Xin Xiangyang: Understanding the CPC's Commitment to Global Welfare Through Proletarian International Solidarity
Persisting in maintaining a global vision is a precious piece of historical experience gained from the Communist Party of China's (CPC) century of struggle; it is also the conscious mission and responsibility of contemporary Chinese Communists. The report to the 20th CCP National Congress emphasized: "The Communist Party of China is a party that seeks happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation; it is also a party that seeks progress for humanity and great harmony [1] for the world." The Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party’s Centennial Struggle, adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, pointed out: "The Party has always focused on the future and destiny of humanity with a global perspective, correctly understanding and handling relations with the outside world from the grand trend of human development, the grand pattern of world change, and the grand history of China's development. It persists in opening up rather than closing off, persists in mutual benefit and win-win results rather than zero-sum games, and persists in upholding fairness and justice. It stands on the right side of history and on the side of human progress." This is not only a deepened interpretation of the CPC's original aspiration and founding mission but also a vivid display of the CPC’s global vision, its image as a major party, and its sense of mission and responsibility.
I. The Theoretical Origins of Proletarian International Unity
The idea of proletarian international unity is an important component of Marxist theory. Based on dialectical materialism and historical materialism, the founders of Marxism profoundly elucidated the inevitable logic, organizational forms, and principled requirements of proletarian international unity, providing a scientific guide for proletarian parties to strengthen their own construction and for international proletarian organizations to achieve their own development.
(1) A profound explanation of the inevitable logic of proletarian international unity The international unity of the proletariat is an inevitable requirement for achieving the liberation of all humanity. By analyzing the laws of development of capitalist society and the developmental trends of human society, Marx and Engels profoundly revealed the historical inevitability and practical importance of the proletariat’s international association. With the development of capitalist society, the class oppression and national oppression created by capitalism within national borders gradually develop into universal global phenomena. For the proletariat to completely shake off the exploitation and oppression of the bourgeoisie, it must achieve a great global union of the proletariat to fundamentally and thoroughly overthrow the system of exploitation. In 1845, in The German Ideology, Marx and Engels expounded on the necessity of proletarian unity from the perspective of world history, arguing that communism cannot exist as a local phenomenon, but "presupposes the universal development of productive forces and the world intercourse [2] linked with them"; it is therefore an undertaking of world-historical significance. To complete such a world-historical task, the proletariat must unite. On November 29, 1847, at an international meeting in London commemorating the 17th anniversary of the 1830 Polish uprising, Marx criticized the hypocrisy of the bourgeois slogan of "fraternal alliance of all nations." He argued that "the fraternal alliance of nations" only exists where the oppressors act against the oppressed and the exploiters against the exploited. Engels concluded: "The fraternal alliance of the workers of all nations should be countered against the fraternal alliance of the bourgeois of all nations." This thought was also fully presented and profoundly elaborated in the Manifesto of the Communist Party.
(2) A profound elucidation of the organizational forms of proletarian international unity The international unity of the proletariat must be realized through certain organizational forms. First, in The Poverty of Philosophy, Marx proposed the league [3] form of proletarian association. He pointed out: "The first attempts of workers to associate among themselves always take the form of combinations. Large-scale industry concentrates in one place a crowd of people unknown to one another. Competition divides their interests. But the maintenance of wages, this common interest which they have against their boss, unites them in a common thought of resistance—combination. Thus combination always has a double aim, that of stopping competition among the workers, so that they can carry on general competition with the capitalist." Second, based on a profound analysis of the laws of proletarian revolution, Marx and Engels explicitly proposed establishing the Communist Party as the organizational form for the united proletariat. To fulfill its historical mission, the proletariat must not only move from a "class in itself" to a "class for itself" and from spontaneity to consciousness, but also organize the proletarians into a class, thereby achieving organization. This requires the establishment of a powerful leading force, namely the Communist Party. Marx and Engels further elaborated on the advanced nature of the Communist Party, emphasizing: "The Communists, therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement." Finally, as the practice of proletarian revolution developed, Marx proposed the form of cooperative factories as a mode of proletarian association. To overthrow bourgeois rule, the proletariat must engage not only in intense political and revolutionary struggle but also in struggle at the economic level. Large factories under the capitalist mode of production are the natural spatial support for workers to unite, and production is the natural method for their association. In Capital, he pointed out: "The co-operative factories of the labourers themselves represent within the old form the first sprouts [4] of the new, although they naturally reproduce, and must reproduce, everywhere in their actual organisation all the shortcomings of the prevailing system. But the antithesis between capital and labour is overcome within them, if at first only by way of making the associated labourers into their own capitalist, i.e., by enabling them to use the means of production for the employment of their own labour."
