Wake up（268）

 

268

 

Two professors, Hong Wenxuan and Shen Zhirui, stood on the deck of the cruise ship, looking at the night lights of Victoria Harbour. The waves are choppy and the sea is not calm.

Shen Zhirui said: In the eyes of some Westerners, China's militia organizations are just mobs, and they completely ignore China's militia groups. More people just make irresponsible remarks about China's urban management, agricultural management, and cultural management, and even list these law enforcement teams as the third force parallel to the Chinese army and police, but they seem to know little about China's militia organizations. The Chinese militia is an armed force mainly composed of young people. Today's world has the largest cohort of youth in history. There are currently 1.8 billion young people aged 10 to 24 in the world, and this number is expected to continue to grow. In the next 13 years, nearly 2 billion people will join the ranks of the world's youth. In most developing countries, children and adolescents make up the majority of the population. Young people are not only committed to shaping a better future of greater opportunity for all, but they are leading change in today's world, driving sustainable development and blazing the trails to create new opportunities for global exchange and connectivity. Ignorant people are always laughing at the young people in China, thinking that they are the declining generation in China, they are facing the crisis of unemployment, their values are changing, they are a family of lying flat, a group of barren and sterile moths. Maybe some people think that young people in China have been Westernized, they envy the democracy and freedom of the West, and going abroad is their biggest dream. It should be admitted that, to varying degrees, Chinese youth groups have the problems of insufficient struggle motivation and dispelled struggle spirit. Difficulties in survival and development such as "the channels for upward mobility are not smooth enough", the "tide of layoffs" during the epidemic, and the popularity of online discourses such as "laying flat" and "putting down" will all have an impact on the current struggle status of youth groups.

Shen Zhirui continued to Hong Wenxuan: Our young generation is not only the largest in number in history, but also the most closely connected. Worldwide, youth are almost twice as connected online as the general population average. In developed countries, almost all young people use the Internet, while in least developed countries, young people are three times more likely to be online than the overall population average. As the most connected generation ever, they are uniquely positioned to harness collective power to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to forge dialogue and partnerships across countries and across all spheres of social life: politics, business, academia and civil society relation.

The Internet and social media play a key role in bringing together people from different backgrounds by helping people increase their connectivity and reach. As youth are at the forefront of the application of new technologies, they are the strongest force leading us to this goal and our greatest asset in promoting the idea of global citizenship around the world.

In the online field, young people are also the age group who use social media most frequently. Overall, they are more likely to be social network users than those 35 and older. This age gap exists in both developing and developed countries. In Germany, for example, 79% of young Internet users use social media, compared with 39% of older Internet users. Similar differences exist between younger and older Internet users in other countries, such as Vietnam (86% versus 49%) and Japan (78% versus 43%). On average, more than 80% of young Internet users are active on social media.

In addition to networking with their peers, through the Internet and social media, youth have more opportunities to communicate with national and world leaders and actively participate in conversations with government representatives and policy makers. Holding governments accountable through social media is an important mechanism for ensuring young people's participation in decision-making processes and is one of many youth-led initiatives around the world. The Internet and social media have provided young people with unimaginable advocacy platforms.

However, we should not forget that young people in China grow up under the leadership and education of the Communist Party. Even old people like you and me are the same age of the Republic, receiving revolutionary education under the Communist Party’s political propaganda every day and night. This was true of the Cultural Revolution, and it will be true of Cultural Revolution 2.0. Youth is an important period for the formation of personal values, and it is also a critical period for determining the direction of life. Youth groups maintain a life background of struggle, which is not only conducive to their own growth, but also can promote the development of the times. The question is, what is a positive state of striving, what is a noble goal. I can say without a doubt that once China gets involved in a war, the young people of China will never stand idly by. The authorities are currently repeatedly strengthening the promotion of nationalism and patriotism, which is aimed at pushing young people to the front line of the battlefield of "defending the country". In my opinion, the authorities will definitely reorganize the militia, and the Chinese militia with youth as the main body will soon become a new force. This is perhaps the last thing the West wants to see.

Hong Wenxuan said: "Old Shen's words are very true.

Pointing to the Victoria Harbor in the night, he said: The illuminated Victoria Harbor looks magnificent, but it is not peaceful. The same will be true for the development of China's militia. I recently re-read the article "On the Development and Connotation of Mao Zedong's Militia Thought" written by He Quansheng. He Quansheng is a professor at the Party School directly under the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Hong Wenxuan turned on his phone and found this article.

