Tung Chee-hwa was interviewed in a special interview on the CCP's centenary: from raising his head to the struggle of "looking at the world at a glance."

(Centenary Of the Communist Party of China) Tung Chee-hwa was interviewed in a special interview on the centenary of the COMMUNIST Party: The struggle from raising his head to "looking at the world at a glance."

China News Service, Hong Kong, 29 Jun (Cny- China News Service) Title: Tung Chee-hwa Gave a Special Interview to the CPC for a Hundred Years: The Struggle from Raising His Head to "Looking At the World At a Glance."

China News Service reporter Zeng Jia and Liu Chenyao

July 1 marks the centenary of the Communist Party of China and the 24th anniversary of the return of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. In an exclusive interview with a reporter from the China News Agency recently, Tung Chee-hwa, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that the history of the past hundred years has fully demonstrated that China's development from being poor and weak to being harmonious and stable, and the country is strong and the people are rich, which is the result of the CPC leading the people of the whole country to struggle.

Tung Chee-hwa, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the first chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said in an exclusive interview with a china news agency reporter recently that the history of the past hundred years has fully demonstrated that China's development from being poor and weak to being harmonious and stable, and the country is strong and the people are strong and the people are the results of the CPC in leading the people of the whole country to struggle. Photo by Li Zhihua, a reporter of China News Service

Borrowing the words of President Xi Jinping, the first chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region told the young people of Hong Kong that China can already "look at the world with a straight face", and he encouraged young people to look at the splendid rivers and mountains of the country, look at the Mars photos of "Tianwen-1", and proudly become participants, contributors and achievers of the Chinese dream in their posts.

China News Service: On the occasion of the CPC's centennial anniversary, how do you evaluate the CPC's ability to govern?

Tung Chee-hwa: At the historical moment of the CPC's centenary, we need to have a retrospective, a closer look, and a prospect: Look back at the many disasters and difficulties of our nation when the CPC founded the PARTY a hundred years ago; look closely at the 1.4 billion compatriots today who have created a miracle in the world with unremitting struggle; and look forward to what brilliant the sons and daughters of China will create when the centenary of the founding of New China is born in 2049! My confidence comes from the unity and struggle of the Chinese people and the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China.

"Facts" are the best commentators, and only by objectively viewing China's development from the perspective of history can we correctly evaluate the CPC's ability to govern. What was China like a hundred years ago? Poverty accumulates and the great powers are surrounded, and the great power of China has become the "sick man of East Asia." After the founding of the Communist Party of China, it has traveled through thousands of mountains and rivers, endured countless hardships, and led generations of Chinese to walk through a difficult and tortuous road of exploration from top to bottom.

Facts speak louder than words, and the whole world can see it: the Communist Party of China has led the most populous country on the earth, from poverty and poverty to comprehensive well-off, lifting 800 million people out of poverty; the country has broken down from mountains and rivers to develop into the world's second largest economy, the largest manufacturing country, the largest country in goods trade, and the largest country in foreign exchange reserves. Surveys conducted by polling agencies in Western countries Chinese people's support for the government, which continues to exceed 90 percent. These ironclad facts are the most objective evaluation of the CPC's ability to govern.

Over the past four decades, China has also achieved sustainable economic development, sustainable social stability, and sustainable political system building. The result of these three "sustainable" is that people's lives are getting better and better every year. Especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, under the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the core, 1.4 billion people have united as one, made unremitting efforts to improve themselves, and continued to advance towards the goal of national prosperity, national rejuvenation and people's happiness. Practice has proved that the leadership of the Communist Party of China is an indispensable force for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

China News Service: When you were interviewed by our agency, you said that you yourself felt that "the ruling of the Communist Party of China is always listening to the voice of the people, and you know that what it is doing is doing for the people, which is a very successful thing." Can you elaborate on this view more specifically?

Tung Chee-hwa: The founding of the Communist Party of China a hundred years ago was for the people, and the founding of New China was a "people's republic." Don't forget the original intention, one hundred years later, President Xi Jinping's governance concept is to "govern for the people", always keep the interests of the people in mind, and put them in the first place in all work. Everyone often sees on tv footage that in the event of an earthquake, flood, and the new crown epidemic, Communist Party members always rush ahead, and officials at all levels always take the lead. These are visible news clips, and more importantly, invisible governance concepts, that is, before each policy is implemented, the well-being of the people is given the first consideration.

The COMMUNIST Party's historical mission of "ruling for the people" is timeless and new. Every era always has its own unique challenges and opportunities, and each generation also has their commitments and expectations. The Communist Party of China is constantly overcoming challenges, creating opportunities, and improving people's lives. This requires scientific research and judgment ability, extraordinary planning ability, flexible overall planning ability, comprehensive organizational ability, and efficient execution ability. The success of our country's Five-Year Plan, as well as the results of the fight against COVID-19, reflect the overall governance capacity of the ruling party and prove the great advantages of the Chinese system. "Ruling for the People" under the leadership of the Communist Party is not a campaign slogan for Western elections, but a program of action for wholehearted and all-out struggle.

