Marking 1911 Revolution Anniversary

XI: “GREAT AND ARDUOUS EXPLORATION” BY CHINESE PEOPLE AND PROGRESSIVES TO ACHIEVE NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE.

China held a high-profile meeting in Beijing to mark the 110th anniversary of the Revolution of 1911 that ended the thousands-year-long absolute monarchy in the country.

Speaking at the Great Hall of the People, President Xi Jinping hailed the revolution as a “great and arduous exploration” by the Chinese people and progressives to achieve national independence and the people’s liberation.

President Xi who is also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called for promoting the great spirit of revolutionary pioneers and pooling strength for national rejuvenation.

Asia’s first republic

Starting with gunfire in Wuchang, now part of central China’s Wuhan City, on October 10, 1911, the national democratic revolution launched by Chinese revolutionaries represented by Dr Sun Yat-sen brought down the Qing government and brought about the establishment of Asia’s first republic.

The revolution “helped to greatly liberate the thinking of the Chinese people, spread the ideas of democracy and republicanism, and opened the floodgates for progress in China,” Xi said.

It triggered a social transformation in China and led to the search for a path to national rejuvenation, which has been the greatest dream of the Chinese people since the Opium War of 1840.

What have been learned

Expounding on what the past 110 years have shown to the Chinese people, President Xi said to realise national rejuvenation, the Chinese people must have a strong force to lead them forward, and that force is the CPC.

“The past 110 years have shown us that to realise national rejuvenation, the path we take is of fundamental importance. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has proven to be the only correct path,” he said.

To realise national rejuvenation, China needs not only a stable and united domestic environment but also a peaceful and stable international environment, Xi noted.

Xinhua