisionism, represented by the Soviet revisionist renegade clique. The more than fifty-year history of our Party is the history of the struggle for the basic interests of the proletariat and the people and for the liberation of all mankind. All this demonstrates well that our Party is the political party of the proletariat.

The Party Is the Vanguard of the Proletariat

Although our Party is the political party of the proletariat, the Party itself is distinguished from the class as a whole. The Party is only a part of the class; it is the part which is most conscious and best endowed with fighting strength; it is the vanguard of the proletariat. Chairman Mao has clearly pointed out, "The Party organization should be formed by the most advanced elements of the proletariat and should be the organization of a dynamic vanguard which can lead the proletariat and the revolutionary masses in the fight against class enemies."

Our Party is the vanguard of the proletariat because it is formed from the most advanced elements among the proletariat. Our Party is the vanguard of the proletariat. Not every member of the proletariat can join the Party; nor can all revolutionaries join the Party. Only those advanced elements within the proletariat who are most conscious and are boundlessly loyal to the historical mission of the proletariat are qualified to join the Party. Of course, in our Party, in addition to those members with a proletarian family background, there are also members from other classes. But the revolutionary elements of nonproletarian backgrounds do not join the Party as representatives of other classes; they are absorbed into the Party only after they have studied Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought, have made efforts to change their world view through the practice of the Three Great Revolutionary Struggles, have accepted the proletarian ideology and changed their original class standpoints, and have come to embody the qualifications of the advanced elements of the proletariat. Thus, the recruitment of these comrades into our Party will not only not affect the nature of the proletarian vanguard, but will instead be advantageous to expanding the ranks and fighting strength of the Party.

Our Party is the vanguard of the proletariat, furthermore, because it upholds Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought as the theoretical basis of its guiding ideology. As Chairman Mao said, "From its very beginning, our Party has based itself on the theory of Marxism-Leninism" ("On Coalition Government"). Throughout the long period of revolutionary struggle, Chairman Mao has correctly applied Marxism-Leninism to the concrete practice of the Chinese Revolution and has carried on, defended, and developed Marxism-Leninism. In every historical period of revolutionary development, Chairman Mao has established the correct lines and policies, defeated the various opportunist lines and enemies within and without the country, and guided the revolutionary cause to attain one great victory after another. Precisely because our Party always insists that we uphold Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought as the theoretical basis of the guiding ideology and that the proletarian revolutionary line of Chairman Mao be maintained, our Party has always been able to sustain the character of the proletarian vanguard and become the leadership nucleus of all Chinese people.

According to Marxism-Leninism, to see if a political party is the party of the proletariat and if it is the vanguard of the proletariat, it is necessary not only to examine the class background of its members, but more importantly, to examine its guiding ideology, its general program, and its line. As Lenin pointed out: "To see if a party is a genuine workers' party, we have not only to see if it is organized by workers, but also to see who its leaders are and what the contents of its action and political tactics are. Only according to the latter can we decide if this party is a genuine political party of the proletariat" ("Second Comintern Plenum: Speech on the Problem of Joining the English Labor Party"). A genuine proletarian party must insist on taking Marxism-Leninism as the guiding ideology of the party; only then can it understand the laws of social development, establish the line of Marxism-Leninism, and become the vanguard which can lead the proletariat and the revolutionary masses to fight against class enemies and win victory. If the party is divorced from Marxism-Leninism, it betrays the proletariat. In such a case, whatever class interest it claims to represent, whatever title it claims to hold, and whatever the background of its members, it cannot be a proletarian political party, not to mention being the vanguard of the proletariat; rather, it is merely the party of the bourgeoisie, the party of revisionism. The Soviet revisionist renegade clique completely betrayed Marxism-Leninism. Although it still hangs out the signboard "communist party," it has in fact already become the party of revionism and fascism, representing the interest of a small handful of the new type of bureaucrats and monopolistic capitalists.

