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引言

On July 1st of this year, the Communist Party of China (CPC) will turn 100 years old. Many living in the United States might scratch their heads and wonder how the CPC managed to not only survive but thrive after the dissolution of the USSR and the fall of the socialist governments of Eastern Europe. Riffing on Karl Marx, commentator Francis Fukuyama infamously dubbed 1989-91 to be the “end of history, signaling that liberal capitalism was the final stage in human evolution. So how has China defied Western expectations?

今年 7 月 1 日,中国共产党将迎来它的100岁生日。许多生活在美国的人可能会不解,想知道在苏联解体和东欧社会主义政府垮台之后,中国共产党是如何生存下来,并且繁荣发达的。评论家弗朗西斯·福山(Francis Fukuyama)讽刺卡尔·马克思( Karl Marx ),将“1989 —1991”戏称为“历史的终结,表明自由资本主义是人类进化的最后阶段”。那么,中国是如何打破西方的期望的呢?

Why has the CPC reached a century, and more than 70 years in power, despite the constant doomsday predictions? To the Chinese people, and to those who can look past the mainstream corporate narratives, the answer is obvious: The party has delivered results.

尽管不断有世界末日论的质疑,为什么中国共产党能到存在一个世纪,并且能够执政70多年?对于中国人来说,答案是显而易见的:共产党已经取得了成果。

The period of its rule since 1949—and especially since economic reform in 1979—has seen the quality of life for the Chinese people soar. Essentially, the CPC continues to deliver on its promises of a future better than western capitalism can offer and for that, it enjoys broad popular support.

自1949年以来的执政时期,尤其是1979年经济改革以来,中国人民的生活质量急剧上升。本质上,中国共产党继续兑现它的承诺,创造一个比西方资本主义所能提供的更好的未来,因此它享有广泛的民众支持。

一个新型的政党(A party of a new type)

First of all, what is the Communist Party of China? The CPC is the governing party of the People’s Republic of China, but it is not the only legal party. The CPC leads a united front in the government along with eight other political parties. It has over 91 million members, making it the largest political organization in the world. So, how does such a large and complex organization work?

首先,什么是中国共产党?中国共产党是中华人民共和国的执政党,但它不是唯一的合法政党。中国共产党在政府中领导着统一战线与其他八个民主党派。它有超过9100万(更新为9500多万)的党员,使其成为世界上最大的政治组织。那么,这样一个庞大而复杂的组织是如何运作的呢?

Zhang Weiwei, professor of international relations at Fudan University, describes the Chinese political system as one of “selection and election,” whereby “competent leaders are selected on the basis of performance and broad support after a vigorous process that includes screening, opinion surveys, internal evaluations, and various types of elections.” There is no way a reality TV star/failed casino owner like Donald Trump could elbow his way into Chinese leadership through manipulation.

复旦大学国际关系学院张维为教授描述中国的政治制度的其中一个方面是“选拔和选举”,即“在优秀的表现和广泛的支持的基础上,经过一系列激烈的过程,包括筛选、民意调查、内部评估以及各种选举,选出合格的领导人”。像唐纳德·特朗普这样的真人秀明星或者失败的赌场老板是不可能通过操纵进入中国领导层的。

To become a top leader in China and in the party, one usually has to spend literally decades in public service. For example, before becoming president of China and General Secretary of the CPC, Xi Jinping joined the party at the age of 21, determined to help improve society. He had been sent to work in the countryside, in Shaanxi province, as a teenager during the chaos and turbulence of the “Cultural Revolution” in the 1960s and ’70s, but remained committed to the CPC’s mission. Since 1983, after nearly 30 years of public service in government, Xi was elected as party leader in 2012 and president in 2032.

