Gao Liwei: Promoting Further Comprehensive Deepening of Reform with the Spirit of Self-Revolution
Comprehensively deepening reform is a broad and profound social revolution, serving as the fundamental driving force for advancing Chinese-path modernization in the New Era. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee sketched a grand blueprint for further comprehensively deepening reform and planned a new chapter for advancing Chinese-path modernization on the new journey, demonstrating our Party’s firm determination and strong sense of mission and responsibility to carry reform and opening up through to the end. We must deeply study and implement the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, constantly maintain a high level of consciousness in leading social revolution through the Party's self-revolution, and promote further comprehensively deepening reform with the spirit of self-revolution, providing a powerful impetus and institutional guarantee for Chinese-path modernization.
The courage for self-revolution is the distinctive character and greatest advantage of the Communist Party of China
The Party's journey of struggle over more than a century has been both a magnificent history of social revolution and a history of self-revolution that clears away the murky and brings forth the clear [1]. In the process of resolving major problems, overcoming significant setbacks, responding to great challenges, and correcting major errors, the CPC has always maintained the character of self-revolution and the spirit of reform and innovation. It has continuously improved its governing capacity and leadership level, demonstrating strong resilience and unique advantages.
Criticality and revolutionariness are the salient characteristics of a proletarian political party. Marx and Engels pointed out that "the revolution is necessary, therefore, not only because the ruling class cannot be overthrown in any other way, but also because the class overthrowing it can only in a revolution succeed in ridding itself of all the muck of ages and become fitted to found society anew." The proletarian revolution differs from other revolutions in that it "criticizes itself constantly." Turning the revolutionary spearhead toward itself and carrying out a great self-revolution is an inherent requirement of the proletarian revolution. Only through continuous criticism and innovation can a proletarian party develop, grow, and gain strong resilience and vitality. Comrade Mao Zedong pointed out that "self-criticism is an indispensable weapon for a Marxist-Leninist party." Constantly conducting self-examination, self-criticism, and self-innovation signifies a "dialectical negation" undertaken by the subject under a high degree of consciousness; it contains the dialectical law of things following the pattern of "affirmation—negation—negation of negation," developing in a spiral ascent.
The courage for self-revolution stems from the political nature of our Party's advanced nature and purity. As a Marxist party, the CPC has, since its inception, persisted in and emphasized the common interests of the entire proletariat; it "has no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole," but rather seeks to "work for the interests of the vast majority of people" and struggle for the construction of a communist society. This determines that the CPC can break free from the limitations of all previous political forces that pursued their own special interests, always upholding the principle of the people centeredness, and always possessing the courage for self-revolution. Whether our Party is conducting revolution, engaging in construction, or pursuing reform, it is all for the sake of safeguarding the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people; there are no personal private interests to be sought. Only such a party can consciously accept the supervision of the people, possess a high degree of consciousness to face problems squarely, and have the immense courage to turn the blade inward [2]. Only then can it lead the people in a great social revolution through the Party's self-revolution and leap beyond the historical cycle of rise and fall [3].
Further comprehensively deepening reform requires the continuous promotion of a thorough spirit of self-revolution
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "To perform well in the great social revolution of persisting in and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era, our Party must have the courage to carry out self-revolution and make the Party stronger and more powerful." To further comprehensively deepen reform and advance the great social revolution of the New Era, we must adhere to the fundamental political direction of the Party's self-revolution, persist in and strengthen the overall leadership of the Party and the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, and continuously transform the Party's political and organizational advantages into winning advantages, providing powerful support for the great social revolution.
Whether one possesses a strong spirit of self-revolution, whether one has the robust quality of self-purification, and whether one can persist in continuous self-revolution concerns the success or failure of comprehensively deepening reform and the success or failure of the cause of the Party and the people. To further comprehensively deepen reform, we must use the spirit of self-revolution to break through the shackles of deep-rooted ideological concepts. As the fundamental driving force for deepening reform, the liberation of the mind is the primary prerequisite for breaking through the barriers of entrenched interests and removing institutional and mechanistic obstacles; it is directly related to the success or failure and ultimate effectiveness of reform. Without the immense courage and high consciousness of self-revolution, and without the mettle and determination to turn the blade inward, there can be no true liberation of the mind, and no possibility of breaking through various restrictions and constraints. To further comprehensively deepen reform, we must resolutely eliminate mental inertia, break through the shackles of all outdated concepts and dogmas, and allow our thinking to keep pace with the times.