Our Party is the vanguard of the proletariat. Furthermore, because it has strict organization and discipline, our Party is the advanced corps of the proletariat and is, at the same time, the organized corps of the proletariat. It has a high degree of organization and iron discipline; every member of the Party has to join a Party organization and make an effort to undertake the work and carry out the decisions of the Party, thus forming an organized and disciplined collective and a strong and unified fighting force. It is exactly because our Party has strict organization and discipline that thorough implementation of the correct line by our Party is guaranteed, so that we may defeat strong enemies and gain great victories in revolutionary struggle.

"The Communist Party of China is the political party of the proletariat, the vanguard of the proletariat." This stipulation contained in our Party Constitution correctly explains the nature of our Party, and it explains the relationship, as well as the distinction, between the Party and the proletariat. The type of relationship which signifies the class character of our Party is one in which the proletariat is taken as our Party's class foundation; the distinction which signifies the advanced character of our Party is that in which our Party acts as the vanguard of the proletariat. As long as classes exist and political parties exist, the distinction between the vanguard and other organizations of the proletariat and the distinction between Party members and non-Party members will never disappear. If we deny these differences, we can only cause a decline in the progressive character of the Party and lower the function of Party members as examples of the vanguard [to the rest of the proletariat]. Nevertheless, we cannot construe these differences to be mutual isolation. If the Party divorces itself from the classes and other organizations of the revolutionary masses, if Party members are isolated from the masses not in the Party, it will in like manner efface the Party's character as vanguard of the proletariat, and the Party members' function as the advanced element of the proletariat will be lost. Then the Party will no longer be a political party of the proletariat.

As Chairman Mao teaches us, "The Party is the vanguard of the proletariat and the highest form of the organization of the proletariat; it must lead all other organizations, such as the army, government, and people's organizations." The Party must lead all other organizations of the proletariat; otherwise the proletariat cannot conduct a victorious struggle.

In order to undertake the victorious struggle, the proletariat must not only establish its own political party, but must also establish all the other kinds of organizations necessary for the advancement of the revolutionary struggle, such as state organs, military units, labor unions, poor and lower-middle peasants associations, the women's federation, the Communist Youth League, the Red Guards, the Little Red Guards and other revolutionary mass organizations. These agencies and organizations are very important and are indispensable for socialist revolution and socialist construction, for the completion of the historical mission of the proletariat, and for the realization of communism. Through these agencies and organizations, it is possible to fully mobilize the proletariat and the vast revolutionary masses and strengthen and consolidate the proletarian position on every front. Therefore, in the pursuit of our socialist cause, we must develop the function of each revolutionary organization to a high degree. It is only under the leadership of the Party and under the guidance of the Party's Marxist-Leninist line, however, that these revolutionary organizations may develop their own active functions in the correct direction.

Strengthening the leadership of the Party provides the fundamental assurance that the proletarian dictatorship will be consolidated and that victory in the socialist cause will be achieved. All the different kinds of proletarian revolutionary organizations should accept the unified leadership of the Party; none may be allowed to take the special nature of its work as an excuse to claim independence from the Party. Without the leadership of the Party, or without accepting the leadership of the Party, these organizations will lose direction; they will be cheated, controlled, and used by the bourgeoisie. They will come under the corrupting influence of bourgeois and revisionist trends of thought and will become the political satellites of the bourgeoisie, even tools of the bourgeoisie to be used against the proletariat. Therefore, whoever denies the leadership of the Party is actually standing on the side of the bourgeoisie against the proletariat and actually weakening and resisting the proletarian dictatorship.

The Party is the highest form of proletarian organization. The Party must lead everything. This is a very important principle in the Marxist theory of party-building. The relationship between the Party and the other revolutionary organizations is the relationship between the leader and the led. This kind of leadership position and function of the proletarian political party is determined by the nature and mission of the Party and is required by the basic interests of the proletariat; and it is the truth of Marxism-Leninism proved repeatedly by the practice of the revolutionary struggle.

Struggle to Maintain the Party's Proletarian Nature

On the problem of the Party's nature, the struggle between the two lines within the Party has always been very fierce. All the heads of the opportunist line are always trying to alter the nature of the proletarian political party by every means in order to attain the evil end of destroying the proletarian revolution. In the history of the international communist movement, the old rev...