(3) A profound elucidation of the principled requirements of proletarian international unity To achieve effective proletarian unity, Marx and Engels, while explaining the logic and organizational forms of such unity, further clarified its principled requirements. First, they expounded on the basic principles of proletarian international unity, emphasizing that it must be built on the principle of independence. In the preface to the 1892 Polish edition of the Manifesto of the Communist Party, Engels pointed out: "The sincere international collaboration of the European nations is possible only if each of these nations is fully autonomous in its own house." Yet Engels still attached great importance to international proletarian unity, emphasizing: "Neither the French, nor the Germans, nor the English, can alone win the glory of abolishing capitalism. ... The liberation of the proletariat can only be an international undertaking." Subsequently, the international communist movement experienced zigzagging development. Influenced particularly by issues such as the dissolution of the First International, Engels emphasized even more the foundation of equality in proletarian unity. In a letter to Kautsky on February 7, 1882, he stated: "Events alone can teach them—and many others besides—that international cooperation is possible only between equals, and that even a primus inter pares [5] is needed at most for immediate action." Second, they clarified the goal of proletarian international unity: the establishment of an "association of free individuals," and further described this ideal social form, emphasizing: "In place of the old bourgeois society, with its classes and class antagonisms, we shall have an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all." Finally, they clarified the forces to be relied upon for proletarian international unity. In the Manifesto of the Communist Party, Marx and Engels pointed out that for revolutionary needs, it is necessary for the proletariat to unite with the petty bourgeoisie, the middle classes, and parts of the bourgeoisie according to the actual situation. They initially expounded the idea of the united front, providing a scientific strategy for promoting the proletarian revolution and its international association.
II. The Historical Manifestation of Proletarian International Unity
From the Communist League to the First, Second, and Third (Communist) Internationals, international proletarian organizations have always upheld the idea of international unity and put it into practice. The international unity of the proletariat has not only had a direct, realistic, and long-term impact on the international communist movement but has also fundamentally and globally influenced the international political landscape and the development of human society.
(1) The internationalist spirit reflected in the membership of international proletarian organizations The origin and composition of the members of international proletarian organizations are the most direct manifestations of the spirit of internationalism. As the world's first proletarian political party, the Communist League was an international party from its inception, with members from eight countries including Germany, Britain, and France. In 1864, the International Workingmen's Association (the First International) was founded. During its eight years of activity, it established branches in 18 countries across Europe, America, and Africa, growing to approximately 400,000 members. In 1889, representatives of socialist parties from Germany, France, and other nations convened the International Socialist Workers Congress in Paris on the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, marking the founding of the Second International. The congress was attended by 393 delegates from 22 countries. A presidium of 27 people, including Liebknecht, Bebel, Vaillant, and Lafargue, was formed. The congress also adopted the draft of International Labour Legislation and the Resolution on Celebrating May Day. In 1919, after Lenin declared the dissolution of the Second International, the International Communist Congress (the First Congress of the Third International) was held in Moscow, and the Communist International (Comintern) was established. Fifty-two delegates from 35 parties and groups in 21 countries attended. The meeting adopted Lenin’s Theses and Report on Bourgeois Democracy and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat as the Comintern's political program, along with the Manifesto of the Communist International and the Program of Action of the Communist International drafted by Lenin. The Comintern had an Executive Bureau and an Executive Committee, the latter composed of representatives from Russia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, and the Balkan Federation. This fully demonstrates that from the Communist League to the First, Second, and Third Internationals, these international proletarian organizations consistently adhered to the spirit of internationalism.
(2) The idea of international unity contained in the statutes of international proletarian organizations Statutes are the concentrated manifestation of a political party's propositions and the banner it holds up publicly. Regarding this, Engels once said: "A new programme is after all a banner planted in public, and the outside world judges the party by it." Whether it was the Communist League, the First International, or the Comintern, their programs and statutes—in both their basic content and their formulation process—reflected a distinct idea of international unity. During the First International, in order to unite the working classes of many nation-states and concentrate the practical forces of world revolution, Marx, while drafting the Inaugural Address of the International Workingmen's Association and the Provisional Rules of the Association, adhered to the dialectical unity of principled firmness and tactical flexibility. Using a method of being "firm in substance, mild in form," he drafted a program that would not "exclude the English trades unions, the French, Belgian, Italian, and Spanish Proudhonists, and the German Lassalleans"—a "program that could satisfy all parties." The Program of Action of the Communist International, as the most important document adopted by the First Congress of the Comintern, pointed out the inevitability and necessity of proletarian unity in the era of imperialism and put forward guiding principles for proletarian international unity. This fully demonstrates that international proletarian organizations have always used the idea of international unity to promote organizational development and the revolutionary process.
