On the morning of July 1, 2021, the ceremony marking the centenary of the Communist Party of China was solemnly held in the Tian’anmen Square in Beijing. The Department of International Training (DIT) of the Army Engineering University of PLA invited the cadets of 2018 and 2019 to watch the celebration. All the cadets felt refreshed and encouraged, and spontaneously conducted in-depth study of President Xi’s important speech delivered at the ceremony.
Staying True to Our Original Aspiration — — Standing Firm with “the People”
Javier, a cadet from the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, was deeply impressed by the word “people”: “I noticed that President Xi has been repeating a word in his speech——people. President Xi said, ‘The people are the true heroes, for it is they who create history.' ‘This country is its people; the people are the country.’ When the teacher told us about the history of the Communist Party of China last semester, she also said that the purpose of the Communist Party of China is to serve the people wholeheartedly. The three years of personal experience in China has given me a deeper understanding of this sentence, because China has really been doing so. The development is for the people, and the fruits of development are shared by the people, and this sharing is not only for the Chinese people, but also for the people of the world.”
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, China has always put the people and life above everything else, protecting people’s lives and health at all costs. In the face of the severe international epidemic situation, China has actively provided as much anti-epidemic assistance as it can to countries in need. “On February 10 this year, China provided my country with a batch of COVID-19 vaccines, which was greeted by our Vice President Mangue personally at the airport. Equatorial Guinea is the first country in Africa to receive China’s COVID-19 vaccine assistance.”
Equality and Cooperation — — Writing a “New Chapter of A Major Country”
When talking about the 100-year journey of the CPC depicted by President Xi, Second Lieutenant Camara of the Guinean Army had his own in-depth understanding of “following the path with Chinese characteristics”: “The Communist Party of China (CPC) can always adapt to the new situation and come up with new ways. The process of leading the Chinese people to carry out the revolution is not plain sailing. In the face of enemies who were much stronger than itself, the CPC could always actively think and explore, innovate methods, and deal with various challenges flexibly. The ever-changing strategy of Chairman Mao leading the Red Army to cross Chishui River four times during the Long March, which the teacher told us in the class of Introduction to Chinese History, is a good testament to this point.”
As to how to embark on the new journey, Camara strongly agrees with the importance of international cooperation: “No one can pick up a pen with one finger, on the global stage, the relationship between countries is very close, so we should advocate mutual cooperation and mutual benefits, just as President Xi said in his speech, “we will continue to champion cooperation over confrontation, and we must continue working to promote the building of a human community with a shared future.”
Speaking of “cooperation”, Camara emphasized: “Equal exchanges are the basis of cooperation between countries. All countries, big or small, strong or weak, should be treated equally. Today’s China is very strong, but it has not invaded others, nor has it sought hegemony. Instead, it respects every country and conducts dialogue and exchange with every country on an equal footing. Therefore, equality is very important!”
Joseph, a Tanzanian cadet, mentioned the cooperation between Tanzania and China when talking about the international cooperation in the new era. “President Xi said in his speech that ‘China has always worked to safeguard world peace, contribute to global development, and preserve international order.’ There is a railway between my country and Zambia called TAZARA, and we also call it Uhuru Railway (Freedom Road). This railway has a total length of 1860.5 kilometers and was built for us by China. It provides a new access to the sea for landlocked African countries,” Joseph said. “I especially like to communicate with Chinese, and during chatting with some senior Chinese, I learned that many of their generation had ever taken part in engineering construction projects aid by China in African countries. Whenever they mentioned the railway, I would proudly say, ‘I’m from Tanzania!’ I am here now, which is a favorable witness to the friendly cooperation between China and Africa and between China and Tanzania!”
