The Rise and Rise of the Communist Party of China
On July 1, the Communist Party of China (CPC) turned 100, an occasion that was celebrated on a grand scale across the length and breadth of the People’s Republic of China. Founded in 1921 by Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao, the CPC held its first Congress in July 1921 at Shanghai and has had a turbulent history ever since. Soon after its founding, the CPC was embroiled in a civil war with the Nationalist forces led by Chiang Kai-shek. The Red Army—today referred to as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)—was formed in 1927 as the armed forces of the CPC. So, though the PLA became China’s army after 1949, its first loyalty lies with the CPC, of which it is an integral and indivisible part.
From their early beginnings, the Chinese Communists realised that power did indeed flow from the
