In Beijing, flowers, songs and security forces for the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party
Chinese workers put up flags in a shopping street in Beijing a few days before July 1, 2021, the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party.
REUTERS - TINGSHU WANG
Text by: Stéphane Lagarde Follow
8 mins
The countdown to the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party is on.
The candles will be blown out with great fanfare this Thursday, July 1.
A centenary in song, with the mobilization of traditional choirs of militant songs, but also of rappers.
And, from this Monday, June 28 in the evening, a big show is given at the Olympic Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing, where security has been tightened.
Publicity
Read more
From our correspondent in Beijing,
Until the last minute, the program for this 100th anniversary will have been kept secret.
The first texts fell on Sunday evening on the WeChat messaging of accredited journalists, warning of the holding of a show entitled "
Le Grand Voyage
" given this Monday in the Olympic park north of the Chinese capital.
To attend, you had to be vaccinated, take a PCR test again, and spend one night in a designated hotel, before being taken to the Bird's Nest stadium.
Zero Covid-19 double-barreled
Zero Covid-19 double-round for this anniversary.
The Olympic Park is completely cordoned off, like the streets around Tiananmen Square, where part of the ceremonies should take place.
Pekingese are, it seems, used to these costly and restrictive commemorations in terms of travel.
"
It's for the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party,"
explains this resident of northern Beijing, coming out of a gym.
They will dance and sing but we will not be able to go, it is for the 100 years of the party,
”he repeats with a smile.
Security has taken another step up this weekend, with a strengthening of the police presence and the establishment of roadblocks, especially around Tiananmen Square. As was the case for the 70th anniversary of the
founding of the People's Republic of China
in 2019, some residences in central Beijing have been visited by police officers verifying the identities of those present in each household.
"
Shhhh, get out and make noise
" asked Sunday the leaders of a
Protestant temple
to the worried worshipers in the north of Beijing.
The places of prayer, some karaoke will have to remain closed during the celebrations.
Traders on online sales platforms have told Reuters that they are no longer allowed to ship items, such as gas cylinders and other flammable products, to their Beijing customers until further notice.
Sea of flowers and flags
This discretion and this taste for secrecy contrast with the propaganda slogans everywhere in town:
"
without the party, there is no new China
"
proclaim the banners.
Another visible sign of this anniversary to say the least: the deployment of gigantic floral arrangements at crossroads and on the edges of avenues in Beijing.
Chinese police officers in front of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Museum, which opened to mark the Party's centenary.
© REUTERS - THOMAS PETER
It was not the “
Hundred Flowers Campaign
” (a policy carried out in China from February to June 1957 to re-establish Mao Zedong's authority over the Party)
,
but 2.3 million potted plants that were mobilized for this. centenary, as well as an army of gardeners according to Chinese state media.
In addition, there is a sea of flags.
Five-star red has bloomed everywhere in major cities, including on storefronts.
"It is almost the 70th anniversary of the party, we are preparing for the celebrations"
explains the young waiter of a Japanese restaurant, unrolling the national emblem that he has just had delivered and mistaking the 70th anniversary of the Republic. People's Republic of China, with the centenary of the CCP.
Rejuvenate the Party Audience
Do young people need remedial lessons in “
Chinese socialism
”? The Chinese Communist Party hopes in any case to rejuvenate its audience on the occasion of these commemorations which, as often, associate the future of the party with that of the motherland. But the shows of militant songs, organized in many residences in recent days, are not enough to convince the youth.
Sunday at the end of the afternoon, the stage installed in the heart of a block of buildings in the north of the capital, attracts especially the old ones. The youngest coming with
their grandparents
prefer to play in a mini body of water in front of the stage. "
It's for the old people, me and my girlfriends that don't interest us
"
,
confides a high school student, concerned about her poodle who has just given a muzzle in the cream of the cake that she was supposed to bring home. .
Once the 6pm sun has been swallowed up by the top floors of the buildings, the choir in sequined lamé dresses can start. Over the loudspeakers, a 1945 song composed from Mao's writings: “
We Communists are like seeds and the people are like the earth.
"Songs also taken up by the schoolchildren, during choreographies repeated in the courtyards of schools since the beginning of the month, while a campaign was launched against the"
historical nihilists
", in other words those who do not believe in the version of the story told in the textbooks.
Excerpt from the song "Unleashed Fire and War Horse," produced by a group of rappers from the Qingdao City Tax Service, on the occasion of the CCP's centenary.
© Screenshot
The same song everywhere
It is not the first time that the Party has celebrated an anniversary in song, but this time the official fanfare has given way to the rappers, even if, basically, it is the same song everywhere.
Dozens of rap groups participate in this anniversary by using the elements of propaganda language.
In his title "100%" which could lead to believe in a piece of
Kpop
, Cypher tells "
a China on the rise
", thanks to the commitment of the CCP and the communist youths.
The idea is again to rejuvenate the audience of the Party.
"
红色
", ("
Red
") sing the rappers from the Nanjing Institute of Technology,
party
pins
pinned to the T-shirt and against a background of images of the people's army, TGVs bringing together the provinces or the Chinese conquest of space. Put end to end, this compilation of red rappers forms a Prévert-style inventory. Even rappers from the Qingdao City Tax Department decided to sing along and chant their love for the party on a song called
"
烈火
战马
" (
"
Raging
Fire and War Horse
"). Communist cells in neighborhoods, universities, but also businesses are mobilized.
“We adapted a traditional red chant to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the party,
” says a music video producer, stepping back to the pace of the cameras.
Two employees of a real estate developer smile at the objectives, before moving forward, singing the praises of the party: “
We want to show that we have a bright future and that we have an appointment with 2035. It is our company that has decided to make this clip to celebrate the spirit of the Party.
"
► To read also: Hundredth anniversary of the CCP: tourists see red in China
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
China
Xi Jinping
On the same subject
100 Years of the CCP in China: "Red Tourism" to Follow the Route of "Chinese Socialism"
China
China celebrates the centenary of the May 4, 1919 Movement