CCTV:

Just now, Mr. Liu said that since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping has paid two inspection visits to Jiangxi, calling for the inheritance of red traditions to carry forward the Jinggangshan spirit, the spirit of the Soviet areas, and the spirit of the Long March. As a sacred place of the Chinese revolution, how does Jiangxi draw on the strength of Party history to forge ahead?

Liu Qi: 

Thank you. I will answer your question. Jiangxi boasts a glorious revolutionary history full of touching stories about the people's struggle for better life. This history has forged the great spirit of Jinggangshan, the spirit of then Soviet areas and the Long March spirit. In May 2019, General Secretary Xi Jinping paid another inspection visit to Jiangxi. During his visit, he said that the Jinggangshan spirit and the spirit of the Soviet areas carry the original aspiration and mission of the CPC members, and forge the great revolutionary spirit of the CPC. These great revolutionary spirits transcend time and space, never go out of fashion, and are the inexhaustible motivation for our Communist Party to never forget our original intention and remember our mission. Keeping in mind the instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, we have been working hard to inherit, carry forward and pass on the revolutionary spirit and traditions during our Long March into the new era.

First, we have drawn strength from our deep belief and firm conviction. In Jiangxi, nearly 260,000 people were identified as revolutionary martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the revolutionary wars. This is a land full of memories and touching stories about their fight and faith. One of them, Fang Zhimin, said before dying a martyr, "the enemy can cut off our heads, but they can never weaken our faith." Another martyr, Liu Renkan, even disseminated his belief and mobilized the people before dying a hero's death. After the enemy brutally cut off his tongue, he wrote "Long live the success of Chinese revolution" with his foot dipped in the blood. Jiangxi is blessed with rich historical events, red resources and revolutionary forefathers. Leveraging the strength of the province, we have launched Party history learning and education campaigns, including reading letters written by revolutionaries to their families. A book compiled by the China Executive Leadership Academy Jinggangshan collected letters written by several dozen martyrs to their families, many of which were written immediately before their death. These moving letters, fully showcasing the strength of belief, conviction and confidence, have sent people into tears and left a lifelong impression on them. I remember two martyrs in this book, Chen Jue and Zhao Yunxiao, both of whom studied in the Soviet Union, and returned to China to participate in the revolution. After being arrested by the enemy, they were sentenced to death. Zhao was pregnant then, so Chen wrote a letter to her before dying a martyr. Several sentences of his letter left a lifelong impression on me. He wrote, "Although we both die, our wishes will surely be fulfilled by other comrades as long as they live." Who are those "other comrades"? I think they represent the generations of CPC members. Four months after the death of Chen Jue, Zhao Yunxiao gave birth to their baby. Soon, the enemy decided to kill her too. The night before her death, Zhao wrote a letter to her daughter, whose name was Qiming. It reads, "my little baby, you are born so unfortunate that you don't even have a chance to know your father and mother. Please do not hate me. Do not hate your parents. Hate the environment we were living in then. Today, I will tell you explicitly that your parents are members of the CPC." Unfortunately, Qiming, who was born and lived in a dark prison, died at the age of four and failed to grow up as her mother wished. But our Chinese people, generation by generation, including everyone present here, are all "Qiming" today. We should all bear our forefathers in mind and remember that the happy life we enjoy today was gained by numerous revolutionary martyrs and CPC members at the price of their blood and lives. Whenever reading such stories, we can always draw inexhaustible strength from them. So, we have launched "the second classroom" campaign for CPC history education in light of the local situation. In this campaign, revolutionary sites serve as classrooms, cultural relics and historical documents are the textbooks, and martyrs and role models are our teachers. Our aims are to tell the stories of the Party, revolution and heroes; to guide CPC members and officials to follow the instructions of the Party and be grateful to the Party; and to pass on the spirit of the old revolutionary base areas and red tradition of being faithful to the Party from generation to generation.

Second, we have carried forward the original aspiration and mission of Chinese Communists, that is, to strive for the well-being of the Chinese people. The CPC is from the people, for the people, and successful because of the people. During the time of revolution, people from the old revolutionary base areas wholeheartedly supported the leadership of the CPC and emptied their pockets to help the Red Army, even in the face of white terror, because our party has always sincerely worked for the interests of the people.

During the "Enlarging the Red Army" movement, people from the old revolutionary base areas devoted their last bowl of rice and last foot of fabric to the Red Army. They devoted their last old cotton-wadded quilt to cover stretchers and their last kindred to join the army. At that time, Xingguo county had a population of 250,000. Among them, 80,000 people joined the Red Army. Ruijin county had a population of 240,000, 50,000 of whom joined the Red Army and local armed forces.

Yang Rongxian from Shazhouba, Ruijin county sent his eight sons to join the army, who were all killed in battle. His whole family was martyrs. The story of these heroes has been handed down to today. This shows that the people are committed to the CPC and the CPC is committed to the people. We have a profound understanding of what General Secretary Xi Jinping meant when he said that the state is the people, and the people are the state. 

We will further implement the people-centered philosophy in our development and always put the people first. We will make efforts to address urgent, difficult, and worrisome issues concerning food, housing, transportation, employment, education, medical care, elderly care, and the environment. We will make solid strides in realizing common prosperity and keep enhancing people's sense of gain, well-being, and security in the old revolutionary base areas.

Third, we have vigorously carried forward our good tradition of taking on responsibilities and working hard. Faced with all kinds of difficulties and tests during the time of revolution, countless Chinese Communists have taken on responsibilities and worked hard, struggled tenaciously, carried on a heroic and moving struggle, and wrote sublime and heroic epics. 

Faced with the new situation, new features, and new requirements in the new development stage, as well as hard tasks relating to reform and development, we will vigorously carry forward the fine conduct of officials from revolutionary base areas, make concerted efforts to pass on revolutionary traditions, guide Party members to carry forward the fighting spirit and improve their ability to fight, bravely take on responsibilities, and do "first-class work" to paint a new picture of Jiangxi's reform and development in the new era. Thank you.