136-814: Zhang Guotao (November 26, 1897 – December 3, 1979) was a Chinese revolutionary who was a founding member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and rival to Mao Zedong . During the 1920s he studied in the Soviet Union and became a key contact with the Comintern , organizing the CCP labor movement in the United Front with the Kuomintang . From 1931 to 1932, after the Party had been driven from
272-569: A Canadian Press reporter, "I have washed my hands of politics". In 1978, he converted to Christianity under the influence of a Chinese scholar, Zhang Li Sang. After suffering several strokes, he died in a Scarborough, Ontario, nursing home on December 3, 1979, at the age of 82. He is buried in the Pine Hills Cemetery in Scarborough. Zhang was highly critical of the proceedings of the first PRC Police leader Luo Ruiqing during
408-507: A wide range of serious social problems . To address these, Hu introduced two main ideological concepts: the " Scientific Outlook on Development " and " Harmonious Society ". Hu resigned from his post as CCP general secretary and Chairman of the CMC at the 18th National Congress held in 2012, and was succeeded in both posts by Xi Jinping. Since taking power, Xi has initiated a wide-reaching anti-corruption campaign , while centralizing powers in
544-545: A Red Army officer named Gao Jingting [ zh ] to chairman of the Eyuwan Soviet. Gao had a reputation for brutality against rich peasants and landlords. In order to "comb out" rich peasants, any Red army soldiers who were literate were dismissed. The purges led to opposition against Zhang from wide sections of the party and peasantry. They eventually came to an end during the latter half of 1932. Soldiers who had been purged for their literacy but had stayed with
680-568: A Russian noblewoman and typesetter named Lisa Kishkin (Elizaveta Pavlovna Kishkina; Russian : Елизавета Павловна Кишкина ; Chinese : 李莎 , d. 2015 ), who would later migrate to China with Li. But Li's old friend Mao did not forget about him. Li was elected as member of the Central Committee of CCP in the 7th National Congress of the CCP held in Yan'an . In 1946, Li was sent back to China. Li first came to northeast China to work for
816-566: A city controlled by communist militias. Although the communists welcomed Chiang's arrival, he turned on them, massacring 5,000 with the aid of the Green Gang . Chiang's army then marched on Wuhan but was prevented from taking the city by CCP General Ye Ting and his troops. Chiang's allies also attacked communists; for example, in Beijing, Li Dazhao and 19 other leading communists were executed by Zhang Zuolin . Angered by these events,
952-420: A final letter to Mao. Li's biographer, Patrick Lescot, has cast doubt on the nature of Li's death. Li Sishen ( 李思慎 ), Li Lisan's personal secretary, later wrote he did not believe it possible Li Lisan could have had access to sufficient pills to kill himself. Li Sishen had been responsible for overseeing the issuing of the sleeping pills. He recalled arguing with Li Lisan, who wanted an extra pill each night as
1088-705: A high opinion of Li's organisational skills; a secret report prepared during their rural pacification campaign in 1928 explained why they were having particular difficulties in Anyuan: The reason the Communist Party has such a deeply rooted and firm foundation at Anyuan is because in the past the Communists carried out comprehensive 'red education' at Anyuan. Six or seven years ago, the Anyuan workers were all country bumpkins…Not one of them could stand up at
1224-607: A letter penned to the Human Rights Council supporting the policies as an effort to combat terrorism in the region. Celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the CCP's founding , one of the Two Centenaries , took place on 1 July 2021. In the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee in November 2021, CCP adopted a resolution on the Party's history , which for the first time credited Xi as being
1360-621: A limited counteroffensive by the CCP. The objective was clearing "Central China, strengthening North China, and recovering Northeast China." This operation, coupled with military desertions from the KMT, resulted in the KMT losing 2 million of its 3 million troops by the spring of 1948, and saw a significant decline in support for KMT rule. The CCP was consequently able to cut off KMT garrisons in Manchuria and retake several territories. The last stage, lasting from September 1948 to December 1949, saw
1496-624: A long time of redemption. In the next 15 years, Li suffered from rounds of reprimand, criticism , and purge . The Communist Party of the Soviet Union even refused to accept Li as a CCP member for several years. Moreover, when Wang Ming and Kang Sheng came back to Moscow as representatives of the CCP to the Comintern, they persecuted Li by every means available. The only comfort was that in the Soviet Union Li met, and later married,
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#17327655508631632-472: A meeting and say a word, let alone deliver a speech. Still less had any of them ever heard of organising anything. It was only after the Communist bandit Li Lisan went to Anyuan…that the knowledge of how to organise became widespread. Now workers were speaking up at public meetings and even giving lectures! The Communists at Anyuan greatly valued education but they did not mechanically evangelise Communism like
1768-463: A miracle. Western capitalism has suffered reversals, a financial crisis, a credit crisis, a crisis of confidence, and their self-conviction has wavered. Western countries have begun to reflect, and openly or secretively compare themselves against China's politics, economy and path." — Xi Jinping , on the inevitability of socialism The CCP views the world as organized into two opposing camps; socialist and capitalist. They insist that socialism, on
1904-403: A missionary cramming a religious belief into a worker's head. At first they focused on literacy and basic knowledge. Every week they convened lectures as well as workers' debate societies and study groups. In 1926, Li came to Wuhan , the labour work center of China to lead the labour work. Although Xiang Zhongfa , who later became general secretary of the CCP, was the top leader at that time, Li
2040-606: A split in the Red Army. The main disagreement was Zhang's insistence on moving southward to establish a new base in the region of Sichuan that was populated by ethnic minorities. Mao pointed out the flaws of such a move, pointing out the difficulties to establish any communist base in regions where the general populace was hostile, and insisted on moving northward to reach the communist base in Shaanxi . Zhang tried to have Mao and his followers arrested and killed if needed, but his plan
2176-491: A telegram to call Li to Moscow for repentance. Pavel Mif , president of Moscow Sun Yat-sen University and mentor of the 28 Bolsheviks, went to Shanghai as an envoy of the Comintern also. Under Mif's direction, the 4th Plenary Meeting of 6th National Congress of the CCP was held. Li was replaced by Mif's protégé, Wang Ming , and his associates in the 28 Bolsheviks took other important jobs. Li went to Moscow for his confession and repentance. But he did not know it would be such
2312-409: Is a largely separate group of professionalized military officers, serving under top CCP leadership largely through formal relationships within institutional channels. The CCP ratified Jiang's Three Represents concept for the 2003 revision of the party's constitution, as a "guiding ideology" to encourage the party to represent "advanced productive forces, the progressive course of China's culture, and
