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The Communist Party of China (CPC) completed 100 years of its existence in July 2021, with the last 70 plus years spent as the ruling party in China. The centenary occasioned a fresh consideration by the CPC of the challenges to its identity, legitimacy and power. Using select speeches and commentaries produced by the CPC in the context of the centenary, this article analyses how the Party deploys discourses on its history to articulate its concerns and promote its interests today. It also looks at how these interpretations of the Party’s history and role in China translate into a growing sense of exceptionalism in the Party-state. The article argues that despite frequent calls to ‘seek truth from facts’, an overriding desire to retain power is once again pushing the CPC down the path towards dogmatism. © 2022 SAGE Publications.

International Relations and Governance Studies

(SoHSS) School of Humanities and Social Sciences

World University root node

China Report

Towards Exceptionalism: The Communist Party of China and its Uses of History

The Communist Party of China’s transition from a revolutionary party to a ruling party has been accompanied by challenges to its legitimacy owing to issues of corruption and poor governance. As a result, the Party’s leadership has time and again laid stress on discipline and unity on internal governance, in other words, as a way of overcoming its shortcomings. This article looks at two approaches towards internal governance under current General Secretary Xi Jinping. The first, it argues, is a stress on the fervour and ideals of a past revolutionary era as the Party tries to reinforce its legitimacy to rule. The second is a strategy of greater control over the work of the state. Essentially, the Party is integrating the state ever closely with itself as a way of validating the effectiveness of its internal governance. © 2022 SAGE Publications.

‘Carrying Forward the Great Founding Spirit’: Governance in the Communist Party of China Today

This volume discusses a range of key domestic forces driving the current Chinese growth ranging from economic reforms to governance practices to analyze their impact and influence at home as well as on China’s foreign and security policies in its near and extended neighbourhood. At the same time, the volume also looks at specific themes like technology, agricultural development, reform of state-owned enterprises and the use of Party bodies to engage in foreign propaganda work among other things to offer examples of the merging of Chinese domestic political and foreign policy interests. In the process, the book offers its readers a better idea of China’s place in the world as the Chinese themselves see it and the implications over time for China, its neighbourhood and the wider world. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020.

China’s Search for ‘National Rejuvenation’: Domestic and Foreign Policies under Xi Jinping

China’s search for ŉational rejuvenation’: Domestic and foreign policies under Xi Jinping

The COVID-19 pandemic has dented China’s image as an efficient party-state, given how an effort to cover up the outbreak and the resulting delays in reporting led to the virus spreading beyond its origins in Wuhan in Hubei province to the rest of the country as well as rapidly across the world. This article examines China’s massive external propaganda effort launched as part of the effort to repair the damage to its global image and interests. It notes how China has not let the situation stop it from pursuing its traditional foreign policy and security interests, including, of competition with the USA. The article also argues that it is the ruling Communist Party of China’s concerns about its legitimacy at home that have determined the nature and scale of Chinese responses to the pandemic outside its borders. © 2020 SAGE Publications.

Fulltext

‘To Tell China’s Story Well’: China’s International Messaging during the COVID-19 Pandemic

In this introductory chapter, the editors lay out the context of China’s current political, economic and foreign policy developments with reference to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). It argues that promoting an idea of ŉational rejuvenation’ is part of a continuing effort by the CPC to bolster its legitimacy at home. To this end, the Party uses China’s strengths and capacities abroad in the belief that an increased international profile and respect for the country also raises its stock at home. However, the goal of ŉational rejuvenation’ has also been used to recentralize power at home and comes amidst strong economic headwinds both at home and abroad. The rest of the chapter summarizes the key findings in the book and notes that as China’s influence rises globally and its presence becomes more entrenched across domains of politics, economic activity, traditional and non-traditional security and science and technology, how it proceeds to use this influence vis-à-vis other countries will be a function of the confidence of the CPC in its own strengths and capacities to rule China. © The Author(s) 2020.

‘National rejuvenation’ as panacea for China’s domestic and external challenges

The world at large when focused on China has tended to focus on its economic prowess, its large domestic market and of late, its rising international economic heft as expressed in such outreach projects as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, for the Communist Party of China (CPC) itself, the central focus has always been to use economic capacity to ensure domestic stability and the continuation in power of the Party. This chapter, therefore, looks at the Chinese leadership’s views of the Chinese economy, as gleaned from prominent reports and speeches and what these say of their views, including apprehensions, about the state of affairs of the Chinese economy and the implications for the position and legitimacy of the CPC. © The Author(s) 2020.