In China’s long history of dramatic ebbs and flows of power and fortune, the past 100 years have been an especially tumultuous era.

To be sure, China, under its political system based on one-party rule, has successfully built up its wealth and military strength. But has the system achieved the “liberalization” of the Chinese people in the true sense of the word?

The Communist Party of China should recognize the grim fact that what it calls “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” stands on shaky footing.

In his address to mark the centenary of the party on July 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping emphatically said, “the Chinese nation has achieved the tremendous transformation from standing up and growing prosperous to becoming strong.”

Founded with only 50 or so members, the party has grown into a powerful entity with more than 95 million card-carrying members.

When Xi, who is at the top of the party hierarchy, spoke to the nation, he was brimming with confidence because of the economic power China has gained.

China’s economic growth has pulled many people out of poverty and continued at a steady pace while many Western industrial nations have struggled to expand their economies.

The Communist Party has successfully established the narrative that the nation’s economic achievement has been made possible by the merits of the party’s rule. This story has been widely embraced by the Chinese people.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world anticipated that China’s communist regime would also crumble before long.

That prediction did not come to pass because the party adopted an ideologically flexible stance and pushed through radical reforms to transform China into a market economy.

Looking ahead, however, China will face tough economic challenges as the nation’s population ages rapidly amid low birthrates, mainly due to many years of the one-child policy.

It is likely to become more difficult for the party to maintain its power base simply by promoting policies to keep the economy on a growth track.

Even though China is locked in a battle for global hegemony with the United States, the communist government’s biggest worry is a possible increase in criticism against the party’s rule among the people.

The party has been stepping up its crackdown on freedom of speech and increased its patriotic propaganda in recent years in an apparent attempt to prevent a rise of criticism.

The Communist Party’s history of 100 years has also been marked by policy disasters resulting in tragedies and bloodshed, including the Great Leap Forward from 1958, the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, and the suppression of the pro-democracy movement centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.

There is no guarantee that the party will not make similar mistakes with devastating consequences.

If it wants to ensure sustained economic growth, China needs to start tackling the challenge of reforming its political system after many years of inaction on this front.

It needs to apply the flexible thinking behind the country’s bold “reform and opening up” economic policy also to its political approach.

There is no doubt that a regime that restricts human rights and freedom and does not give the people a means to democratically elect their leader cannot expect to secure long-term viability.

Xi, however, is trying to concentrate even more power in his hands. Rumor has it that he will override a rule concerning retirement age in the party congress next year so that he can remain in power.

The Xi administration is undermining the system for peaceful power transfers while brutally suppressing people in Hong Kong and in the northwestern region of Xinjiang and stirring up a sense of crisis about threats from other countries.

Even though China’s modern history of being humiliated by Western powers is behind these actions, it is still disturbing to see China, now a leading power, enhancing its inward-looking, authoritarian rule.

It seems the Communist Party’s primary goal in governing the nation is simply to maintain its grip on power.

In his address on July 1, Xi said since its foundation, the party’s mission has been “seeking happiness for the Chinese people.” The party should return to its original mission.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 2