要想成为党和国家的最高领导人,一个人通常要花上几十年的时间在公共服务上。比如,在担任国家主席和中共中央总书记之前,习近平21岁入党,立志帮助改善社会。在二十世纪六七十年代“文化大革命”时期,十几岁的习近平被派到陕西省的农村工作,仍然坚持中国共产党的使命。自1983年以来,在政府经过了近30年的公共服务后,习近平于2012年当选为中国共产党领导人和国家主席。

On July 1st, 1921, the Communist Party of China was founded in Shanghai with just 13 delegates attending the inaugural congress. China of 1921 was a very different place from the China of today. From 1912 to 1928, the country was ruled by one warlord or another after the fall of the imperial Qing dynasty. China was a very weak country that had been occupied and humiliated by imperialist powers—Britain, France, Japan, the United States, and others—going back to the early 19th century. Among the more infamous tales from the period was the campaign by Britain that forced China to allow massive sales of opium, pushing addiction onto the Chinese people and initiating the so-called “Opium Wars,” beginning what became known as the “Era of Humiliation.” During this period, China was forced to sign unequal treaties at gunpoint, held captive by technologically advanced imperialist powers.

1921年7月1日(实为7月30日),中国共产党在上海成立,只有13名代表参加党代会。1921年的中国与今天的中国大不相同。清朝灭亡后,1912年至1928年,国家被军阀统治。中国是一个非常弱小的国家,这种弱小可以追溯到19世纪初,中国被帝国主义列强——英国、法国、日本、美国等国占领和羞辱。这一时期臭名昭著的事件是英国发起的运动,迫使中国大量销售鸦片,将毒瘾推到中国人民身上,发动了所谓的“鸦片战争”,中国开启了“屈辱时代”。在这一时期,中国在枪口下被迫签订不平等条约,成为了技术先进的帝国主义列强的俘虏。

The CPC founding congress was actually held in the so-called “French Concession” in Shanghai, parts of which were owned and administered by the French and other European colonizers. The CPC delegates were forced to leave the concession and continue their congress on a rented boat.

中国共产党成立大会实际上是在上海的“法租界”举行的,法租界其中一部分是由法国和其他欧洲殖民者拥有和管理。中共代表被迫离开租界,在租来的船上继续他们的代表大会。

In 1928, the warlord-era state known as the “Beiyang Government” was replaced by the Republic of China. The campaign against it, known as the Northern Expedition, was initially a united front between the nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) and the Communist Party, along with aid from the Soviet Union and the Communist International. The United Front quickly unraveled even before their victory, however. KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek turned on the Communists in 1927, killing up to 10,000 Communists and their supporters in Shanghai and sparking the Chinese Civil War. The battle between the KMT and the CPC would be interrupted with the start of the Sino-Japanese war in 1937, which was actually the first shot of what became World War II.

1928 年,“北洋政府”统治的军阀时代被中华民国取代。最初,国民党(KMT)和共产党之间建立统一战线发动北伐战争,并得到苏联和共产国际的援助。然而,在取得胜利之前,统一战线就迅速瓦解了。1927 年,国民党领导人蒋介石将矛头转向共产党,在上海杀害多达1万名共产党人及他们的支持者,引发了中国内战。1937年日本侵华战争的爆发,这实际上是第二次世界大战的第一枪,国共两党之间的战争随之中断。

中国站起来了(China stands up)

It would be the soldiers of the CPC’s Red Army that played the leading role in the War of Resistance against the Japanese. Even before the official start of the war, Japanese forces had violated China’s sovereignty by invading Northeast China in 1931. Establishing the puppet state of Manchuria, called Manchukuo by the Japanese. In “Manchukuo” the last Emperor of China, Puyi, served as a puppet and a pawn for the Japanese. Horrific chemical experiments were conducted on Chinese prisoners by the infamous Unit 731 that operated in Northeast China.

正是中国共产党的红军战士在抗日战争中发挥了领导作用。在战争正式开始之前,日本军队就在1931年入侵中国东北,侵犯了中国的主权。建立伪满洲国,日本人称满洲国。在“满洲国”,中国的末代皇帝溥仪成为日本人的傀儡和走卒。臭名昭著的731部队在中国东北对中国囚犯进行了可怕的化学实验。

Caption: Japanese soldiers in Shanghai, 1937. 1937年,上海的日本士兵 | Public Domain

The CPC made the first call on all of China to join forces to fight the invading enemy. Chiang Kai-shek adopted a policy of non-resistance in the face of Japanese aggression, forcing the Communist Party to form guerrilla forces and create bases to resist the Japanese. When official hostilities broke out, the CPC was on the frontlines, eventually entering into a second United Front with the KMT and fighting as part of the official Chinese military.