He Quansheng said:

The militia is the people's self-defense army that is not separated from productive labor and is an important part of the Chinese people's armed forces. Mao Zedong was the founder and builder of the Chinese militia cause. He summed up the successful experience of the Chinese revolution and construction, and creatively put forward the strategy of "militia and the people are the foundation of victory", "building a large militia division" and "three implementations" of militia work, strengthening the Militia work and the construction of the militia system have created a people's armed forces system with Chinese characteristics that combines the regular army, the local army, and the militia, and constructed Mao Zedong's militia thought, which has made the Chinese militia grow stronger and made great contributions to the revolution and construction. Mao Zedong's militia thought is the precious spiritual wealth of the party, and it has great practical significance for strengthening the militia work and the construction of the reserve system.

Hong Wenxuan said to Shen Zhirui: He Quansheng talked about the basic essence of Mao Zedong's militia thought and the process of formation and development.

Mao Zedong drew wisdom from the basic principles of Marxism and excellent traditional Chinese culture, combined with the reality of the Chinese revolution, and deduced and developed the militia thought of "people's war", "large militia divisions" and "three implementations" of militia work. He believes that the militia is an important representative of the people, and is not wearing military uniforms, "under the principle of voluntary democracy and not divorced from production" ("Mao Zedong Selected Works" Volume 3, People's Publishing House, 1991 edition, p. 1040.) Mass armed organizations are an important part of the system of people's armed forces with Chinese characteristics. Mao Zedong attached great importance to the work of the militia and the construction of the militia organization system, and profoundly expounded the people's war thought of combining the army and the people (including the militia). Mao Zedong's militia thought is the actual embodiment and concrete implementation of Mao Zedong's people's war thought, and it is constantly developing with the development of China's revolution and construction.

During the Great Revolution, Mao Zedong's militia thought began to sprout. During this period, Mao Zedong's militia thought was mainly conceived in the peasant movement. The militia organizations mainly took the form of Red Guards and Self-Defense Forces. He fully affirmed and praised the "very good" peasant movement, denounced the "very bad" reactionary rhetoric, and cheered for the magnificent and rapidly developing peasant revolutionary movement. He pointed out: "Tens of millions of peasants rise up from the central, southern and northern provinces of China. The momentum is like a storm, and it is extremely fast. No matter how big the force is, they will not be able to suppress it. They will break through all the snares that bind them, and move towards the liberation. Run quickly on the road." They worked together to overthrow the feudal forces, accomplished "what Dr. Xun". (Volume 1 of "Selected Works of Mao Zedong", People's Publishing House, 1991 edition, pages 13, 15-16.)

During the Agrarian Revolution, Mao Zedong's militia thought was further deepened. The militia organizations in this period were mainly workers’ and peasants’ riots, Red Guards, Spear darts, and Young Pioneers. They mainly fought against the security forces of landlords, local tyrants and evil gentry, and door-to-door regiments. Defend the red regime. Mao Zedong described the magnificent scene of peasants and militias launching land struggles in "The Struggle in Jinggang Mountains", and pointed out: "The rioters used spears and shotguns as weapons, and each township had one team, and the number of people was proportional to the size of the township. Their duty is to suppress counter-revolutionaries and defend the township government" and to cooperate with the Red Army in combat; "the weapons of the Red Guards are mainly five-shot guns, and there are also nine-shot and single-shot guns", and they "all adopt decentralized combat methods." (Volume 1 of "Selected Works of Mao Zedong", pages 66 and 67.)

During the Anti-Japanese War, Mao Zedong's militia thought was basically formed. The organization system of the militia was basically established, which marked that the concept of "militia" had taken shape, and the anti-Japanese base areas vigorously developed militia teams. During this period, the militia organizations were mainly the self-defense army, armed forces behind enemy lines, guerrillas, pickets, anti-rape teams, front transport teams, and anti-Japanese youth vanguards. fight. They mobilized to join the army, transported rations and ammunition, carried out attacks and explosions, scouted the enemy, eliminated spies, escorted the wounded and sick, gave preferential treatment to military relatives, cooperated with the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army, and used various flexible and diverse tactics to defeat the Japanese and puppet reactionary forces. On November 7, 1941, Mao Zedong signed the "Instructions of the Central Military Commission on the Military Construction of the Anti-Japanese Base Areas", which stipulated that in the anti-Japanese base areas, all persons aged 16 to 55, regardless of class, gender, race, or religious belief, should register , compiled as general self-defense members or women's self-defense members. Soon, he also instructed that the self-defense forces and militia should be composed of poor peasants, farm laborers, and middle peasants as the backbone, but other elements such as anti-Japanese landlords and children of rich peasants should not be rejected; To become a tool of the class struggle against the landlords and the upper class, on the contrary, to absorb the middle class upper class to assist the work of the militia. He believes that if the militia does not understand the whole people and its role in the anti-Japanese national struggle, it will become the prominence of workers and peasants, and if it loses the support of all strata in the countryside, it will be isolated and defeated; There is a danger of being stolen by reactionaries. A clear distinction between the two is the basic principle for leading the work of the militia. In April 1945, Mao Zedong pointed out in the report "On the Coalition Government" of the party's seven major works: "The militia in the countryside has grown to more than 2.2 million people." In the report, he emphasized that the people's "army Its strength is also due to the fact that there are large mass armed organizations such as the People's Self-Defense Forces and the Militia, who cooperate with it in fighting. In the Liberated Areas of China, all young and middle-aged men and women... except those who joined the army and guerrillas, organized in the ranks of the militia". The broad militia "are enthusiastically engaged in all kinds of work to aid the army", or "directly help the army in combat". At the same time, they "enthusiastically engaged in political, economic, cultural, and health construction work" and "engaged in self-sufficiency in production" and organized mass movements for locust extermination, flood control, and disaster relief. persevere." ("Mao Zedong Selected Works" Volume 3, pages 1038-1039, 1040, 1041.)