2448-415: Is considerable optimism within the CCP that despite the current capitalist dominance of globalization, globalization can be turned into a vehicle supporting socialism. While foreign analysts generally agree that the CCP has rejected orthodox Marxism–Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought (or at least basic thoughts within orthodox thinking), the CCP itself disagrees. Critics of the CCP argue that Jiang Zemin ended
2584-466: Is identified with a distinct extension of the ideology of the party. Historians have studied various periods in the development of the government of the People's Republic of China by reference to these "generations". Marxism–Leninism was the first official ideology of the CCP. According to the CCP, "Marxism–Leninism reveals the universal laws governing the development of history of human society ." To
2720-654: Is organized based on democratic centralism , a principle that entails open policy discussion on the condition of unity among party members in upholding the agreed-upon decision. The highest body of the CCP is the National Congress , convened every fifth year. When the National Congress is not in session, the Central Committee is the highest body, but since that body usually only meets once a year, most duties and responsibilities are vested in
2856-415: Is planning under capitalism; the market economy happens under socialism, too. Planning and market forces are both ways of controlling economic activity". Jiang Zemin supported Deng's thinking, and stated in a party gathering that it did not matter if a certain mechanism was capitalist or socialist, because the only thing that mattered was whether it worked. It was at this gathering that Jiang Zemin introduced
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#17327655508632992-580: Is the early or first stage of communism." Some have dismissed the concept of a primary stage of socialism as intellectual cynicism. For example, Robert Lawrence Kuhn , a former foreign adviser to the Chinese government, stated: "When I first heard this rationale, I thought it more comic than clever—a wry caricature of hack propagandists leaked by intellectual cynics. But the 100-year horizon comes from serious political theorists." American political scientist and sinologist David Shambaugh argues that before
3128-401: Is why we talk about a 'socialist market economy' with Chinese characteristics." The attainment of true "communism" is still described as the CCP's and China's "ultimate goal". While the CCP claims that China is in the primary stage of socialism , party theorists argue that the current development stage "looks a lot like capitalism". Alternatively, certain party theorists argue that "capitalism
3264-511: The 16th Central Committee conceived and formulated the ideology of the Scientific Outlook on Development (SOD). It is considered to be Hu Jintao's contribution to the official ideological discourse. The SOD incorporates scientific socialism , sustainable development , social welfare , a humanistic society, increased democracy, and, ultimately, the creation of a Socialist Harmonious Society . According to official statements by
3400-519: The 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre . The protests having been crushed and the reformist party general secretary Zhao Ziyang under house arrest, Deng's economic policies resumed and by the early 1990s the concept of a socialist market economy had been introduced. In 1997, Deng's beliefs (officially called " Deng Xiaoping Theory ") were embedded into the CCP's constitution . CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin succeeded Deng as paramount leader in
3536-473: The 6th National Congress of CCP held in Moscow , Li's old friend Xiang Zhongfa was elected as General Secretary with the support from the Comintern and the Soviet Union. During the reign of Xiang, Li Lisan played a gradually more important role. Xiang sacked Cai Hesen , the incumbent standing member of Politburo of the CCP and Minister of Propaganda Department of the CCP for Cai's extremist way in directing
3672-567: The Central People's Government . From this time through the 1980s, top leaders of the CCP (such as Mao Zedong, Lin Biao, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping) were largely the same military leaders prior to the PRC's founding. As a result, informal personal ties between political and military leaders dominated civil-military relations. Stalin proposed a one-party constitution when Liu Shaoqi visited
3808-582: The Chinese Civil War . Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party ( CCP ), officially the Communist Party of China ( CPC ), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong , the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil War against the Kuomintang . In 1949, Mao proclaimed the establishment of
3944-498: The Great Chinese Famine , which resulted in an estimated 15 to 45 million deaths, making it the largest famine in recorded history. During the 1960s and 1970s, the CCP experienced a significant ideological separation from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union which was going through a period of " de-Stalinization " under Nikita Khrushchev . By that time, Mao had begun saying that the "continued revolution under
4080-487: The Jinggang Mountains of Jiangxi . The near destruction of the CCP's urban organizational apparatus led to institutional changes within the party. The party adopted democratic centralism , a way to organize revolutionary parties, and established a politburo to function as the standing committee of the central committee. The result was increased centralization of power within the party. At every level of
4216-604: The May Fourth Movement in 1919, Zhang became one of the most prominent student leaders and later joined the early organization of the CCP in October 1920. At the same time, Mao Zedong was a librarian working at Peking University; the two knew each other. Zhang acted as the CCP's top party official at the first National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921 and was elected a member of
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4352-668: The New Culture Movement , but by 1920 many grew sceptical about their ability to bring about reforms. China's intellectual movements were fragmented in the early 1920s. The May Fourth Movement and the New Culture Movement had identified issues of broad concern to Chinese progressives, including anti-imperialism , support for nationalism , support for democracy , promotion of feminism, and rejection of traditional values. Proposed solutions among Chinese progressives differed significantly, however. The CCP
4488-634: The Northwest Chinese Soviet Federation . However, once the prosperity was in reach, Zhang launched another series of purges. As a result, he and the Red Army lost the popular support, and was driven from the Red base. In 1935 Zhang and his army of more than 80,000 reunited with Mao's 10,000 troops during the Long March . It was not long before Mao and Zhang were locked in disagreements over issues of strategy and tactics, causing
4624-540: The Politburo and its Standing Committee . Members of the latter are seen as the top leadership of the party and the state. Today the party's leader holds the offices of general secretary (responsible for civilian party duties), Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) (responsible for military affairs), and State President (a largely ceremonial position). Because of these posts,