中国共产党第一次号召全国人民联合起来抗击侵略的敌人。面对日本侵略,蒋介石采取不抵抗政策,迫使共产党成立游击队,创建抗日根据地。当战争正式爆发时,中国共产党站在前线,最终与国民党又一次建立统一战线,并作为中国官方军队的一部分而进行战斗。

Those who seek to slander the CPC ignore the fact that many regiments in the National Revolutionary Army (the name of the Chinese military at the time), such as the 8th Route Army, were communist armies. The 8th Route Army, led by Peng Duhai, fought and won the Hundred Regiments Offensive, defeating a Japanese and collaborator army that outnumbered them 2 to 1.

那些妄图污蔑中国共产党的人忽略了一个事实,国民革命军(当时中国军队的名称)中的许多团(如八路军)都是共产党的军队。彭德怀率领的八路军是以二比一的劣势打败了日本人和伪军,赢得了百团大战。

Despite the heroism of the CPC and the Chinese people, the Japanese carved a path of destruction across China, including the infamous Nanjing Massacre that murdered 300,000 unarmed soldiers and civilians. Japan denies its atrocities to this day.

尽管中国共产党和中国人民英勇无畏,但日本人在中国各地开辟了一条毁灭之路,包括臭名昭著的南京大屠杀,30万手无寸铁的军民惨遭杀害。日本至今否认其暴行。

However, the tide ultimately turned, and as soon as the Soviet Red Army intervened, Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945. Yet the Chinese Civil War was still unsettled. By carrying out land reform during the war, and winning the support of the rural population, the CPC grew immensely.

然而,形势最终发生了逆转,日本在1945年8月15日投降。然而国共内战仍未结束。中国共产党通过在战争期间实行土地改革,赢得农村人口的支持,得到了极大的发展。

Leaders of the Eighth Route Army. At right is Deng Xiaoping, who would later lead China’s economic reform program in the 1970s and ’80s. 八路军领导人。右边的是邓小平,他后来领导了二十世纪七八十年代的中国经济改革计划。 | Public Domain

In fact, the Communists were so strong and popular that the U.S. refused to allow Japanese forces to surrender to Communist soldiers. President Harry Truman wrote in his memoirs: “It was perfectly clear to us that if we told the Japanese to lay down their arms immediately and march to the seaboard, the entire country would be taken over by the Communists. We, therefore, had to take the unusual step of using the enemy as a garrison until we could airlift Chinese National troops to South China and send Marines to guard the seaports.”

事实上,中国共产党是如此强大和受欢迎,以致于美国拒绝让日本军队向共产党士兵投降。杜鲁门总统在他的回忆录中写道:“我们非常清楚,假如我们让日本立即放下他们的武器,并且向海边开去,那么整个中国就将被共产党人接管。因此,我们就必须采取异乎寻常的步骤,利用敌人来做守备军,直到我们能将国民党的军队空运到华南,并将海军调去保卫海港为止。”

Chiang Kai-shek, meanwhile, had no intention of accepting peace with the Communists and moved to conscript thousands into his armies. Negotiations broke down, and hostilities resumed in 1946, with the KMT making the first move. The final phase of the Chinese Civil War had begun, the last stage in a war of national liberation.

与此同时,蒋介石不愿与共产党和平相处,征召成千上万人加入他的军队。1946年,谈判破裂,国民党首先采取行动,国共间恢复到敌对状态。中国内战的最后阶段已经开始,,这也是民族解放战争的最后阶段。

After WWII had ended, the nationalist government’s economic mismanagement led to rapid inflation and economic decline. A quick example of how bad things were, even for the “middle class,” is that the income of college teachers was reduced by 98% in 1946, and the incomes of civil servants were not enough to survive without a second or third job. The problems persisted for years, long after the KMT was gone.

