True Blue Hu: Speech to party congress reveals dedicated communist
Press coverage of last month's Party Congress in Beijing glossed over statements by President Hu Jintao on China’s continued commitment to Marxism-Leninism and the Communist Party's control of the military.
Contradicting the conventional wisdom in the West that China’s booming capitalist economy has neutralized the government's political ideology, Hu told the 17th Party Congress that the Party must continued to build communism in all areas.
“In line with the requirements for building a learning-type political party, we need to make in-depth study of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory and the important thinking of the Three Represents by closely integrating the lively practices of reform and opening up and of modernization construction, and carry out activities in the whole party for intensive study and practice of the scientific development concept,” Hu said.
Internationally, Hu said communism must be used as “our guide in changing the objective world and remolding the subjective world.”
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China's President Hu Jintao, also chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), meets with delegates of the Second Artillery Force in Beijing, on Nov. 4.
Reuters/Xinhua/Li Gang
Militarily, Hu committed the communist-led military buildup as part of the “cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”
The military will continue to be a “party army” rather than a Chinese national army, he said.
“For the armed forces to fully carry out the historical missions assigned by the party and the people at this new stage in the new century, we must uphold the guidance of Mao Zedong's military thinking, Deng Xiaoping's thinking on army building in the new period, and Jiang Zemin's thinking on national defense construction and army building,” Hu said.
“We must implement a military strategy for the new period, accelerate the revolution in military affairs with Chinese characteristics, ensure preparations for military struggles, and enhance the military's capability to respond to various security threats and accomplish diverse military tasks,” he said.
The party will continue its “absolute leadership” over the military, he added.
China will continue to blur the line between military and civilian development, he said, noting that China will “actively embark on military-civilian joint construction.”