4760-632: The dictatorship of the proletariat " stipulated that class enemies continued to exist even though the socialist revolution seemed to be complete, leading to the Cultural Revolution in which millions were persecuted and killed. During the Cultural Revolution, party leaders such as Liu Shaoqi, Deng Xiaoping , Peng Dehuai , and He Long were purged or exiled, and the Gang of Four , led by Mao's wife Jiang Qing , emerged to fill in
4896-790: The labour union . Li was dedicated to his old cause and brought forth guidance on democratic management measures in industry, which was later called the Constitution of Anshan Steel Mill by Mao. At the same time, Li Lisan was one of the founders of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference mechanism. During the Korean War , he was appointed as the secretary general of Anti Air Defence Council ranking as vice-premier, due to his WWII anti-air attack experience during his stay in Moscow. Li remained an advocate for independence of
5032-699: The second largest political party by membership in the world after India 's Bharatiya Janata Party . In 1921, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao led the founding of the CCP with the help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and Far Eastern Bureau of the Communist International . For the first six years, the CCP aligned itself with the Kuomintang (KMT) as the organized left wing of
5168-600: The " Practice Is the Sole Criterion for the Truth " campaign, the relationship between ideology and decision making was a deductive one, meaning that policy-making was derived from ideological knowledge. However, under Deng's leadership this relationship was turned upside down, with decision making justifying ideology. Chinese policy-makers have described the Soviet Union's state ideology as "rigid, unimaginative, ossified, and disconnected from reality", believing that this
5304-475: The " Two Whatevers " policy. The new ideology, however, was contested on both sides of the spectrum, by Maoists to the left of the CCP's leadership, as well as by those supporting political liberalization. In 1981, the Party adopted a historical resolution , which assessed the historical legacy of the Mao Zedong era and the future priorities of the CCP. With other social factors, the conflicts culminated in
5440-522: The "main innovator" of Xi Jinping Thought while also declaring Xi's leadership as being "the key to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation ". In comparison with the other historical resolutions, Xi's one did not herald a major change in how the CCP evaluated its history. On 6 July 2021, Xi chaired the Communist Party of China and World Political Parties Summit , which involved representatives from 500 political parties across 160 countries. Xi urged
5576-433: The 1990s and continued most of his policies. In the 1990s, the CCP transformed from a veteran revolutionary leadership that was both leading militarily and politically, to a political elite increasingly renewed according to institutionalized norms in the civil bureaucracy. Leadership was largely selected based on rules and norms on promotion and retirement, educational background, and managerial and technical expertise. There
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5712-475: The 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee , when it was amended to "let market forces play a decisive role in resource allocation ." Despite this, the 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee upheld the creed "Maintain the dominance of the public sector and strengthen the economic vitality of the state-owned economy." "... their theory that capitalism is the ultimate [force] has been shaken, and socialist development has experienced
5848-714: The CCP and gain the organizational strength that would solidify the success of the Chinese Communist Revolution . Chen and Li were among the most influential promoters of Marxism in China during the May Fourth period. The CCP itself embraces the May Fourth Movement and views itself as part of the movement's legacy. Study circles were, according to Cai Hesen , "the rudiments [of our party]". Several study circles were established during
5984-467: The CCP away from Maoist orthodoxy and towards a policy of economic liberalization . The official explanation for these reforms was that China was still in the primary stage of socialism , a developmental stage similar to the capitalist mode of production . Since the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the CCP has focused on maintaining its relations with
6120-475: The CCP constitution in 2017. Xi's term as general secretary was renewed in 2022. Since 2014, the CCP has led efforts in Xinjiang that involve the detention of more than 1 million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in internment camps , as well as other repressive measures . This has been described as a genocide by some academics and some governments. On the other hand, a greater number of countries signed
6256-742: The CCP continued to grow throughout the Second Sino-Japanese War , and after the Japanese surrender in 1945, the CCP emerged triumphant in the communist revolution against the Nationalist government . After the KMT's retreat to Taiwan , the CCP established the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949. Mao Zedong continued to be the most influential member of the CCP until his death in 1976 , although he periodically withdrew from public leadership as his health deteriorated. Under Mao,
6392-470: The CCP criticized the Three Represents as being un-Marxist and a betrayal of basic Marxist values. Supporters viewed it as a further development of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Jiang disagreed, and had concluded that attaining the communist mode of production, as formulated by earlier communists, was more complex than had been realized, and that it was useless to try to force a change in
6528-454: The CCP had tactically withdrawn from the cities, and instead undermined KMT rule there by instigating protests among students and intellectuals. The KMT responded to these demonstrations with heavy-handed repression. In the meantime, the KMT was struggling with factional infighting and Chiang Kai-shek's autocratic control over the party, which weakened its ability to respond to attacks. The third stage, lasting from July 1947 to August 1948, saw
6664-574: The CCP was held 23–31 July 1921. With only 50 members in the beginning of 1921, among them Chen Duxiu, Li Dazhao and Mao Zedong, the CCP organization and authorities grew tremendously. While it was originally held in a house in the Shanghai French Concession , French police interrupted the meeting on 30 July and the congress was moved to a tourist boat on South Lake in Jiaxing , Zhejiang province. A dozen delegates attended
6800-401: The CCP would eventually control the KMT and called their opponents "rightists". KMT leader Sun Yat-sen eased the conflict between the communists and their opponents. CCP membership grew tremendously after the 4th congress in 1925, from 900 to 2,428. The CCP still treats Sun Yat-sen as one of the founders of their movement and claim descent from him as he is viewed as a proto-communist and
6936-476: The CCP, Marxism–Leninism provides a "vision of the contradictions in capitalist society and of the inevitability of a future socialist and communist societies". According to the People's Daily , Mao Zedong Thought "is Marxism–Leninism applied and developed in China". Mao Zedong Thought was conceived not only by Mao Zedong, but by leading party officials, according to Xinhua News Agency . Deng Xiaoping Theory
