Even Mountains and Seas Cannot Come between People with Common Aspirations

Shared Ideals: The Communist Party of China and Its Cherished Friends from Around the World

Author: Shan Wei

Price: RMB 119

Paperback, 196 pages Published by Foreign Languages Press

AT the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said that the CPC has always paid great attention to the progress and future of humanity, moving ahead hand in hand with all international friends from around the world.

The Chinese people have never forgotten and will not forget the international friends who worked closely with the CPC through hard times, established an enduring friendship with the Chinese people, and made important contributions to the noble cause of peace and development of the Chinese nation and the global community. Those great friendships gave rise to the book Shared Ideals: The Communist Party of China and Its Cherished Friends from Around the World .

All the international friends mentioned in the book, selected from different historical periods, had fought side by side with the CPC and helped the Chinese people in their national liberation movement. Their moving stories have inspired more international friends to participate in China’s socialist modernization drive and make even greater contributions to promoting Chineseforeign exchanges and cooperation, safeguarding world peace, and building a community with a shared future for humankind.

The author Shan Wei works at the Institute of Party History and Literature of the CPC Central Committee, and his research focuses on the history of the CPC and the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics. He pointed out that gratitude is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation. As the centenary of the founding of the CPC is celebrated, it will always be remembered that these international friends, with the great spirit of internationalism and without hesitation, have helped the CPC and the Chinese people; and since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, they have again played an indelible and momentous role in Chinese people’s pursuit of national rejuvenation.

The book consists of 18 chapters, with each chapter narrating the story of an international friend. Some of them are household names in China, such as Norman Bethune, Edgar Snow, George Hatem, and Israel Epstein; and some are less known, for example, Ivan Vasilevich Arkhipov, and Kenneth David Kaunda. They are doctors, journalists, and heads of nations or international organizations; and they come from the United States, Canada, France, Austria, New Zealand, Poland, Japan, Zambia, and Uruguay, covering almost every continent except for Antarctica.

The author said that to ensure the international friends mentioned in the book are inclusive and representative, they were chosen from those who love China and the Chinese people, who have participated in China’s major changes, from the national liberation movement and the socialist construction to reform and opening-up.

Ian Goodrum, a reporter with China Daily, commented that the book delves into a wide range of stories about international friends and the evaluation on their contributions in various fields is very convincing. The book includes the well-known stories of the Canadian doctor Norman Bethune and American journalist Edgar Snow who wrote the popular historical literature Red Star Over China , as well as other historical figures from developing countries, such as Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia’s founding president, and Vicente Rovetta, a member of the Uruguayan Communist Party, who published books on Mao Zedong Thought and on the Communist Party of China in Latin America.

From a historical perspective, these international friends include those who came to China during the early revolutionary period of China, as well as those who came after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, which highlights that China has always been attractive to people with shared ideals from the global community. The book also introduces some world-renowned figures, such as former Japanese prime minister Ohira Masayoshi and former president of the International Olympic Committee Juan Antonio Samaranch. Ordinary people are also written about in the book, such as the Indian doctor Dwarkanath Kotnis, whose contributions have been an indispensable part of the Chinese nation’s peaceful development.

On July 23, the China International Publishing Group hosted the book’s launching ceremony, together with a seminar on the enduring spirit of the international friends. Eric Foster, a descendant of the Edgar Snow family, attended the seminar and expressed his gratitude. He said that his forefather went through hardships and visited Yan’an, the revolutionary base of the CPC and the Red Army, and wrote the book Red Star Over China, with the hope of letting more people understand the history of and his love for the great nation of China.

Danilo Türk, former president of Slovenia, said in a video speech that the historic changes that have taken place in China over the past century are a testament to the Chinese people’s perseverance, strength, and wisdom. Over the past 40-plus years of reform and opening-up, China has made remarkable achievements, for example, the elimination of extreme poverty and great improvement of its people’s well-being. China has adhered to the approach of people-oriented development, improved people’s livelihood, and moved forward onto a new road towards further development, he said.

Michael Crook, chairman of the International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives (ICCIC) and founder of the Western Academy of Beijing, said that he had personally witnessed the construction and rapid development of new China under the leadership of the CPC. He believes that a peaceful environment is the key to economic and social development. And the CPC has been leading China, once a poor and weak country suffering from imperial powers’ bullying and invasion, to walk in the path of peaceful development towards prosperity.

These international friends, young and old, with their lofty ideals, came from all walks of life from around the world. Many of them who came to China and supported the Chinese people’s resistance against Japanese invaders chose to stay and devoted themselves to the post-war recovery and reconstruction work. They all regarded China as their second homeland where they could realize their ideals. In this sense, the publication of this book is not just to share the touching stories of these international friends and the ideals they shared with the Chinese people, but also expresses deep gratitude to them and their successors. ■