(3) The internationalist consciousness displayed in the activities of international proletarian organizations
Proletarian international organizations have not only confirmed and affirmed the ideas of internationalism through organizational forms and programmatic documents but have also directly embodied the internationalist spirit throughout their own activities. The First International fully demonstrated this spirit in its revolutionary activities: on the one hand, it actively supported the strike struggles of workers in various countries, such as the 1866 British tailors' strike, the 1867 London locomotive drivers' strike, the 1867 Paris bronze workers' strike, and the 1868 Geneva building workers' strike. On the other hand, it actively voiced support for the liberation movements of oppressed nations, such as the national liberation struggles in Poland and Ireland [6]. As the Paris Commune represented the first great attempt at proletarian political power in human history, the French section of the First International participated in the Commune movement. Regarding this, Engels pointed out: "The Commune was undoubtedly the spiritual child of the International." Although the Second International lacked a clear program, statutes, or a central apparatus, during its development it greatly promoted the growth of socialist parties in various countries; by 1914, it encompassed 30 socialist parties and over 3 million party members. Furthermore, it carried out various forms of joint proletarian movements, such as conducting legal parliamentary struggles—the Social Democratic Party of Germany was at one time the largest parliamentary group in the German Reichstag. It organized powerful labor unions, women's organizations, youth organizations, and cooperatives; by the eve of the First World War, union membership exceeded 10 million and cooperative membership reached over 7 million, maintaining broad contact with the masses of all nations. It established international holidays, namely International Workers' Day and International Women's Day, and pushed for the eight-hour workday movement. As the international organization leading the world proletarian revolutionary movement in the first half of the 20th century, the Comintern [7] greatly promoted the creation and development of Communist Parties in various countries, vigorously supported the workers' movements in capitalist countries, and accelerated the national liberation movements in colonial and semi-colonial countries. Regarding organizational development, at its founding, the Comintern consisted of only 13 proletarian parties formally named "Communist Party"; with the development of the world proletarian movement, by the time of its dissolution, there were 68 Communist Parties worldwide. In terms of anti-fascism, the Comintern provided early exposure of the reactionary and harmful nature of fascism, organizing and calling upon the broad masses of all countries to unite in the struggle against it, and promoting the establishment of the anti-imperialist united front and the anti-fascist people's front. The series of organizational activities by proletarian international organizations directly manifested the internationalist spirit and greatly propelled the process of proletarian revolution and the cause of human progress.
III. The Thought and Practice of the Communist Party of China's Persistence in Maintaining a Global Vision over the Past Century
As a proletarian party, the Communist Party of China (CPC) has, over its century-long course of development, not only greatly enriched the Marxist ideas of international proletarian alignment and internationalism—integrating them with China’s specific realities and fine traditional Chinese culture to form a Chinese expression of internationalism—but has also consistently upheld the internationalist spirit. It has proposed Chinese solutions and made Chinese contributions to resolving the difficult problems of humanity, the challenges of the world, and global issues.
(1) Supporting the liberation struggles of the broad masses of oppressed nations
From its very inception, the CPC has persisted in examining its own development and the revolutionary cause it leads through a global lens. On the one hand, it positioned China’s New Democratic Revolution [8] as an important component of the world proletarian revolution, striving for the support of international forces of justice for the cause of the Chinese revolution and actively developing relations with proletarian parties and progressive forces worldwide. It strengthened ties with the Comintern; in 1921, with the direct participation of the Comintern, the CPC held its First National Congress. In 1922, the Second National Congress of the CPC formally confirmed that the CPC was a branch of the Comintern, and under the guidance of the Comintern, the Party’s Sixth National Congress was held in Moscow. Meanwhile, large numbers of party members and young intellectuals went to the Soviet Union for study, and early CPC leaders such as Zhang Tailei participated directly in the work of the Comintern. On the other hand, the Party opposed the exploitation, plunder, and aggression of oppressed nations by imperialist powers, supporting the liberation movements of the broad masses of oppressed nations. Especially in the war against fascism, China became the main theater in the East. The CPC took the lead in raising the curtain on the world anti-fascist war, promoted the establishment of the Chinese People's United Front against Japanese Aggression, held high the banner of the international anti-fascist united front, and conducted independent anti-Japanese diplomacy. In the world anti-fascist war, China and other nations supported one another, making important contributions to the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. All of this eloquently proves that "the Communist Party of China is both a powerful promoter of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and a firm defender of the cause of human peace and justice."