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#17327655508637072-502: The CCP, the concept integrates "Marxism with the reality of contemporary China and with the underlying features of our times, and it fully embodies the Marxist worldview on and methodology for development." Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, commonly known as Xi Jinping Thought, was added to the party constitution in the 19th National Congress in 2017. The theory's main elements are summarized in
7208-553: The CCP. Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao were among the first to publicly support Leninism and world revolution . Both regarded the October Revolution in Russia as groundbreaking, believing it to herald a new era for oppressed countries everywhere. Some historical analysis views the May Fourth Movement as the beginning of the revolutionary struggle that led to the founding of the People's Republic of China . Following
7344-577: The CCP. The concept has its origins back to Lenin and the Russian Bolshevik Party. At the level of the central party leadership this means that, for instance, all members of the Politburo Standing Committee are of equal standing (each member having only one vote). A member of the Politburo Standing Committee often represents a sector; during Mao's reign, he controlled the People's Liberation Army, Kang Sheng ,
7480-497: The CCP. His "Li Lisan line" called for the rural soviets to launch immediate attacks on major cities, which had ended in disastrous failure. In the winter of 1930-1931, Zhang and the 28 Bolsheviks ousted Li from power and set about bringing the far-flung rural soviets under more centralized control. Zhang was sent to the Eyuwan Soviet on the border of Hubei, Henan , and Anhui provinces. Zhang came into immediate conflict with
7616-626: The Central Bureau of the CCP in charge of organizing the work of Professional revolutionaries . After the congress , Zhang held the position of Director of Secretariat of the China Labor Union and Chief Editor of Labor Weekly , from which he became an expert in labor unions and mobilization. He led several major strikes of railway and textile workers, which made him a pioneer of the labor movement in China along with such figures as Liu Shaoqi and Li Lisan . In 1924 Zhang attended
7752-582: The Chinese Communist Party , after which he defected to the Kuomintang in 1938. But without any power, resources, and support, Zhang never held any important positions afterward and only did research on the CCP for Dai Li . After the defeat of the Kuomintang in 1949 he went into exile in Hong Kong. He emigrated to Canada with his wife Tzi Li Young in 1968 to join their two sons who were already living in Toronto. He gave his only interview in 1974, when he told
7888-481: The Chinese revolution was in its peak period. Li turned this blindness into extremism, which was later known as Li Lisan line (立三路线), calling for armed uprising in the cities leading by workers and the extension of the revolution to the whole country. From June 1930, Li Lisan line became mature under the support from Xiang. The CCP gave the daily operation from its headquarters to divisions in all provinces, setting up action committees in all provinces and preparing for
8024-769: The Comintern rose greatly. Suspicion and criticism of the CCP towards the Comintern was the same as betrayal in the eyes of the Comintern. In July 1930, the communist army under the leadership of Li Lisan captured Changsha in Hunan province, but KMT troops defeated his forces just a few days later. Uprisings in other cities were quickly put down by KMT forces. Furthermore, Li had turned many CCP members into enemies with his authoritarian style. Some of these were old CCP members, such as labour activists He Mengxiong and Luo Zhanglong, who were blamed for their rightism only because they were against Li's extremism. Wang Ming and his group of 28 Bolsheviks came back from Moscow, designated to take
8160-576: The Division Commanders, Cheng Qian , who was both Li's father's townsman and alumni, sponsored Li to study in Beijing . When Li reached Beijing, he applied to study in France and arrived there in 1920. He worked part-time as an assistant to a boilermaker to earn his tuition. His boss was a member of Communist Party and Li was influenced in accepting communism , taking part actively in
8296-635: The First National Congress of the Kuomintang (KMT) during the policy of alliance between the Communists and the Kuomintang and was elected as Substitute Commissioner of Central Executive Committee. This was despite the fact that Zhang had opposed the alliance with Kuomintang in the Third National Congress of the CCP and had been reprimanded. In 1925 in the Fourth National Congress of the CCP , Zhang
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#17327655508638432-405: The Fourth Red Army and Zhang was forced to lead a retreat westwards. The main force lost half of its troops during the fighting and subsequent retreat, being reduced to 15,000 men. In the border region between Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces he decided to set up a new base. Slowly he turned it into a prosperous autonomous region by way of land reform and enlisting the support of locals, establishing
8568-408: The Fourth Red Army was acting like a "warlord-bandit" force, pillaging the countryside and rejecting proper discipline. Zhang and Chen then purged the army of hundreds of alleged traitors, including Xu. Zhang's purges expanded during the second half of 1931. Thousands or tens of thousands of party members were arrested and accused of being part of the Reorganizationists, the Anti-Bolshevik League , or
8704-450: The Japanese invaders. While the front formally existed until 1945, all collaboration between the two parties had effectively ended by 1940. Despite their formal alliance, the CCP used the opportunity to expand and carve out independent bases of operations to prepare for the coming war with the KMT. In 1939, the KMT began to restrict CCP expansion within China. This led to frequent clashes between CCP and KMT forces which subsided rapidly on
8840-476: The Japanese surrendered) to June 1946 (when the peace talks between the CCP and the KMT ended). By 1945, the KMT had three times more soldiers under its command than the CCP and initially appeared to be prevailing. With the cooperation of the US and Japan, the KMT was able to retake major parts of the country. However, KMT rule over the reconquered territories proved unpopular because of its endemic political corruption . Notwithstanding its numerical superiority,
8976-399: The KMT failed to reconquer the rural territories which made up the CCP's stronghold. Around the same time, the CCP launched an invasion of Manchuria , where they were assisted by the Soviet Union. The second stage, lasting from July 1946 to June 1947, saw the KMT extend its control over major cities such as Yan'an , the CCP headquarters, for much of the war. The KMT's successes were hollow;
9112-408: The KMT led to the reorganization of the Red Army, with power now centralized in the leadership through the creation of CCP political departments charged with supervising the army. The Xi'an Incident of December 1936 paused the conflict between the CCP and the KMT. Under pressure from Marshal Zhang Xueliang and the CCP, Chiang Kai-shek finally agreed to a Second United Front focused on repelling
