“The people are the republic’s solid foundation.”

“The people are the republic’s solid foundation and the greatest source of strength for the ruling party.” That’s what General Secretary Xi Jinping said in his 2019 New Year’s address, a sharp conclusion drawn from the 70-year history of the People’s Republic of China marked by numerous obstacles and hardships during its pursuit of a cause of unprecedented greatness. This conclusion is about the relationship between the people and their republic and between the people and the CPC’s governance. It is simply put yet extremely profound. It means that people’s democracy is a banner that has always been held high by the CPC, and the CPC’s approach to governance has been people-centered.

Governance concerns the future of the country and its people and thus cannot be treated lightly. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has put it, “The ideas held to in planning and propelling the development of socialist democracy in China will affect the foundation, the whole landscape, and the future of China’s political activities. Globally and throughout history, incorrect choices in the path of political advancement have caused uncountable instances of social unrest, nations being torn apart, lives lost, and the fall of governments. China is a large developing country, so pursuing the right path of political advancement is a major issue that affects the foundation and whole landscape of the country.” In the history of human civilization, there have been two paths of governance –democracy and autocracy. From day one, the CPC has fought for democracy in China, engaging in bloody battles against autocracy one after another. The CPC is also aware of the various concepts related to democracy, such as people’s democracy, democratic individualism, and social democracy. Democratic individualism means bourgeois democracy, which is based on the values of individualism and liberalism. Social democracy was developed by supporters of Marxism, and it advocates bourgeois democracy while providing relief for the discrepancies that arise in a capitalist society by means of policy(especially welfare policy). When the CPC was drawing up the blueprints for the People’s Republic of China, it decided on the path of people’s democracy.

When the autocratic monarchist system that had governed China for millennia was toppled during the Xinhai Revolution (1911), China was made into a republic, which is a form of democracy. But due to the weaknesses of China’s bourgeoisie, the republic quickly submitted to the control of the Beiyang government. Just at the crucial moment when the Northern Expedition (a nationalist military force) was about to attain victory over the Beiyang government, Chiang Kai-shek(the leader of that force) initiated a counter-revolution and slaughtered great numbers of workers and farmers, once again thwarting the efforts of the Chinese people in their revolution against imperialism and feudalism. After the failure of the Xinhai Revolution, people lamented, “The loss of countless lives has merely given us a fake republic.” History shows that an autocratic monarchy is not what China ended up with, nor is bureaucratic capitalism or a bourgeois democracy. Instead, China became established as a people’s democracy, which allows the people to run the country. The laws that underlie historical development revealed to us by Marxism say that only the people are the true creators of world history. Thus, when the CPC was founding the People’s Republic of China, the concept of “people’s democracy” was proposed, which included the guiding principle of “people’s democratic dictatorship” and the vision of building a “people’s republic”.

Thus, while implementing a people’s democracy, it must be clearly understood who the people are and who the enemy are. Around the time of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese were mostly workers, farmers, urban petty bourgeoisie, and the national bourgeoisie. After the socialist transformation was basically completed, Mao Zedong said, “All social groups who approve of, support, and participate in the socialist cause are considered part of ‘the people’.” Since the beginning of reform and opening up, the composition of China’s social groups has seen a new change. In addition to the basic groups of workers, farmers, intellectuals, officials, and PLA officers and men, “the people” now also include members of new social groups such as entrepreneurs and technicians in private technology companies, managerial and technical staff hired by foreign-funded enterprises, the self-employed, private business owners, intermediary organization personnel, and freelancers, who are “participants in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics”. What constitutes “the people”, the opposite of the enemy, has changed with the nature of Chinese society and the principal contradiction facing it in the different periods of revolution, development, and reform. History shows us that it is a terrible mistake to blur the lines between friend and foe or expand the scope of what constitutes the enemy and thus include some of “the people”.

People’s democracy is precisely the type of democracy spoken of by General Secretary Xi Jinping in which “the people are the solid foundation”. The people are what define the country as its full name is the People’s Republic of China. In such a people’s republic, the bodies of state power are people’s congresses and people’s governments. There is a dedicated consultative body known as the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). The military is known as People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The police are known as“people’s police”. Public security forces are known as “people’s public security forces”. Procuratorates are known as “people’s procuratorates” and courts are known as “people’s courts”. The same use of the word “people” can also be seen in the economic, cultural, and social sectors, such as RMB (“people’s currency”), People’s Bank of China, “people’s education”, “people’s literature and art”, “people’s hospitals”, and associations for workers, youths, and women known as “people’s organizations”. The people are recognized the masters of the country. Through representatives chosen by the people, government leaders at all levels are elected and laws are established to manage the country. When the CPC or the government is making decisions on major issues, consultations must first be carried out by political parties, people’s congresses, government departments, CPPCC committees, people’s organizations, communities, and social organizations to gain a full understanding of the people’s concerns. The will of the state is the collective will of the people, and the people’s aspirations for a better life are the focus of all efforts. More importantly, the people are the foundation of the CPC’s governance and creators of China’s material and cultural wealth.

The idea that the people are the republic’s solid foundation is not only derived from the country’s rich experience in promoting democracy since the Xinhai Revolution and Marx’s theory of historical materialism, but also rooted in China’s outstanding political culture that has been passed down through the ages. About four millennia ago, Chinese people came up with the maxim, “The people are the foundation of the state and its peace is secured when the foundation is firm.” The great philosopher Mengzi (372-289 BCE) once said, “The people come before the state, and the state before the ruler.” He further noted, “The tyrants Jie and Zhou lost their kingdoms because they lost their people. They lost their people because they lost the hearts of the people. There is a way to win a kingdom:winning over the people. And there is a way to winning over the people: winning their hearts.” Even though the philosophers and statesmen in ancient China said those for maintaining the rule of the monarchs of their time, they indeed understood the importance of the people to the state. Upholding China’s fine traditional culture and equipped with the scientific theory of Marxism, the CPC understands even better that the people are the republic’s solid foundation.

Both the idea of people’s democracy and the view that the people are the republic’s solid foundation require a people-centered approach to governance. Since the conclusion of the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has clearly proposed the concept of people-centered approach to governance. In the beginning, being people-centered was a requirement for the cultural sector, especially in the creation of works. For example, the 18th CPC National Congress made it clear that “we should pursue people-centered cultural creation”. At the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, being people-centered was defined as the principle that must be followed in the endeavor to drive the sustained and healthy development of the economy and society – to make development people-centered. Later, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that the press must also follow this principle. In the report delivered at the 19th CPC National Congress, “committing to a people-centered approach” is described as part of the basic policy that underpins the endeavors to uphold and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. Therefore, being people-centered is not a principle to be followed in certain sectors but one to be adhered to by the CPC in every dimension of governance. To be specific, in governance, the people must be given the utmost priority. Realizing, safeguarding and developing the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the people should always be considered the starting point and goal of all the work. The people’s support should be used as the basic yardstick of success of such work. This is the centerpiece of the CPC’s approach to governance. PgEDUDXslmB1Z3xBczLF1y642JNr+cQf9VR2elPtXT7Te6WMZLApHVdzpydL73x1