(2) Continuously expanding the global forces for peace and democracy
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Chinese Communists consistently planned and promoted the development of the New China from the perspective of the international situation, the world structure, and global trends. During the period of socialist revolution and construction, the Party led the people in achieving the transition from New Democracy to socialism, carrying out socialist revolution and promoting socialist construction. This realized the most extensive and profound social transformation in the history of the Chinese nation and achieved the great leap of a populous Eastern country—once impoverished and backward—striding into a socialist society. This laid the fundamental political prerequisites and institutional foundations for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Chinese Communists resolutely opposed imperialism, hegemonism, colonialism, and racism, carried forward the international communist spirit of striving for the cause of human peace, and made the historic decision to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea [9] to protect the home and defend the country. In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, China resisted the aggressive expansion of US imperialism, shattered the myth of US imperialist invincibility, and defended peace in Asia and the world at the cost of great personal sacrifice. By objectively analyzing its own strength and changes in the international situation, the Party proposed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and the "Three Worlds" theory [10], which effectively united the broad masses of Third World countries and other types of nations, achieving strategic breakthroughs in diplomacy and restoring all lawful rights in the United Nations. The Party made a solemn commitment that China would never seek hegemony, and it supported and assisted the cause of liberation for oppressed nations, the construction of newly independent countries, and the just struggles of people in all nations. This not only thoroughly ended the humiliating diplomacy of old China, allowing it to become an important independent political force on the international stage and winning the respect and praise of the international community—especially from the broad developing world—but also promoted the establishment of an international united front for peace, effectively expanding the global forces for peace and democracy.
(3) Actively promoting world peace and development
During the new period of reform and opening up and socialist modernization, based on a summary of its own development process and the historical experiences (both positive and negative) of the international communist movement, the Party made the great decision to implement reform and opening up. This realized a strategic shift in the focus of the Party and state’s work and marked a great turning point of far-reaching significance in the Party's history since the founding of the PRC. Reform and opening up not only profoundly changed the face of China but also profoundly changed China’s mode of interaction with the world, as well as the international political and economic order and the global balance of power. In the historical process of reform and opening up, Chinese Communists actively adapted to the trends of economic globalization, world multipolarity, cultural diversity, and social informatization. They made a scientific judgment on the characteristics of the era and the international situation, proposing that peace and development are the themes of the present age, and led the Chinese people to unswervingly follow the path of peaceful development. They continuously expanded the opening up to the outside world, forming an all-round, multi-level, and wide-ranging structure of opening up; they proposed the four basic principles for inter-party relations: "independence, complete equality, mutual respect, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs." After fifteen years of arduous negotiations, China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, tightening its economic and trade ties with all countries and enabling China to truly and comprehensively integrate into the world. Taking a clear-cut stand against hegemonism and power politics, the Party actively built a new, just, and reasonable international political and economic order, actively carried out South-South cooperation, and supported the broad masses of developing countries in their independent development. It promoted the establishment of regional multilateral cooperation organizations, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area; hosted the Boao Forum for Asia; and participated in the G20 Leaders' Summit and APEC Economic Leaders' Meetings. These efforts not only created a favorable external environment for China's development but also effectively maintained world peace through China's own development. This gradually realized what Deng Xiaoping had said: "If by the end of this century our GNP quadruples to reach one trillion US dollars, China can contribute a bit more to humanity. If we spend another fifty years approaching the level of developed countries, then our country's contribution to humanity will be even greater."
(4) Promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity
The 18th National Congress of the CPC marked the entry of socialism with Chinese characteristics into a New Era. Changes in the world, the times, and history are unfolding in unprecedented ways; the uncertainty and instability of world development are increasing; and deficits in peace, development, security, and governance are worsening. "Black swan" and "gray rhino" events occur one after another, and human society faces unprecedented challenges. The world once again stands at a crossroads of history. After long-term development, the CPC has not only become a century-old party but also the world's largest governing party. Facing the world's changes unseen in a century, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has proposed a series of initiatives, programs, and propositions to solve realistic problems faced globally. On the one hand, China has successfully forged a Chinese-path modernization, creating a new form of human civilization and expanding the pathways for developing countries toward modernization. This provides a brand-new choice for those countries and nations in the world that wish to speed up their development while maintaining their independence. It breaks the shackles of Western modernization discourse and the confinement of its thinking, shatters the myth that "modernization equals Westernization," presents a new landscape different from the Western modernization model, and shows a new possibility for the progress of human civilization. On the other hand, China has proposed the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, the high-quality development of the "Belt and Road" Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the common values of all humanity. Standing at the height of the future and destiny of humanity, these initiatives provide profound answers to the question of the century: "What is wrong with the world, and what should we do?" In practice, China has consistently been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a defender of the international order, providing a new plan for the establishment of a just and reasonable international political and economic order and the reshaping of the global governance order.
(The author is currently the Party Committee Secretary and President of the Institute of Marxism Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)