Hail the Sixtieth Anniversary of the People's Republic of China!

The Chinese People Have Stood Up! - Mao Zedong, First Plenary Session, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, September 21, 1949 (excerpts)

All Glory to the Chinese People!


Chairman Mao Zedong formally declares the establishment of People's Republic of China during a ceremony at Tian'anmen Square, October 1, 1949.

Sixty years ago, Mao Zedong stood before a vast throng of jubilant people in Tiananmen Square and declared the founding of the People's Republic of China.

"The Chinese people have stood up!" Mao proudly proclaimed. They had won their right to be through their own sacrifice and blood.

In liberated Beijing, capital of the courageous Chinese people, Mao Zedong spoke to the entire world:

"The era in which the Chinese people were regarded as uncivilized is now ended. We shall emerge in the world as a nation with an advanced culture. Our national defence will be consolidated and no imperialists will ever again be allowed to invade our land. [...] Let the domestic and foreign reactionaries tremble before us! Let them say we are no good at this and no good at that. By our own indomitable efforts, we the Chinese people will unswervingly reach our goal. The heroes of the people who laid down their lives in the People's War of Liberation and the people's revolution shall live forever in our memory!

"Hail the victory of the People's War of Liberation and the people's revolution!

"Hail the founding of the People's Republic of China!"*

The leader of the Communist Party of China and the people of China announced to the world that the People's Republic of China was born with the defeat of the traitors and foreign occupiers. The Chinese people with arms in hand, organized and led by the Communist Party and People's Liberation Army had broken the back of the colonialist and imperialist invasion and occupation of China.

The Chinese revolution overthrew the forces of darkness and oppression based on the exploitation of the great masses of Chinese peasants and the plunder of China's wealth by foreign imperialists. The revolution laid the foundation for the transformation of China into a modern country with a mass industrial socialized economy, where a proletariat emerged as the leading and main force for change and contender for political power.

The victory of the Chinese revolution formed a block to the expansion of the U.S. Empire in Asia and the re-emergence of Japanese militarism. The People's Republic of China assumed its rightful place within the international community of nations with its own nation-building project independent of European and U.S. imperialism. This sent shockwaves throughout the world and gave confidence to millions of Chinese emigrants who had long suffered state-organized racist attacks. They now had a homeland that cared for their well-being and would not be silent in the face of racist abuse and exploitation. This great humanity moved forward and put the ugly term "coolie" in the dustbin of history alongside other derogatory terms for human beings used by exploiters, imperialists and slave masters.

6oth Anniversary celebration scene

A grand performance is staged at Tian'anmen Square in central Beijing during an evening gala as part of celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, October 1, 2009.

The victory of the founding of the People's Republic of China exposed U.S. imperialism for its true nature. The role of the U.S. in arming the Kuomintang reactionaries and directly intervening to stop the advance of the Chinese revolution smashed illusions generated by those espousing U.S. exceptionalism, that somehow U.S. imperialism was not aggressive and expansionist. The founding of the People's Republic of China, in spite of the efforts of U.S. imperialism to thwart the advance of the Chinese people, exposed in practice that the United States was in Asia as an empire-builder and not for the freedom and independence of the peoples of Asia from colonialism and not for progress over petty production, backwardness and poverty. U.S. imperialism's violent intervention and opposition to the Chinese revolution revealed that the U.S. was not a factor for peace and progress. The U.S. did not fight Japanese militarism to free Asia from the scourge of occupation, war and imperialist robbery. It engaged in the anti-Japanese war for its own narrow purposes and advantage to expand its empire, capture for itself Asia's natural resources and markets, and enslave as chattel labour the peoples of that great continent. This became clear with the attempts of the U.S. to smash the Chinese revolution, its occupation of Taiwan, Korea and Japan, the creation of permanent military bases throughout Asia, the positioning of its naval forces directly off the coast of China and the formation of a military pact with the same forces of Japanese militarism, which had just been defeated. The U.S. quickly assumed the defeated and discredited mantle of Japanese militarism and unleashed it against all those who stood in the way of its empire-building. The peoples of Asia inspired by the victory of the Chinese revolution and confident in their own cause for independence have since waged battle after battle against U.S. imperialism.

China's consolidation as an independent nation-building project with its own modern socialized economy has transformed not only the Chinese nation but also the world. China showed humanity that the way forward for developing countries in their struggle to transform their economies from petty to mass industrial production and to overcome backwardness and foreign oppression is through independence not only from direct colonial rule but also from imperialism. To rely on the centres of imperialism in the United States, Europe and Japan and their countless threads of exploitation, and not mobilize the people to overthrow their control is a dead end that leads to greater and more pernicious forms of oppression and exploitation. The People's Republic of China has proved that all countries during the period of transformation from the old forces of petty production to modern industrial production must at the same time free themselves from the imperialist system of states. They must have their own nation-building projects based on their own thought material and efforts and wrest control of their economies from the big powers. This truth is proved time and again when the imperialist centres in Europe, the United States and Japan attack any sign of independence within any country in the world. They do not want countries to follow the example of the People's Republic of China and become a further block to empire-building. This reality of anti-imperialist struggle once grasped, as it was in China under the leadership of the Communist Party, becomes a material force for liberation and change. Independence from the imperialist system of states can only emerge with the maximum political mobilization of the people to wage struggle in opposition to imperialism. Independence is never delivered on a silver platter without a fight. This reality also explains why the imperialists still dream of undermining the Chinese people and re-conquering them once again. But the forces of progress and change will not allow it.