I have had the privilege of participating in the work of the CPPCC National Committee for a long time, and I have a deep understanding of this. The greatest advantage of China's CPPCC system is that under the unified leadership of the CPC, the wisdom and strength of all sectors of society and all strata are gathered to the greatest extent possible to promote the "incremental development" of the country. The institutional design of deliberative democracy enables China to base itself on its national conditions and development needs and firmly move forward towards the great goal of national rejuvenation.

China News Service: In the process of its long-term ruling power, the CPC has also encountered twists and turns, how do you evaluate the CCP's ability to get out of the twists and turns and strive to achieve national prosperity and strength?

Tung Chee-hwa: The Communist Party of China (CPC) is one of the longest-running political parties in the world, and instead of copying and copying others in its entirety, it never blindly imitates them, but in light of China's actual conditions, it has constantly explored and forged a socialist road that suits China's national conditions. A century-old political party can flourish and flourish, and it is not easy to come by. The key to this, in my observation, is two main.

The Communist Party of China is a vigorous party that constantly studies, constantly improves itself, and constantly moves forward. Since the founding of the Party in 1921, the Communist Party has been able to rely on its own mechanism to correct the chaos and break new roads every time on the road of leading the revolution and even in the governance of the country. Historical practice has proved that the CCP has extraordinary self-correction ability and institutional innovation ability.

The Communist Party of China is also an open-ended political party that "has a hundred rivers and a sea, and has tolerance and is great." In the early days, the CPC was led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants, but now it has absorbed all nationalities and sectors, representing the interests of the entire Chinese people. This spirit of openness and inclusiveness enables the CCP to get rid of the narrow concept of interests of Western political parties and lead the entire nation from standing up and getting rich to becoming strong.

And beautiful, NASA has also reported that in the process of global greening, China's contribution is the first in the world. Our country will surely become more and more beautiful, the beauty of civilization and the beauty of the soul.

China News Service: In recent years, Hong Kong has encountered unprecedented challenges, how do you view these challenges? Will this affect Hong Kong's important position in the world and the stability of "one country, two systems"?

Tung Chee-hwa: In recent years, a series of turmoil has occurred in Hong Kong, which has had a great impact on the rule of law and people's livelihood, and has also aggravated social rifts. However, it can be seen that in addition to the microclimate of Hong Kong, which is deeply contradictory in its own society, it is also inseparable from the international climate of geopolitical changes in the new era, the hidden dangers left by the British government of Hong Kong, and the intervention of external forces, and the challenges encountered by Hong Kong in the past two years have exceeded the ability of the SAR government to deal with. If the central authorities had not cleared up the source and taken a decisive shot, Hong Kong would have faced a crisis of deterioration.

At the crucial moment of major issues of right and wrong, the central authorities have made judgments and arrangements from a strategic and overall perspective in line with their determination to safeguard the constitutional order of "one country, two systems," the concept of ruling for the people, and the purpose of safeguarding the well-being of Hong Kong citizens. First of all, the National Security Law was used to stop violence and control chaos, and then through improving the election system, to ensure that patriots govern Hong Kong, it provided a solid foundation for Hong Kong's long-term peace and stability, and enabled Hong Kong to embark on the road from chaos and governance, from governance to prosperity.

"One country, two systems" gives Hong Kong the most powerful institutional advantages, not only to protect Hong Kong's capitalist system, maintain Hong Kong's status as an international financial center and an international business and trade center, but also allow Hong Kong to catch the national economic express, fully integrate into the development of the Greater Bay Area, integrate into the overall situation of national development, develop the prospects of science and technology innovation centers, and complement and coordinate development with the advantages of the mainland. With such an advantage, I am full of confidence in Hong Kong. The international community will eventually understand that the Hong Kong issue is purely China's internal affair, and respect and appreciate the necessary measures and good intentions made by the Chinese government to achieve stability and long-term development of "one country, two systems".

China News Service: On the occasion of the centenary of the Communist Party of China, what are your expectations and messages for the youth of Hong Kong?

Tung Chee-hwa: The history of the past hundred years has fully illustrated a truth: Our country has developed from being poor and weak to being harmonious and stable, a strong country and a prosperous people, which is the result of the struggle of the people of the whole country led by the Communist Party of China.

In the past, young people in Hong Kong always unconsciously "looked up" to the West and did not have a thorough understanding of their own national culture and national development. Now, I would like to borrow President Xi's words to tell the young people in Hong Kong that China can already "look at the world head-on." Young people should look up, look at the splendid rivers and mountains of the motherland, look at the historical achievements of the all-round well-off, look at the stoic anti-epidemic epic, look at the Mars photos of "Tianwen-1", and look at the ordinary and moving Chinese dream of 1.4 billion people.

The 100-year journey is magnificent and timeless. From looking up to the world, what a humble request, what an exciting struggle, what a great leap forward, and what an inspiring achievement. Today's young people should proudly become participants, contributors and achievers of the Chinese dream in their own posts. (End)

Source: China News Network