二战结束后,国民政府的经济管理不善导致了快速的通货膨胀和经济衰退。一个简单的例子可以说明情况有多糟糕,即使对“中产阶级”来说也是如此。1946年大学教师的收入减少了98%,没有第二或者第三份工作的话,公务员的收入不足以支撑生活。这些问题持续了很多年,直到国民党下台。

In 1949, Beijing was liberated, and Chiang Kai-shek and his forces retreated to the island of Taiwan, the “Republic of China.” On the eve of liberation in 1949, when the People’s Republic was founded on the mainland, the literacy rate in China was 20% and per capita disposable income was about 49.7 yuan. At that time, after decades of warfare, the average lifespan in China was only 36 years.

1949年,北京解放了,蒋介石及其军队,即“中华民国”撤退到台湾。1949 年解放前期,中华人民共和国宣布成立时,中国的识字率为20%,人均可支配收入约为49.7元。当时,经过几十年的战乱,中国人的平均寿命只有36岁。

今天的新中国(New China today)

If we compare where Old China was in 1949 and where New China stands in 2021, we see that under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and in the course of building socialism, China made the quality of life in seven decades that took the capitalist world centuries to achieve.

如果我们将1949年的旧中国和2021年的新中国进行对比,我们可以看到,在中国共产党领导下,在建设社会主义的过程中,中国用70年的时间达到了资本主义世界用了几个世纪才达到的生活质量。

An aerial view shows apartments built by the Chinese government for people of the Yi ethnic minority in Yuexi county, southwest China’s Sichuan province on Sept. 11, 2020. The Communist Party says its initiatives have helped to lift millions of people out of poverty. Yi ethnic minority members were moved out of their mountain villages in China’s southwest and into a newly built town in an anti-poverty initiative. 鸟瞰图显示的是2020年9月11日中国政府在中国西南部四川省岳西县为彝族人民建造的公寓。中国共产党表示,其倡议帮助数百万人摆脱了贫困。彝族被从中国西南部的山村迁移到一个新的城镇,这是一项扶贫计划。 | Sam McNeil / AP

Last year, in the pandemic year of 2020, China proved resilient in the face of a deadly virus that has ravaged the entire world. Because of China’s socialist system and leadership by the Communist Party, China was able to marshal the necessary resources and manpower, and political resolve that likely saved millions of lives. Rapid testing, construction of hospitals from scratch, the dispatch of legions of cadres and volunteers to hotspots, and directed isolation showed the strength of socialism.

在病毒大流行的2020年,面对一种肆虐全球的致命病毒,中国证明了自己的韧性。由于中国的社会主义制度和共产党的领导,中国能够调动必要的资源和人力,以及可能拯救数百万人生命的政治决心。快速检测、从无开始建设医院、向重要地区派遣大批干部和志愿者、定向隔离,充分展现了社会主义的力量。

During the battle against the pandemic, China decided to put the people first. As China’s economic growth rate slowed to 2.3% in 2020 (though keeping it as the only major economy to grow), the National People’s Congress, China’s legislature, did not set economic growth goals. Instead, it directed resources toward battling COVID-19.

在抗击流行病的战斗中,中国以人为本。由于2020年中国的经济增长率放缓至2.3%(尽管其成为唯一增长的主要经济体),中国的立法机构—全国人民代表大会没有设定经济增长目标。相反,它将资源用于对抗新冠疫情。

Leaving aside the extraordinary challenges of the pandemic, comparisons of China’s economy before 2021 to that of 1949 illustrate the achievements that have been won during the long struggle to build socialism. The average Chinese income in 2020 was 27,540 yuan, roughly equal to $4,300. From 1949 to 2020, Chinese average income was multiplied by more than 560 times. The average lifespan in China, meanwhile, has risen to 76.9 years from 36 in 1949. It took the capitalist world a century to reach the lifespan we have today, while China has been able to do it within a single lifetime.

撇开疫情带来的巨大挑战,将2021年之前的中国经济与1949年的进行比较,可以看出中国在建设社会主义的长期斗争中取得的成就。在2020年中国人的平均收入为27540元人民币,大致相当于4300美元。从1949年到2020年,中国平均收入增长560多倍。与此同时,中国人的平均寿命从1949年的36岁提高到76.9岁。资本主义世界用了一个世纪才达到我们今天的寿命,而中国用一个人一生的时间就能做到。

In November 2020, President Xi Jinping announced that China had defeated absolute poverty. The population living in absolute poverty dropped from 99 million at the end of 2012 to 5.5 million by late 2019. Over the same period, the number of impoverished counties in China decreased from 832 to 52. The most recent report from the World Bank in 2018 shows that the literacy rate in China was 96.84%, compared to just 20% in 1949.

