Firmly in control, China's Communist Party marks centenary

China's ruling Communist Party is marking the 100th anniversary of its founding with speeches and grand displays intended to showcase economic progress and social stability to justify its iron grip on political power

BEIJING -- China will not allow itself to be bullied and anyone who tries will face “broken heads and bloodshed in front of the iron Great Wall of the 1.4 billion Chinese people,” President Xi Jinping said at a mass gathering Thursday to mark the centenary of the ruling Communist Party. Wearing a grey buttoned-up suit of the type worn by Mao Zedong, Xi spoke from the balcony of Tiananmen Gate, emphasizing the party's role in bringing China to global prominence and saying it would never be divided from the people. Xi, also head of the party and leader of the armed forces, also said China had restored order in Hong Kong following anti-government protests in the semi-autonomous city in 2019 and reiterated Beijing’s determination to bring self-governing Taiwan under its control. He received the biggest applause, however, when he described the party as the force that had restored China's dignity after taking power amid civil war in 1949.