Xi, recalling wartime victory, stresses China’s peaceful path but gives warning
President Xi Jinping reiterated on Friday China’s unwavering commitment to follow a path of peaceful, open, cooperative and common development while warning that the pursuit of unilateralism, protectionism and extreme egoism will “lead to nowhere but a dead end”.
Xi made the pledge in a speech delivered at a grand gathering in Beijing that commemorates the 70th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Volunteers forces entering the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to fight in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53).
The president warned that any means of blackmailing, blocking and extreme pressure will lead nowhere, and impulsive, egotistical actions and those seeking to be the hegemon, bully or boss of the world are doomed to fail.
While China will never seek hegemony or expansionism, the country will resolutely oppose hegemony and power politics, said Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
He said China will never tolerate any damage to the nation’s sovereignty, security or development interests or allow anybody or any force to invade or separate the country’s sacred territory.
“In case of such serious situations, Chinese people surely will respond with a head-on blow!” he said.
In the speech, Xi highlighted the great patriotism and revolutionary heroism of the CPV forces who－upholding banners of safeguarding peace and resisting aggression－fought an arduous and dauntless battle side by side with the people and armed forces of the DPRK and secured a great victory in the war.
The victory in the war resisted the invasion and aggression of imperialism, safeguarded the security of New China and the peaceful lives of the Chinese people, stabilized the situation of the Korean Peninsula and ensured the peace of Asia and the world, he said.
Over the past 70 years, the country has never forgotten its older generation of revolutionaries who attained immortal feats in upholding international justice and defending world peace and the newly established People’s Republic of China, Xi said.
Neither has the country forgotten the sublime and heroic stories of CPV officers and soldiers and martyrs who died heroically during the war, he said.
Xi recounted the warfare, including the five battles fought by the CPV and its DPRK allies and multiple other successful offensives, during a time when there was significant gap in national strength between China and the United States.
“After strenuous battles, the Chinese and DPRK armed forces defeated an opponent that was armed to the teeth, and broke the myth that the US military is invincible,” Xi said.
He also quoted several remarks by the late revolutionary leaders in describing the significance of the war victory.
The great victory has declared to the world that “the ages are gone when Western aggressors need only to set up several cannons in an Eastern coast before forcibly occupying a country”, Xi said, quoting the remarks of Peng Dehuai, the then commander-in-chief of CPV forces.
The country has let the world know that “the Chinese people are now united and are not to be trifled with. If they are provoked, nothing good will come of it,” he said, quoting a statement made by late Chairman Mao Zedong.
The war thwarted more attempts by imperialist forces to invade New China and enabled the new government to obtain a stable footing, he said, adding that the Chinese people had cemented the nation’s important position in Asian and international affairs and promoted the modernization of its national defense and military.
“The war again proved that justice shall prevail over power politics, and peaceful development is the irresistible trend of history,” he said.
The president stressed that the spirit forged in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea must be carried forward from generation to generation.
No matter how the times develop, the country must hone its national character of standing up against powerful forces, Xi said. “The Chinese nation is not be intimidated and will not bend under pressure” in front of whatever difficulties and risks.
Xi said the road ahead will not see only clear sailing going forward, and it is important to adhere to the leadership of the CPC and make the Party even stronger and more forceful, uphold a people-centered approach, keep growing the country’s national strength and promote the modernization of its national defense and armed forces.
Xi emphasized the imperative to uphold international peace and justice, saying that only by following a peaceful path of development and working with people of different nations to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind can humans embrace a bright future of peace and development.
Flower baskets, sent in the name of Xi, were placed at four memorial sites in both China and the DPRK to pay tribute to CPV martyrs.
Kim Jong-un, chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK, on Wednesday laid a flower basket at the cemetery for CPV martyrs in Hoechang, DPRK. He also sent a flower basket to the Friendship Tower in Pyongyang. On Thursday, the DPRK sent flower baskets to the CPV martyrs’ cemetery in Shenyang, Liaoning province, and the memorial tower in Dandong, Liaoning.