9248-423: The KMT, while Chen Duxiu hoped that the communists would completely withdraw from the KMT. In April 1927, both Chiang and the CCP were preparing for conflict. Fresh from the success of the Northern Expedition to overthrow the warlords, Chiang Kai-shek turned on the communists, who by now numbered in the tens of thousands across China. Ignoring the orders of the Wuhan-based KMT government, he marched on Shanghai,
9384-438: The Long March that took exception to various ways in which the event has been propagandized. Although critical of Zhang Guotao, she argued that there was no evidence of a so-called "secret telegram" that had been intercepted by Mao in which Zhang intended to use force against the Central Committee. Moreover, she shows that the official History of the Chinese Communist Party was revised in 2002 to say that Zhang Guotao did not order
9520-447: The Party? It's simply laughable. In 1980 the central Organisation Department finally allowed Li Lisan's family to read his autopsy report. It listed his height incorrectly by 15 cm and contained other errors which added to the family's doubts over the accepted version of Li's death. The Central Committee also held a memorial meeting for Li. In 1983, the Hubei Provincial Committee carried out an investigation on Li's suicide. But it
9656-404: The People's Republic of China . Since then, the CCP has governed China and has had sole control over the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Successive leaders of the CCP have added their own theories to the party's constitution , which outlines the party's ideology , collectively referred to as socialism with Chinese characteristics . As of 2024 , the CCP has more than 99 million members, making it
9792-478: The Red Army were allowed to rejoin and in some instances promoted. The overall impact and scale of the purges are disputed. Reasonable estimates of the number arrested and killed range from the low thousands to 10,000. Historian William Rowe argues that this "meant... the near final extinction of the Party's base of indigenous supporters" in Eyuwan, but most other historians disagree. Benton points out that almost all of
9928-506: The Soviet Union in 1952. The constitution of the PRC in 1954 subsequently abolished the previous coalition government and established the CCP's one-party system. In 1957, the CCP launched the Anti-Rightist Campaign against political dissidents and prominent figures from minor parties, which resulted in the political persecution of at least 550,000 people. The campaign significantly damaged the limited pluralistic nature in
10064-541: The Sunzi Division of CCP, which resulted in extreme democracy and discontent at the CCP center. Xiang chose Li to replace Cai. Li became one of only four standing members of the politburo and minister of Propaganda Department of the CCP in October 1928. When the Far East Bureau of the Comintern issued an order for anti-rightism and blamed the CCP for not being active enough in 1929, Xiang protested
10200-460: The Third Party. In some counties, Zhang even set up secret police. Zhang's main justification for the purge was that the local party was too strongly intertwined with local gentry and the traditional rural power structure. He argued that this had prevented the party from carrying out land reform properly, and land reform under Zhang went much further than it had in previous years. Zhang appointed
10336-536: The Western Legion into Gansu in order to build up his own power base. Rather, all orders originated from the Central Committee . When Zhang reached the new CCP base at Yan'an , he had fallen from power and became an easy target for Mao. Zhang kept the now figurehead position of Chairman of Yan'an Frontier Area and was frequently subjected to humiliation by Mao and his allies. Zhang was too proud to ally with Wang Ming , who had recently come back from Moscow and
10472-505: The Western world is "threatening to divide us" and that "the international culture of the West is strong while we are weak ... Ideological and cultural fields are our main targets". As such, the CCP puts a great deal of effort into the party schools and into crafting its ideological message. Collective leadership, the idea that decisions will be taken through consensus, has been the ideal in
10608-741: The Wuhan KMT government, but on 15 July 1927 the Wuhan government expelled all communists from the KMT. The CCP reacted by founding the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army of China , better known as the "Red Army", to battle the KMT. A battalion led by General Zhu De was ordered to take the city of Nanchang on 1 August 1927 in what became known as the Nanchang uprising . Initially successful, Zhu and his troops were forced to retreat after five days, marching south to Shantou , and from there being driven into
10744-446: The basis of historical materialism , will eventually triumph over capitalism. In recent years, when the party has been asked to explain the capitalist globalization occurring, the party has returned to the writings of Karl Marx . Despite admitting that globalization developed through the capitalist system, the party's leaders and theorists argue that globalization is not intrinsically capitalist. The reason being that if globalization
10880-439: The changing situation dynamically; to know if a certain policy is obsolete or not, the party had to " seek truth from facts " and follow the slogan "practice is the sole criterion for the truth". At the 14th National Congress, Jiang reiterated Deng's mantra that it was unnecessary to ask if something was socialist or capitalist, since the important factor was whether it worked. The "Three Represents", Jiang Zemin's contribution to
11016-545: The cities, Zhang was placed in charge of the Eyuwan Soviet . When his armies were driven from the region, he joined the Long March but lost a contentious struggle for party leadership to Mao Zedong. Zhang's armies then took a different route from Mao's and were badly beaten by local Muslim Ma clique forces in Gansu . When his depleted forces finally arrived to join Mao in Yan'an , Zhang continued his losing challenge to Mao, and left
11152-413: The collective leadership". Academics have noted a decline in collective leadership under Xi Jinping. "[Democratic centralism] is centralized on the basis of democracy and democratic under centralized guidance. This is the only system that can give full expression to democracy with full powers vested in the people's congresses at all levels and, at the same time, guarantee centralized administration with
11288-577: The communists go on the offensive and the collapse of KMT rule in mainland China as a whole. Mao's proclamation of the founding of the People's Republic of China on 1 October 1949 marked the end of the second phase of the Chinese Civil War (or the Chinese Communist Revolution , as it is called by the CCP). Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) before a massive crowd at Tiananmen Square on 1 October 1949. The CCP headed
11424-681: The congress, with neither Li nor Chen being able to attend, the latter sending a personal representative in his stead. The resolutions of the congress called for the establishment of a communist party as a branch of the Communist International (Comintern) and elected Chen as its leader. Chen then served as the first general secretary of the CCP and was referred to as "China's Lenin". The Soviets hoped to foster pro-Soviet forces in East Asia to fight against anti-communist countries, particularly Japan . They attempted to contact
