Chinese President Xi Jinping

‘Both history and reality tell us that only socialism can save China.’

BEIJING: Developed Western nations have long-term economic, technological and military advantages over China and the Communist Party has to realise some people will use the West’s strong points to criticise socialism’s failings, said President Xi Jinping.

Since assuming power in China more than six years ago, Xi has ramped up efforts to ensure total party loyalty and discipline, including a sweeping crackdown on corruption, warning that the party’s very survival is at stake.

Yesterday, leading party theoretical journal Qiushi, meaning “seeking truth”, published lengthy excerpts for the first time from a speech Xi gave in 2013 shortly after becoming party boss, warning of the dangers the party faces.

Citing Marx and Engels, Xi said socialism would inevitably vanquish capitalism, but it would be a long historical process.

He said China must appraise the objective reality of the long-term advantage Western developed countries had in the economic, scientific and military fields and prepare for all aspects of longterm cooperation and struggle between the two social systems.

He said the party must “face the reality that some people compare the good qualities of Western developed nations with the insufficiencies of our country’s socialist development and offer criticism of it”.

While the party had committed “big mistakes”, like the Cultural Revolution, when children turned on parents and students on teachers after Mao Zedong declared class war, the party’s history was “generally speaking glorious”, Xi said.

Those who criticise the revolution, which brought the Communist Party to power in 1949, were simply trying to incite the overthrow of the party, he said.

But China needed to stick to its landmark economic reforms begun in 1978, without which the party could have fallen, he said.

“Both history and reality tell us that only socialism can save China. Only socialism with Chinese characteristics can develop China. This is the conclusion of history and the choice of the people.”