At present, the cause of reform has entered the "deep-water zone" [4]. The complexity of the contradictions involved in further comprehensively deepening reform has increased significantly compared to the past. This great social revolution is unprecedented in terms of the breadth of the fields covered, the depth of the adjustment of interest patterns, the sharpness of the contradictions and problems involved, the arduousness of breaking through institutional and mechanistic obstacles, and the complexity of the situation in conducting the "great struggle." To resolve these problems and meet these challenges, we need to use the spirit of self-revolution to strengthen our conduct [5] and bolster the Party's health, incentivizing a state of mind that never slackens. We must continuously enhance the Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organization, and social mobilization, ensuring the Party always remains the most reliable and strongest "backbone" [6] of the Chinese people. We must unite and lead the people of the whole country to work with pragmatism and quiet dedication, implementing reforms with the "spirit of driving a nail" [7], and transforming the strategic deployments for further comprehensively deepening reform into a powerful force for advancing Chinese-path modernization.
Persisting in self-revolution to ensure that further comprehensively deepening reform achieves steady and long-term progress
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we must "have the courage for self-revolution, dare to face problems directly, and together do a good job on the great article of comprehensively deepening reform." Embarking on the new journey, we must use the spirit of reform and strict standards to govern the Party, continuously advancing the Party's self-purification, self-perfection, self-innovation, and self-improvement to ensure the Party always remains the strong leadership core of the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Persist in self-revolution to continuously improve the Party's leadership level and long-term governing capacity. Since the 18th Party Congress, in the process of leading and promoting comprehensively deepening reform, the Party's leadership level and governing capacity have been fully demonstrated. At the same time, persisting in the spirit of self-revolution to advance the "new great project of Party building" in the New Era has provided an important opportunity to further elevate the Party's leadership level and governing capacity. On the new journey of the New Era, we must persist in self-revolution, innovate and improve leadership and governing methods, and continuously refine the Party's leadership systems, styles, and methods. We must adhere to scientific, democratic, and law-based governance, and continuously improve the Party's level of leadership over further comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization through self-revolution and self-perfection.
Persist in self-revolution to focus on perfecting the system of norms and regulations for the Party's self-revolution. The system of norms and regulations for the Party's self-revolution is an important institutional guarantee for further comprehensively deepening reform. We must refine the system of internal Party regulations and, with the spirit of self-revolution, consciously strengthen the construction of organizational regulations, leadership regulations, self-development regulations, and supervision and guarantee regulations. We must improve the Party and state supervision systems, persist in combining the Party's self-supervision with people's supervision, promote the coordination of various types of supervision, and perfect the working mechanism of integrally advancing the "three non-corruptions" (ensuring that officials do not dare, cannot, and do not want to be corrupt). By taking systematic integration and holistic advancement as the approach, we must strengthen the additive effects of anti-corruption and integrity building, let power operate in the sunshine, and unite and lead the broad masses of the people to push various undertakings forward.
Persist in self-revolution to effectively enhance the political and organizational functions of Party organizations. A rigorous organizational system, strong political functions, and efficient organizational functions are where our Party's advantages and strength lie; they provide a strong political and organizational guarantee for further comprehensively deepening reform. We must persist in self-revolution, continuously strengthen the political attributes and basic functions of Party organizations, and leverage their key roles in political leadership and ideological guidance. Organizational functions serve political functions and are the basis and guarantee for the effective exercise of the political functions of Party organizations. Only if the Party's organizations at all levels are sound and perfect, forming a rigorous organizational system that connects the top and bottom and executes with power, can the Party's leadership be "as the body moves the arm, and the arm moves the fingers" [8], permeating the entire process and all aspects of national governance with the Party's powerful leadership.
Persist in self-revolution to deeply advance the building of Party conduct, clean government, and the anti-corruption struggle. The building of Party conduct, clean government, and the anti-corruption struggle provide a clean and upright political environment and ecosystem for further comprehensively deepening reform; they are important guarantees for ensuring stable and healthy economic and social development and the smooth realization of reform and development goals. We must persevere in implementing the spirit of the central Eight-Point Regulations, improve the institutional mechanisms for preventing and controlling formalism and bureaucratism, work hard to eradicate the soil and conditions that breed corruption, deepen the rectification of corruption in fields where power is concentrated, capital is intensive, and resources are abundant, and enrich effective methods for preventing new and hidden forms of corruption. With a thorough spirit of self-revolution, we must examine ourselves and face contradictions and problems directly, acting as a safeguard for further comprehensively deepening reform.
Source: Guangming Daily, October 14, 2024.