11560-436: The decision. He knew Li was an appropriate candidate for doing the communication work because of his eloquence and energy. Thus, Li took the job of handling conflicts with the Comintern. When Xiang sent Zhou Enlai to Moscow for further instruction, Li took on Zhou's work in organisation too, which gave Li a large enough stage to prove his talent. When Xiang learned of the Comintern's decision on anti-rightism, he claimed that
11696-470: The direction of the CCP. All five were tortured and executed in a prison under the control of Sheng Shicai, having been labeled as Trotskyists . However, Sheng Shicai was acting under direction from the CCP under Wang Ming. After that incident, Zhang despised Wang and would never consider supporting him. Without any supporters, Zhang was purged in 1937 at the Extended Meeting of the Politburo of
11832-480: The economic element of Sun's ideology was socialism. Sun stated, "Our Principle of Livelihood is a form of communism". The communists dominated the left wing of the KMT and struggled for power with the party's right-wing factions. When Sun Yat-sen died in March 1925, he was succeeded by a rightist, Chiang Kai-shek , who initiated moves to marginalize the position of the communists. Chiang, Sun's former assistant,
11968-406: The full-scale uprising in October. But the Comintern expressed its discontent, stating that it was working out systemic policies for the Chinese revolution and that the CCP should concentrate on the uprising in one or several provinces instead. Xiang supported Li and stood by his idea that it was the zero hour of the Chinese revolution. In several rounds of discussion, the tension between Xiang, Li and
12104-412: The fundamental interests of the people." The theory legitimized the entry of private business owners and bourgeois elements into the party. Hu Jintao , Jiang Zemin's successor as general secretary, took office in 2002. Unlike Mao, Deng and Jiang Zemin, Hu laid emphasis on collective leadership and opposed one-man dominance of the political system. The insistence on focusing on economic growth led to
12240-452: The governments at each level ..." — Mao Zedong, from his speech entitled "Our General Programme" Li Lisan Li Lisan ( Chinese : 李立三 ; pinyin : Lǐ Lìsān ; 18 November 1899 – 22 June 1967) was a Chinese politician , member of the Politburo , and later a member of the Central Committee . Li was born in Liling, Hunan province in China in 1899, under
12376-457: The larger nationalist movement. However, when the right wing of the KMT, led by Chiang Kai-shek , turned on the CCP and massacred tens of thousands of the party's members, the two parties split and began a prolonged civil war. During the next ten years of guerrilla warfare , Mao Zedong rose to become the most influential figure in the CCP, and the party established a strong base among the rural peasantry with its land reform policies . Support for
12512-553: The leaders of the Fourth Red Army . Xu Jishen and the other commanders wanted to seize the breadbasket counties in eastern Hubei to fix Eyuwan's chronic food shortages. Zhang compared the plan to Li Lisan's "adventurism", and when they disobeyed his orders and took the land anyways, he got permission from the Central Committee to make Chen Changhao political commissar of the Fourth Red Army. Zhang and Chen accused
12648-477: The leadership of the CCP by their mentors in Moscow, but they only received a cold shoulder from Li. With so many opponents both inside and outside the CCP, Li's doom was sealed. The Comintern sent Qu Qiubai and Zhou Enlai back to China to enforce its policy. And the 28 Bolsheviks took advantage of this opportunity to denounce Li. Xiang, and Li still did not realize the clear danger he was in and criticised these young immature students severely. Then Comintern sent
12784-564: The local division of the CCP as Minister of the City Work Department. At the resumption of the Chinese Civil War , Li was appointed as chief representative of the CCP to the military arbitration panel consisting of members from the KMT and the United States. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Li went back to the field of his main expertise, being appointed as Minister of Labour to lead
12920-417: The mode of production, as it had to develop naturally, by following the " economic laws of history ." The theory is most notable for allowing capitalists, officially referred to as the "new social strata", to join the party on the grounds that they engaged in "honest labor and work" and through their labour contributed "to build[ing] socialism with Chinese characteristics." In 2003, the 3rd Plenary Session of
13056-414: The most important labour work leader there, Li greatly increased the number of CCP members and perfected methods of organisation. By the end of 1924, there were only 900 CCP members throughout China, 300 of whom came from Anyuan Coal Mine. It was at this time that Li showed his great talent in labour work and organisation in conjunction with Liu Shaoqi , who later became his deputy. The Nationalists had
13192-467: The movement, trends towards social transformation increased. Writing in 1939, Mao Zedong stated that the Movement had shown that the bourgeois revolution against imperialism and China had developed to a new stage, but that the proletariat would lead the revolution's completion. The May Fourth Movement led to the establishment of radical intellectuals who went on to mobilize peasants and workers into
13328-425: The name of Li Rongzhi. His father, a teacher, taught Li Chinese traditional poems and classics. In 1915, he arrived at Changsha for high school and saw an advertisement in a newspaper written by a student from First Normal School of Changsha with the pen name 28 Strokes. Li met and then became friends with the young man, whose real name was Mao Zedong . Later, Li joined the army of a local warlord in Hunan . One of
13464-420: The office of CCP general secretary at the expense of the collective leadership of prior decades. Commentators have described the campaign as a defining part of Xi's leadership as well as "the principal reason why he has been able to consolidate his power so quickly and effectively." Xi's leadership has also overseen an increase in the Party's role in China. Xi has added his ideology , named after himself, into
13600-409: The offices of CCP general secretary, CMC chairman and PRC president . Before Jiang Zemin's tenure as paramount leader, the party core and collective leadership were indistinguishable. In practice, the core was not responsible to the collective leadership. However, by the time of Jiang, the party had begun propagating a responsibility system, referring to it in official pronouncements as the "core of
13736-480: The participants to oppose "technology blockades," and "developmental decoupling" in order to work towards "building a community with a shared future for mankind." The core ideology of the party has evolved with each distinct generation of Chinese leadership . As both the CCP and the People's Liberation Army promote their members according to seniority, it is possible to discern distinct generations of Chinese leadership. In official discourse, each group of leadership
13872-418: The party completed its land reform program, launched a series of five-year plans , and eventually split with the Soviet Union . Although Mao attempted to purge the party of capitalist and reactionary elements during the Cultural Revolution , after his death, these policies were only briefly continued by the Gang of Four before a less radical faction seized control. During the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping directed
