The Chinese Communist Party have been in power since 1949 and until now, have dealt strongly with any threat that has arised in the nation. But until now, never had the debate got stronger regarding whether their Communist strategy would be sustainable in the unheralded future. Roderick MacFarquhar and Andrew Nathan have been two of the leading speakers in this intense discussion and have revealed many links between the past and a vision for the future of Chinese leadership. 

 

The 1989 Tianmen uprising was a huge protest and in a country with a lack of elite unity and powerful government, it would have fell head over heels in no time at all. However, the CCP has had such proactivity in the emergence of the middle class, the rise of the Internet and new social media platforms etc that it had no chance of being overthrown. Especially in Wuhan where the COVID crisis started, it is explicit that Chinese rule has always been a strength of the community and the sense of elite unity is always critically monitored. Furthermore, the Chinese population is now nearly 1.4bn people and increasing at the minute. Protests like the Peasants’ Revolt which were elephants in the history of England would only be ants in a colossal nation such as China; portraying the stability that the Chinese government has at the moment and in the near future. Andrew Nathan referred to this in fact, by saying: “A spark won’t start a prairie fire in China”. 

 

In contrast, the main principles of the CCP such as “the harmonious society” and “socialism with Chinese characteristics” are now less in demand in the way of life of the Chinese people, plunging the party into a No Man’s Land of hotspot policies. Especially with the controversial policies being put into place from time to time, the image of the CCP’s leadership is fading to a potential time of redundancy from leadership. What the future holds is unknown but the prospects of the CCP and what they could achieve as the country globalises into an international superpower is unstoppable!