The momentum and focus of humanity, led in many ways by the victorious example of the People's Republic of China and enforced by the battles of all nations for their right to be, has begun to swing away from Europe and the United States. The peoples of Asia, Africa, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Mexico and others refuse to be bullied and dominated by the European powers, U.S. imperialism and Japanese militarism. This great humanity has said "enough" and is marching on the road of progress and the negation of imperialism. For this, the world gives thanks to the heroic contributions of the Chinese people led by Chairman Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China.

All Glory to the Chinese People!
Hail the Sixtieth Anniversary of the People's Republic of China!

* Quotation from Mao Zedong's "Opening address at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference" September 21, 1949.

For Your information

The Chinese People Have Stood Up!

- Opening address by Mao Zedong at the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, September 21, 1949 (excerpts) -

... It is because we have defeated the reactionary Kuomintang government backed by U.S. imperialism that this great unity of the whole people has been achieved. In a little more than three years the heroic Chinese People's Liberation Army, an army such as the world has seldom seen, crushed all the offensives launched by the several million troops of the U.S.-supported reactionary Kuomintang government and turned to the counter-offensive and the offensive. At present the field armies of the People's Liberation Army, several million strong, have pushed the war to areas near Taiwan, Kwangtung, Kwangsi, Kweichow, Szechuan and Sinkiang, and the great majority of the Chinese people have won liberation. In a little more than three years the people of the whole country have closed their ranks, rallied to support the People's Liberation Army, fought the enemy and won basic victory. And it is on this foundation that the present People's Political Consultative Conference is convened. [...]

The land force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army marches through Tiananmen Square during the People's Republic of China's nation founding day parade on October 1, 1949.

In a little more than three years the Chinese people, led by the Chinese Communist Party, have quickly awakened and organized themselves into a nation-wide united front against imperialism, feudalism, bureaucrat-capitalism and their general representative, the reactionary Kuomintang government, supported the People's War of Liberation, basically defeated the reactionary Kuomintang government, overthrown the rule of imperialism in China and restored the Political Consultative Conference.

The present Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is convened on an entirely new foundation; it is representative of the people of the whole country and enjoys their trust and support. Therefore, the conference proclaims that it will exercise the functions and powers of a National People's Congress. [...]

Fellow Delegates, we are all convinced that our work will go down in the history of mankind, demonstrating that the Chinese people, comprising one quarter of humanity, have now stood up. The Chinese have always been a great, courageous and industrious nation; it is only in modern times that they have fallen behind. And that was due entirely to oppression and exploitation by foreign imperialism and domestic reactionary governments. For over a century our forefathers never stopped waging unyielding struggles against domestic and foreign oppressors, including the Revolution of 1911 led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, our great forerunner in the Chinese revolution. Our forefathers enjoined us to carry out their unfulfilled will. And we have acted accordingly. We have closed our ranks and defeated both domestic and foreign oppressors through the People's War of Liberation and the great people's revolution, and now we are proclaiming the founding of the People's Republic of China. From now on our nation will belong to the community of the peace-loving and freedom-loving nations of the world and work courageously and industriously to foster its own civilization and well-being and at the same time to promote world peace and freedom. Ours will no longer be a nation subject to insult and humiliation. We have stood up. Our revolution has won the sympathy and acclaim of the people of all countries. We have friends all over the world. [...]

Internationally, we must unite with all peace-loving and freedom-loving countries and peoples, and first of all with the Soviet Union and the New Democracies, so that we shall not stand alone in our struggle to safeguard these fruits of victory and to thwart the plots of domestic and foreign enemies for restoration .

The era in which the Chinese people were regarded as uncivilized is now ended. We shall emerge in the world as a nation with an advanced culture. Our national defence will be consolidated and no imperialists will ever again be allowed to invade our land. [...]

Let the domestic and foreign reactionaries tremble before us! Let them say we are no good at this and no good at that. By our own indomitable efforts we the Chinese people will unswervingly reach our goal.

The heroes of the people who laid down their lives in the People's War of Liberation and the people's revolution shall live forever in our memory!

Hail the victory of the People's War of Liberation and the people's revolution!

Hail the founding of the People's Republic of China!

Hail the triumph of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference!

 

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