14008-603: The party in 1938. Zhang eventually retired to Canada, in 1968. He became a Christian shortly before his death in Scarborough , Ontario (a suburb of Toronto ), in 1979. His memoirs provide valuable and vivid information on his life and party history. Born in Pingxiang County, Jiangxi , Zhang was involved in revolutionary activities during his youth. Zhang studied Marxist thought under Li Dazhao while attending Peking University in 1916. After his active role in
14144-407: The party leader is seen as the country's paramount leader . The current leader is Xi Jinping , who was elected at the 1st Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee held on 15 November 2012 and has been reelected twice, on 25 October 2017 by the 19th Central Committee and on 10 October 2022 by the 20th Central Committee . The October Revolution and Marxist theory inspired the founding of
14280-418: The party this was duplicated, with standing committees now in effective control. After being expelled from the party, Chen Duxiu went on to lead China's Trotskyist movement. Li Lisan was able to assume de facto control of the party organization by 1929–1930. The 1929 Gutian Congress was important in establishing the principle of party control over the military, which continues to be a core principle of
14416-419: The party's formal commitment to Marxism–Leninism with the introduction of the ideological theory, the Three Represents. However, party theorist Leng Rong disagrees, claiming that "President Jiang rid the Party of the ideological obstacles to different kinds of ownership ... He did not give up Marxism or socialism. He strengthened the Party by providing a modern understanding of Marxism and socialism—which
14552-400: The party's ideology, was adopted by the party at the 16th National Congress . The Three Represents defines the role of the CCP, and stresses that the Party must always represent the requirements for developing China's advanced productive forces, the orientation of China's advanced culture and the fundamental interests of the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people." Certain segments within
14688-426: The party's ideology. Li's leadership was a failure, leaving the CCP on the brink of destruction. The Comintern became involved, and by late 1930, his powers had been taken away. By 1935, Mao had become a member of Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP and the party's informal military leader, with Zhou Enlai and Zhang Wentian , the formal head of the party, serving as his informal deputies. The conflict with
14824-473: The peasant movement supported by the CCP became more violent. Ye Dehui , a famous scholar, was killed by communists in Changsha , and in revenge, KMT general He Jian and his troops gunned down hundreds of peasant militiamen. That May, tens of thousands of communists and their sympathizers were killed by KMT troops, with the CCP losing approximately 15,000 of its 25,000 members. The CCP continued supporting
14960-424: The power vacuum left behind. Following Mao's death in 1976, a power struggle between CCP chairman Hua Guofeng and vice-chairman Deng Xiaoping erupted. Deng won the struggle, and became China's paramount leader in 1978. Deng, alongside Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang , spearheaded the " reform and opening-up " policies, and introduced the ideological concept of socialism with Chinese characteristics, opening China to
15096-578: The purged cadres were replaced with other local supporters since there were very few non-native Communists in the region. Tony Saich argues that the Red Army's continued success showed that the purges had not affected the army's fighting capacity. In early 1932, the Fourth Red Army had helped defeat the Third Encirclement Campaign and reached 30,000 soldiers. In 1932, the Nationalists' fourth encirclement campaign finally broke
15232-519: The realization on both sides that civil war amidst a foreign invasion was not an option. By 1943, the CCP was again actively expanding its territory at the expense of the KMT. Mao Zedong became the Chairman of the CCP in 1945. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, the war between the CCP and the KMT began again in earnest. The 1945–1949 period had four stages; the first was from August 1945 (when
15368-650: The ruling parties of the remaining socialist states and continues to participate in the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties each year. The CCP has also established relations with several non-communist parties, including dominant nationalist parties of many developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as social democratic parties in Europe. The Chinese Communist Party
15504-535: The second time. He opposed Wang Ming and the rest of the " 28 Bolsheviks ", a group of Chinese students in Moscow. Nonetheless, Zhang was elected as a member of the politburo of the CCP in the Sixth National Congress held in Soviet Union , and then as a delegate of the CCP in Comintern . Zhang and the 28 Bolsheviks were mostly reconciled by 1930, however, and Zhang returned to China. In Zhang's absence, Li Lisan had become de facto leader of
15640-532: The security apparatus, and Zhou Enlai, the State Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs . This counts as informal power. Despite this, in a paradoxical relation, members of a body are ranked hierarchically (despite the fact that members are in theory equal to one another). Informally, the collective leadership is headed by a " leadership core "; that is, the paramount leader , the person who holds
15776-639: The socialist republic and solidified the country's status as a de facto one-party state . The Anti-Rightist Campaign led to the catastrophic results of the Second Five Year Plan from 1958 to 1962, known as the Great Leap Forward . In an effort to transform the country from an agrarian economy into an industrialized one, the CCP collectivized farmland, formed people's communes, and diverted labour to factories. General mismanagement and exaggerations of harvests by CCP officials led to
15912-444: The struggle sessions were affecting his sleep. Li Lisan dismissed the notion he might kill himself as ridiculous: 这简直是笑话，几十年风风火火我都过来了，难道还经不起这次考验？你不就怕我自杀吗？自杀是叛党行为，这点我明白，难道我能走上叛党的道路吗？简直是笑话。 This is a joke! I've made it through all these decades of strife and turmoil and you think I can't get through this? Are you worried I'll kill myself? Suicide would mean betraying the Party, I know that well enough; am I going to turn renegade against
16048-679: The struggles for Chinese labour rights in France. For his active and fearless revolutionary work, Li was labelled as a trouble-maker. In 1921, Li was expelled along with more than 100 other Chinese by the French authorities. When Li returned to Shanghai , he was introduced by Chen Duxiu to join the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The party assigned him to organising labour activities in Anyuan Coal Mine (安源煤矿) in Pingxiang, Jiangxi. Being
16184-502: The superior force of more than 100,000 combined troops of warlords Ma Bufang , Ma Hongbin and Ma Zhongying during efforts to cross the Yellow River and conquer Ma's territory. Zhang lost the power and influence to be able to challenge Mao and had to accept his failure as a result of the disaster which only left him 427 surviving troops from the original 21,800. In 2006, the writer and producer, Sun Shuyun, provided an account of
