The centennial history of the Communist Party of China and its historical significance

The Republic of Cuba is the only socialist country in the Western Hemisphere for more than half a century and the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China.

In recent years, with the continuous deepening of the renewal of Cuba's social and economic model, the Cuban academic community has paid great attention to the historical experience of the Communist Party of China's governance.

Dear Professor Maria Elena Alvarez Acosta (hereinafter referred to as "Alvarez"), Hello! Thank you so much for talking to us. The year 2021 will mark the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.

As a senior scholar in Cuba who studies the history of the Communist Party of China and Chinese issues, could you share with us your experience in researching the Communist Party of China over the years?

For example, what historical role did the Communist Party of China play in China's new-democratic revolution and socialist construction? In fact, no matter what viewpoint one holds,

even those who have historical prejudices against the Communist Party of China cannot deny the building achievements of this Asian power - China has become a world-class country in scientific, technological, economic and social fields.

As early as the 1970s, I began to study Chinese history and started some university courses.

However, there are indeed numerous difficulties and challenges on the road of Chinese studies, especially those on major events, historical phenomena and development processes.

For many years, the "stereotyping" of Asian society, African society and Middle East society, including China, still occupies the mainstream of the research trend in the international academic circle.

The fundamental reason for this phenomenon lies in the imposition of Western paradigm and the spread of Eurocentrism. Therefore, from an objective point of view, according to the historical characteristics of various societies and the cultural characteristics of peoples, it is imperative to rediscover the real world history.

In the study of China, an ancient country with thousands of years of civilization, we must especially observe the characteristics of Chinese history and culture in the study. On this basis, we need to deeply understand the historical inevitability and particularity of old China's choice of socialism and New China's choice of reform and opening up.

The discussion on the historical role of the Communist Party of China in academic circles has both great historical significance and certain practical difficulties.

For example, the academic community has always had different opinions and understandings about the historical role played by the Communist Party of China in the historical process of the anti-fascist war, the realization of national independence and the promotion of socialist reform.

The reason for the formation of these different research cognition lies in the conflict between the Chinese research perspective and the Western research perspective, and the conflict between the Chinese academic research resources and the materials selected by the Western academic research resources.

In fact, a lot of research in Western academia is not objective, and distorting facts even becomes a "habit". Some Chinese studies based on Western values lack a basic understanding of China's national and historical traditions.

For scholars who have studied China and the CPC for a long time, different research perspectives and viewpoints are both a challenge and a help, and it is these different perspectives and viewpoints that are conducive to a more objective and scientific understanding of China.

This research method is essentially Marxist-Leninist. In 2015, the Cuban People's Education Press published the textbook Asia: Colonization and Decolonization, which I edited to help Cubans better understand Chinese history and the leadership of the Communist Party of China.

What major changes do you think have taken place in China under the leadership of the Communist Party of China? What is the historical role of the Communist Party of China in China's revolution, construction and reform?

Alvarez: From the perspective of modern world history, neither Chinese history nor world history is complete without the Communist Party of China.

Since its founding in 1921, the Communist Party of China has rewritten the history of this Asian country and led the Chinese people to make remarkable progress and achievements: combining Chinese tradition and reality, opening up a socialist path with Chinese characteristics;

Adjusting the socialist line, principles and policies according to local conditions and keeping pace with The Times; Consolidate the Party's political leadership while carrying out social and economic correction and adjustment;

To combat all kinds of reactionary remarks and undesirable tendencies that try to weaken the Party's leading position; Win the support and support of the broad masses of the people for the cause of socialism; To guide the internal and external policies of the Party and the state.