2020年11月,习近平主席宣布中国已经战胜了绝对贫困。生活在绝对贫困中的人口从2012年底的9900万下降到2019年底的550万。同一时期,中国贫困县的数量从832个减少到52个。2018年的世界银行报告数据显示,中国的识字率为96.84%,而1949年只有20%。

Poverty largely affects women, who are often forced to the double duty of participating in the workforce while also taking care of the home. China has slashed the number of people living in poverty by more than 700 million since 1978. Women accounted for about half of those. The All-China Women’s Federation (ACWF) has been on the frontlines to fight poverty. The ACWF is an important grassroots organization linked with the CPC that seeks to protect the rights and interests of women and to fight and struggle on their behalf. It has been active in the struggle against the pandemic and has been fighting against domestic abuse.

妇女是在贫困中受影响较大的群体,她们往往被迫承担参加工作和照顾家庭的双重责任。自1978年以来,中国已将贫困人口减少了7亿多。其中妇女约占一半。全国妇联(ACWF)一直站在脱贫攻坚的第一线。全国妇联是与中国共产党联系在一起的一个重要的基层组织,旨在保护妇女的权利和利益,并代表妇女进行斗争。它一直积极参与防治流行病的斗争,并与家庭虐待抗争。

With a huge demand in the home services industry, the women’s federation has worked through their branches in ten provinces and autonomous regions to help around 300,000 people, mostly women, to find well-paying housekeeping jobs in Beijing. Women’s equality has been making huge leaps in China. In 2017, there were 340 million working women, double the figure of 1978, according to a government white paper.

由于家庭服务行业的巨大需求,妇联通过其在10个省份和自治区的分支机构,帮助大约30万人(主要是女性)在北京找到报酬优厚的家政工作。中国在妇女平等方面取得了巨大的进步。根据政府白皮书,在2017年有3.4亿职业女性,是1978年的两倍。

Performers dressed as rescue workers gather around the Communist Party flag during a gala show ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the party in Beijing on Monday, June 28, 2021. 2021年6月28日周一,在北京庆祝建党100周年的文艺晚会上,演员们装扮成救援人员,聚集在共产党党旗周围。 | Ng Han Guan / AP

In New China, enshrined in Article 48 of the PRC Constitution, women have equal rights with men. The article states: Women in the People’s Republic of China enjoy equal rights with men in all spheres of life, in political, economic, cultural, social, and family life. The State protects the rights and interests of women, applies the principle of equal pay for equal work to men and women alike, and trains and selects cadres from among women.” The Equal Rights Amendment in the United States has yet to be passed.

在新中国,《中华人民共和国宪法》第四十八条规定,妇女享有与男子平等的权利。这条规定表明:中华人民共和国妇女在政治、经济、文化、社会、家庭生活等各方面享有与男子平等的权利。国家保护了妇女的权益,实行男女同工同酬,培养和选拔妇女干部。而美国的《平等权利修正案》尚未通过。

Rather than the bogeyman raised by capitalist elites and the mainstream corporate media intent on suppressing the Chinese people, the Communist Party of China, since its inception, has fought for the people’s welfare and has measurably bettered their lives. The facts and numbers speak for themselves. The old song, “Without the Communist Party there will be no new China,” appears to be true. One hundred years ago, China was weak and divided. Now, thanks to the heroic Chinese masses, with the leadership of the Communist Party, China is united and strong.

中国共产党不是由资本主义精英和企图压制中国人民的主流企业媒体培养出来的怪物,自其成立以来,中国共产党一直为人民的福祉而奋斗,并显著改善了人民的生活。这一点事实和数字不言自明。“没有共产党就没有新中国”这句老歌似乎是真的。一百年前,中国弱小而分裂。现在,多亏了英勇的中国人民,在共产党的领导下,中国团结强大。

作者:Callum Wilson
(华中师范大学国外马克思主义政党研究中心 赵丹阳 编译)