China Shanghai – Chinese President Xi Jinping told the crowd gathered in Beijing that the era of “bullying” in China is over. As the Chinese Communist Party celebrates its centenary, anyone who attempts to split the party and the Chinese people is doomed to fail.

On the balcony above the portrait of Mao Zedong in Tiananmen Square, Xi Jinping gave a speech for more than an hour, telling the success of the party since its establishment in Shanghai in 1921.

In a speech full of confidence, accompanied by previous and current senior leaders of the party, he talked about how the party liberated China from the “exploitative” feudal system and created a “vibrant socialist market economy.” , Eliminated absolute poverty.

“Only socialism can save China, and only socialism with Chinese characteristics can develop China,” said Xi Jinping in a dark gray Mao suit.

In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party defeated the nationalists in the civil war, and Mao Zedong announced the establishment of the People’s Republic of China with the goal of lifting the people out of extreme poverty. China is now the second largest economy in the world, and Xi Jinping is considered China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.

The celebrations come as Beijing faces trade pressures — where tensions with countries such as the United States and Australia have increased — and its policies in the far-western Xinjiang region, as well as Hong Kong and Tibet. There are also questions about the COVID-19 pandemic, which appeared in the center of Wuhan and continues to cause severe damage worldwide.

Under the leadership of an increasingly confident party and state, Xi Jinping warned that any attempt to split the party and the people is “doomed to fail.”

Although China “welcomes[d] Friendly suggestions from all over the world,” Xi Jinping said, the country will not accept “arrogant lectures.”

The loudest applause and cheers rang out. Xi Jinping said that the Chinese people “will no longer allow any foreign forces to bully and oppress us” and anyone who tries to do so will be “overwhelmed by the perseverance of the Chinese nation.”

“No one should underestimate the will and strength of the Chinese nation to fight foreign forces,” Xi Jinping added.

When Xi Jinping delivered a speech in Beijing, a series of celebratory posts appeared on social media.

Almost all the landing pages of social media platforms have well-designed celebration posters; in WeChat Moments, it is roughly equivalent to Facebook’s dynamic messages, where people post congratulatory messages and photos with the words “Happy Birthday-Our Great Communist Party” ; On Weibo, China’s Twitter-like social media platform, the CCP’s 100-year-old topic swept the list of hot-searched topics, and the topic #CCPTurns100Today had more than 5 billion hits.

“We can do anything!”

The centennial celebration in Beijing began with a flyby, and about 30 military aircraft formed a “100” in the sky above the cheering crowd. There were also trumpets and horns playing communist songs, and a 100-gun salute was fired into the sky during the extravagant celebration of national pride.

The party’s centennial celebration is being held in Beijing and across the country [Roman Pilipey/EPA]

In airports and train stations, billboards, posters, and promotional materials on TV and social media, China has become a popular celebrity of the Communist Party.

In Longnan, northwestern Gansu Province, this was a transit point for the great March Chinese Communist fighters in 1934. Party flags were hung on the roofs of every household, and huge erections were erected in the weeks leading up to July 1. Hammer and sickle statue.

The town has become a popular spot for “red tourism”.

“We are all proud party members, and we want to come here to pay tribute to the older generation of revolutionaries,” Ms. Guan, a party member from Shaanxi, told Al Jazeera to tour the town in front of a huge hammer and sickle while taking a photo with other party members.

Longnan is not the only town celebrating the birth of the country’s ruling party.

The entire country was mobilized to celebrate this day—from the big city Shanghai where the CCP was founded and the first party congress—to the small Xinjiang towns where Beijing was accused of suppressing the rights of Uyghur minorities.

Although the overall mood is high, there are also complaints that preparations for activities hinder daily life. Before the celebrations began, Beijing installed special security checks for passengers heading to Beijing. The roads around Tiananmen Square were closed for several days, and police and paramilitary forces were deployed in almost every corner of the city.

Wu, the concert conductor based in Shanghai, said that throughout June and July, almost all her freelance performances were cancelled because of the “special period” that requires “strict control of what can be allowed.”

Important political venues such as towns along the Long March have become popular destinations for the party’s 100-year “red tourism”.Here, a group of tourists wearing replica Red Army uniforms shouted slogans at the Yingshan Long March Spiritual Experience Park in Huanggang City, Hubei Province [Stringer/AFP]

Wu, who requested anonymity, said: “I don’t really care about the celebrations, but I can accept it-but at least they shouldn’t cancel so many music festivals and concerts.” “I don’t understand how sensitive this is.”

For Fu, a photographer in Anhui Province, strict restrictions meant that he could not purchase drones, which affected his work. Since June 11, all online platforms have been required to remove recreational drones to meet “relevant regulatory requirements”, and this measure will continue until July 15.

“I have become accustomed to such unnecessary and sometimes ridiculous measures,” Fu said, demanding that it be expressed only by a pseudonym. “I just hope that I can buy a drone as soon as possible so that I can continue my work.”

However, for the ruling party, these efforts are worthwhile.

For Chinese leaders, the real challenge is still overseas. Beijing is facing more and more criticism and censorship, not only on the Xinjiang issue, but also on the Hong Kong issue. In Hong Kong , It was accused of undermining the rights and freedoms guaranteed when Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

However, on the mainland, the Communist Party seems to have won unprecedented praise and loyalty.

“Without the Communist Party, there would be no New China,” wrote a famous Communist Party song. A century after the founding of the party, the Chinese people seem to generally agree with this sentiment, whether or not they are party members.

Beijing celebrates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China [Wu Hong/EPA]

Data released on Wednesday showed that the number of party members increased by 2.43 million last year, the largest increase since Xi Jinping became president in 2013.

A Weibo user commented in the live broadcast of the Tiananmen Square celebrations: “I am proud of a party member, and I am proud of being a Chinese.” “Under the leadership of the CCP, we can do everything!”