Firm Confidence, Sustained Struggle — Third Commentary on Earnestly Studying and Implementing Chairman Xi's Important Speech at the Celebration of the 105th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China
■ PLA Daily Commentator
All great achievements are the result of sustained struggle, and all great undertakings must be advanced by carrying forward the past and opening up the future.
"Fulfilling the Party's mission and tasks on the new journey of the new era requires all members of the Communist Party of China to firm up their confidence, sustain their struggle, and continuously create new achievements worthy of the era and the people." In his important speech at the celebration of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, Chairman Xi profoundly expounded where the Communist Party of China came from, why it has been able to succeed, and where it is going. He set forth the explicit requirement of "five musts" for all Party members to firm up their confidence and sustain their struggle on the new journey, and issued a great call to the entire Party, the people of all ethnic groups across the country, to strive to create new historical glory. Chairman Xi's important speech penetratingly reveals that confidence and struggle are the keys to realizing dreams and winning victory. It is inspiring and rousing, and will surely motivate us to firm up our conviction of certain victory, maintain a high fighting spirit, and forge ahead with courage and determination toward our grand objectives.
Firming up confidence and sustaining struggle is a defining quality of the Communist Party of China. Over the past 105 years, all the achievements we have made are the result of generation after generation of Communist Party of China members uniting and leading the Chinese people in tireless struggle. Having passed through the revolutionary years of bloody battle, the construction period of self-reliance, and the reform era of forging ahead, and having strode into the new era of building a strong country, our Party has always kept the people in its heart and carried the mission on its shoulders. Moving forward in accordance with the logic of historical progress, shouldering responsibilities with courage and determination amid the tide of the times, struggling tirelessly and forever, persisting with constancy and working toward long-term results, it has opened up a great path, established great achievements, forged a great spirit, accumulated precious experience, and written a magnificent epic in the development of the Chinese nation.
Great merit rests on great aspirations; great undertakings rest on great diligence. The new Long March to advance the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics must be carried forward in continuous relay over the long term, and each generation must walk its own Long March road well. In his important speech, Chairman Xi set forth the explicit requirement of "five musts": "must adhere to the Party's basic theory, basic line, and basic policy"; "must rely closely on the people to create great historical achievements"; "must actively respond to risks and challenges on the road ahead"; "must continuously promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind"; "must persistently advance comprehensive and strict Party governance." The explicit requirements of the "five musts" are closely connected and mutually integrated. They are the profound lessons of our Party's 105 years of tireless struggle, and the scientific guidance for advancing the great undertaking of building a strong country and national rejuvenation on the new journey. They inspire and encourage the entire Party and the people of all ethnic groups across the country to firm up their confidence, unite in struggle, and overcome difficulties, continuously opening up a new landscape in the construction of Chinese-style modernization.
"The 105 years of glorious history of the Communist Party of China are a source of pride, but we must absolutely not become arrogant and complacent or halt our advance." The 20th National Congress of the Party explicitly set forth the mission and tasks of the Communist Party of China on the new journey of the new era, emphasizing the need to "comprehensively advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-style modernization." Realizing socialist modernization is a historical process of step-by-step progression and continuous development and progress. The mission we face is more glorious, the tasks more arduous, the challenges more severe, and the work more momentous. Only if the entire Party maintains the steadiness of an unwavering path and unaltered aspirations, adheres to the Party's overall leadership and the centralized and unified leadership of the Party Central Committee, continuously strengthens the Party's political leadership, ideological guidance, mass organizational capacity, and social mobilizing power, fully stimulates the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of hundreds of millions of people, reinforces awareness of potential dangers, adheres to bottom-line thinking, firms up resolve and determination, and buries itself in hard and earnest work, can it consolidate the immense force driving Chinese-style modernization forward and ensure that the great vessel of China's rejuvenation cleaves through the waves and proceeds steadily toward a distant destination.
Grand ambitions soar to the clouds; with courage and determination we embark on a new journey. Our military is a people's army created and led by the Party; the Party's mission and tasks determine the mission and tasks of the people's army. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, our military must achieve the centenary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army struggle objectives on schedule and drive decisive progress toward the basic realization of national defense and military modernization. The entire military must earnestly study and implement the spirit of Chairman Xi's important speech, earnestly measure itself against the explicit requirements of the "five musts" for firming up confidence and sustaining struggle, coordinate development and security and national prosperity and military strength, ensure that the pace of national defense and military modernization is commensurate with the pace of national modernization and that military capabilities are commensurate with national strategic requirements, drive the accelerated generation of our military's strategic capabilities, and better support the great undertaking of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through a strong military. We must resolutely implement the new "three-step" strategic arrangement for national defense and military modernization, accelerate the modernization of military theory, military organizational structure, military personnel, and weapons and equipment, consolidate and enhance the integrated national strategic system and capabilities, go all out to fight and win the decisive battle to achieve the centenary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army struggle objectives, continuously open up a new landscape in national defense and military modernization, and provide strong strategic support for comprehensively advancing the great undertaking of building a strong country and national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernization.