On 1 July, H.E. Consul General Wang Yu published a signed article entitled “Understanding CPC, China’s Governing Party” in the local newspapers Australian Chinese Daily and Chinese Daily Herald. The full text is as follows:

Different from Australia’s two-party system, China practices the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Under this system, the CPC, as the governing party, together with 8 other democratic parties, enjoy long-term cooperation and mutual oversight. With the deep trust and wholehearted support of the Chinese people, the CPC has grown from a small party with just over 50 members into the largest governing party in the world, with more than 100 million members and over 5 million primary-level Party organizations in a country of more than 1.4 billion people. Under the leadership of the CPC, China has grown from an impoverished nation where people struggled to meet basic living needs into the world’s second-largest economy, emerging from poverty and weakness, blazing a path of Chinese modernization, and creating the two miracles of rapid economic development and long-term social stability.

To truly understand China, one need to understand the CPC and its governance philosophy and cultural genes. On 1 July, we celebrated the 105th founding anniversary of the CPC. From a cultural perspective, let me walk you through CPC’s philosophy and genes.

First, advocating benevolence and stressing people-centred development. The benevolence thought in the traditional Chinese culture was mainly represented by Confucianism, which advocates benevolence, kindness, filial piety, loyalty, tolerance. Confucius held that being benevolent meant loving others, and Mencius believed that benevolent governance meant loving the people. The traditional people-centred development thought can be traced to Shangshu, China’s first written historical record completed in the 5th century. B.C., which held that the people are the base of a state. After that, the philosophical idea in which the Book of Mencius said that “the people are the most important, the power the less important and the monarch the least important” has run through the Chinese history.

The CPC has inherited and carried forward the traditional values. Since the very day of its founding, the Party has made seeking happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation its aspiration and mission, put the people above everything else, and made tremendous sacrifices for the well-being of the people. From 1921 to 1949, there were more than 3.7 million CPC martyrs whose names could be verified gave their lives for liberation. And over 1,800 CPC members sacrificed their lives during the poverty alleviation fight, fulfilling with their precious lives the original aspiration and oath of Communists to “stand ready at all times to sacrifice everything for the Party and the people.”

Second, keeping the faith and upholding justice. Faith has always played an important role in China’s interpersonal communication, internal affairs and diplomacy. According to the Analects of Confucius, “being true in word and resolute in deed”, “to see what is right and not do it is cowardice” and “a monarch does not worry about scarcity but wealth disparity”. China’s diplomacy always values reciprocity and courtesy, upholding sincerity and good faith. China consistently advocates and dedicates to fairness and justice.

Today, unilateralism, hegemonism, bullying, and coercive practices are severely undermining our world. The more turbulent and complex the international situation becomes, the more we must uphold and defend the authority of the U.N., firmly uphold the U.N.-centered international system, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter. China always decides its position and policy on issues based on their own merits, stands for respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, practices true multilateralism, resolutely resists all forms of hegemonism and power politics, and steadily promotes an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.

Third, upholding harmony and seeking great harmony. Peace, concord and harmony are ideas the Chinese nation has always carried forward. The HeHe (harmony) culture, which emphasizes the Chinese philosophical idea of the unity of man with heaven and the pursuit of harmony by seeking common ground while reserving differences, is the essence of the traditional Chinese culture. The CPC is dedicated to promoting human progress and world harmony, and the noble goal of China’s diplomacy is to build a community with a shared future for humanity, which is a direct reflection of the datong society, a dream cherished by the Chinese nation for thousands of years.

Having experienced bitter sufferings in the past, the CPC and Chinese people know the value of peace and development. China remains firm in pursuing an independent foreign policy of peace, adheres to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in pursuing friendship and cooperation with other countries. Now, the global deficits in peace, development, security and governance continue to widen unabated. To address these deficits, China have proposed to build a community with a shared future for humanity and put forward the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative as a way forward to steer the reform of the global governance system toward greater fairness and justice.

Today, transformations unseen in a century unfold at a faster pace. Humanity has once again come to a crossroads. There is a pressing need more than ever for countries around the world to enhance solidarity and cooperation, embrace a broad vision to rise above estrangement and conflict. The CPC remains true to its original aspiration, maintains a global vision, and stands ready to work with Australia and all other partners, in the spirit of openness, inclusiveness, solidarity and cooperation, to appreciate the beauty of each civilization, bridge differences, and jointly create a brighter future for our planet.