16320-439: The ten affirmations, the fourteen commitments, and the thirteen areas of achievements. The party combines elements of both socialist patriotism and Chinese nationalism . Deng did not believe that the fundamental difference between the capitalist mode of production and the socialist mode of production was central planning versus free markets . He said, "A planned economy is not the definition of socialism, because there
16456-424: The term socialist market economy, which replaced Chen Yun 's "planned socialist market economy". In his report to the 14th National Congress Jiang Zemin told the delegates that the socialist state would "let market forces play a basic role in resource allocation." At the 15th National Congress, the party line was changed to "make market forces further play their role in resource allocation"; this line continued until
16592-671: The trade unions, which brought him into conflict with Mao. He was the Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions until 1958 and the first president of China Institute of Industrial Relations . After the Chinese-Soviet Union split in the 1960s, Li's life turned tougher and tougher again. Although his wife, Lisa Kishkin, handed in her Russian passport and took Chinese nationality to show her loyalty to her husband and his country, there still
16728-569: The warlord Wu Peifu but failed. The Soviets then contacted the Kuomintang (KMT), which was leading the Guangzhou government parallel to the Beiyang government . On 6 October 1923, the Comintern sent Mikhail Borodin to Guangzhou, and the Soviets established friendly relations with the KMT. The Central Committee of the CCP , Soviet leader Joseph Stalin , and the Comintern all hoped that
16864-763: The wilderness of Fujian . Mao Zedong was appointed commander-in-chief of the Red Army, and led four regiments against Changsha in the Autumn Harvest Uprising , hoping to spark peasant uprisings across Hunan. His plan was to attack the KMT-held city from three directions on 9 September, but the Fourth Regiment deserted to the KMT cause, attacking the Third Regiment. Mao's army made it to Changsha but could not take it; by 15 September, he accepted defeat, with 1,000 survivors marching east to
17000-456: The world's markets. In reversing some of Mao's "leftist" policies, Deng argued that a socialist state could use the market economy without itself being capitalist. While asserting the political power of the CCP, the change in policy generated significant economic growth. This was justified on the basis that " Practice is the Sole Criterion for the Truth ", a principle reinforced through a 1978 article that aimed to combat dogmatism and criticized
17136-508: Was acting as the Comintern's representative in China. Zhang's popularity in the Comintern might have given him another chance of returning to power if he had allied with Wang. Another reason why Zhang did not ally with Wang was that Wang boasted that it was under his order that five senior CCP leaders (Yu Xiusong, Huang Chao, Li Te and two others—all opponents of Wang) had been arrested, and now worked for warlord Sheng Shicai in Xinjiang under
17272-415: Was added to the party constitution at the 14th National Congress in 1992. The concepts of " socialism with Chinese characteristics " and "the primary stage of socialism" were credited to the theory. Deng Xiaoping Theory can be defined as a belief that state socialism and state planning is not by definition communist, and that market mechanisms are class neutral. In addition, the party needs to react to
17408-594: Was elected Commissioner of Central Committee of CCP and Director of Labor & Peasant Work Department. In 1926 Zhang was the General Secretary of Hubei Division of CCP, and in 1927 he was Commissioner of Interim Central Committee of the CCP after the failure of the CCP uprising . Zhang with Li Lisan and Qu Qiubai were the acting leaders of the CCP. At that time Mao only led a small number of troops in Jiangxi and Hunan . In 1928 Zhang went to Moscow for
17544-433: Was foiled by his own staff members Ye Jianying and Yang Shangkun , who fled to Mao's headquarters to inform Mao about Zhang's plot, taking all of the codebooks and maps with them. As a result, Mao immediately moved his troop northward and thus escaped arrest and possible death. Zhang decided to carry out his plan on his own, with disastrous results: over 75% of his original 80,000 + troops were lost in his adventure. Zhang
17680-599: Was forced to admit defeat and retreat to the communist base in Shaanxi. More disastrous than losing most of his troops, the failure discredited Zhang among his own followers, who turned to Mao. Furthermore, because all of the codebooks were obtained by Mao, Zhang lost contact with Comintern while Mao was able to establish the link, this coupled with the fact of Zhang's disastrous defeat, discredited Zhang within Comintern, which begun to give greater support for Mao. Zhang's remaining troops of 21,800 were later annihilated in 1936 by
17816-415: Was founded on 1 July 1921 with the help of the Far Eastern Bureau of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and Far Eastern Secretariat of the Communist International , according to the party's official account of its history. However, party documents suggest that the party's actual founding date was 23 July 1921, the first day of the 1st National Congress of the CCP . The founding National Congress of
17952-505: Was no way to ease the situation. Especially when the Cultural Revolution came, Kang Sheng spared no effort in denouncing his old rival. Li was labeled an agent of the Soviet Union and was tortured both mentally and physically by the Red Guards . His wife and daughters were also imprisoned. Supposedly unable to face this humiliation any more, Li was said by his tormentors to have committed suicide by taking sleeping pills after finishing
18088-422: Was not actively anti-communist at that time, even though he hated the theory of class struggle and the CCP's seizure of power. The communists proposed removing Chiang's power. When Chiang gradually gained the support of Western countries, the conflict between him and the communists became more and more intense. Chiang asked the Kuomintang to join the Comintern to rule out the secret expansion of communists within
18224-441: Was one of the reasons for the dissolution of the Soviet Union . Therefore, Shambaugh argues, Chinese policy-makers believe that their party ideology must be dynamic to safeguard the party's rule. British sinologist Kerry Brown argues that the CCP does not have an ideology, and that the party organization is pragmatic and interested only in what works. The party itself argues against this assertion. Hu Jintao stated in 2012 that
18360-436: Was purely capitalist, it would exclude an alternative socialist form of modernity. Globalization, as with the market economy, therefore does not have one specific class character (neither socialist nor capitalist) according to the party. The insistence that globalization is not fixed in nature comes from Deng's insistence that China can pursue socialist modernization by incorporating elements of capitalism. Because of this there
18496-533: Was the man who actually made the decisions. In 1927, after the split of the alliance between the Kuomintang (KMT) with the CCP, Li was the first one to propose the Nanchang Uprising against the KMT and took the job as director of the security guards. Although the uprising proved to be imprudent and poorly planned, and its failure unavoidable, Li was thrust into the central stage of the CCP for his prominence in labour work and his courage under fire. At
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