During the War of Liberation, Mao Zedong's militia thought was greatly developed. During this period, the militia organizations were mainly the Self-Defense Forces, Home and Field Protection Teams, Production Mutual Aid Teams, Front Support Transport Teams, Land Reform Teams, Public Security Teams, Rent and Interest Reduction Teams, etc., carrying out land reform, rent reduction and interest reduction, development of production, Supported the former army to participate in the war, defended the rear against Jiang Jianguo, and assisted in the struggle against bandits. During this period, Mao Zedong formulated a strategy of giving full play to the advantages of political mobilization and fully employing soldiers. He encouraged the peasants, the people's army and the militia to smash Chiang Kai-shek's attacks on the liberated areas with self-defense wars, and launched a struggle to protect the land and hometown. "Down with Chiang Kai-shek and liberate the whole of China." , to win the great victory of the new democratic revolution. From June 1946 to June 1947, more than 600,000 militiamen actively joined the army, increasing the number of the People's Liberation Army from 1.27 million to 1.95 million, and supporting more than 60 million former farmers. In the three major battles alone, peasants and militiamen in the war zone actively supported the front, providing a total of 5.9 million migrant workers, 9.5 billion catties of food, 108,000 stretchers, more than 1 million livestock, and 834,700 large and small vehicles. , The military-civilian ratio reaches 1:1, 1:2 or even 1:3. Among them, the Huaihai Campaign mobilized 168,000 militiamen to join the army, supported 1.5 million migrant workers, and transported 430 million catties of grain.

Hong Wenxuan said to Shen Zhirui: In his article, He Quansheng talked about the gradual development of Mao Zedong's militia thought after the founding of New China.

He Quansheng believes that during this period, militia organizations such as the Self-Defense Forces, Family Protection Teams, and Security Teams were established all over the country to develop the economy, jointly defend against bandits, maintain social security, defend the new people's power, and consolidate the achievements of the revolution. On December 1, 1952, Mao Zedong signed the "Decision on the Measures for the People's Liberation Army's 1952 Return to Home and Job Construction Personnel", which stated: "In order to strengthen the national defense force and meet the needs of the country's economic construction, the People's Liberation Army is retaining a certain number of basic personnel. Under the principle of reducing active service personnel, a large number of personnel must be transferred to construction to strengthen production and construction in various fields such as agriculture and industry, and participate in the work of organizing and training the militia in order to accumulate strength and lay the foundation for the future implementation of the compulsory military service system. This is The current central work of our army." ("Mao Zedong Chronicle (1949-1976)" Volume 1, Central Literature Publishing House 2013 Edition, p. 630.) Here, Mao Zedong intends to combine economic construction with the work of organizing and training militias and implementing obligations. The military service system is organically combined. Mao Zedong and the Central Military Commission demanded that the basic militia be formally established, and that militia divisions be established, and that the guidelines for the "three implementations" of militia work be put forward, so that the work of the militia could be guaranteed organizationally, politically, and militarily, and the militia be built into a civilized, mighty, and victorious army. division. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, my country's militia grew to more than 100 million people.

Shen Zhirui asked: How many people are there in the Chinese militia now?

Hong Wenxuan said: I don't know. There are no public statistics in China, and there is no data disclosure in this regard abroad. However, in my opinion, the number is not small. It's just that there are too few people who study Chinese militias, but I believe that it won't be long before the research on Chinese militias will be on the hot list.

The two professors stood on the deck of the cruise ship, still talking about the Chinese militia.