Implications of Sisi’s congratulatory speech on the centenary of the Communist Party of China

The most important thing that stopped me in the speech of President (El-Sisi), during the presentation of his speech concerning the circumstances of the establishment of the modern Chinese state and the success of its revolution in 1949, which comes in similar circumstances to the (June 30 revolution) in Egypt, which was led by President “El-Sisi ” after millions of crowds that demanded him at the time as a minister of Defense standing by the revolting Egyptian people against the rule of the (Muslim Brotherhood), which Egyptians celebrate these days on the occasion of (June 30 revolution), in similar circumstances to the (Communist Party) of China’s celebration of its centenary and its 100th anniversary on July 1 this year.

 This is what brings me as an expert in Chinese political affairs, to shed light on (President El-Sisi’s speech), analyzing it from the angle of (the success story of the ruling Communist Party in China and its centenary celebrated this year, and its similarity relationship with the June 30 revolution in Egypt and its leader, President “El-Sisi”.

 The similarities and differences between the (Chinese Revolution of 1949) and the policies of the Communist Party of China and the (June 30th revolution) in Egypt and the policies of President “El-Sisi”.

  On a personal level, the Egyptian researcher was interested in analyzing a number of general aspects in the similarities between the causes of the (1949 revolution in China), which paved the way for the arrival of the authority of the (Communist Party of China) to power, despite its inception in 1921, and (the June 30 revolution) in Egypt, and what followed a quick and brief reading of the scene in both cases, because of the evidence for that, and quickly highlighting them for what I recently noticed when re-reading the political scene in both Beijing and Egypt, that there are similarities – perhaps many did not pay attention to them – as follows:

 1) The two Egyptian and Chinese revolutions experienced various types of turbulent relations with the West in their infancy: as a result of their choice of independent positions that reflect the real challenges facing their peoples and the region.  This is in addition to the revival of the (national identity) and its contents of opposition to foreign interference in our internal affairs. From 1921 until the (Revolution of 1949) in China, the (Communist Party of China) led all of the Chinese people in hard and bitter struggles, overthrew the rule of imperialism, feudalism and bureaucratic capitalism, and successfully has established the (People’s Republic of China) after the success of its revolution. After the establishment of the republic, the Communist Party of China led its people of all nationalities in safeguarding the country’s independence and security. 

 On the Egyptian side, the beginning of the (June 30 revolution) in Egypt was to overthrow the rule of (militias and religious sects) and preserve (the Egyptian main and basic civil state’s identity), not to divide the country and preserve its unity.

 2) As for the role of the new leaderships in Egypt and China after the revolutions: we note here their clear tendency to strike a balance in their regional and international relations and to correct the imbalances that occurred in them during the previous periods on the Arab, African and international levels.

  3) With regard to the view and vision of the political leaders to the  world after the June 30 revolution in Egypt and the 1949 revolution in China: Both of them made it clear that cooperation is the basis, on condition that this not be done at the expense of the interests of small and medium powers, and that this does not represent an agreement on world domination.

 4) As for the common experiences of both the Egyptian and Chinese revolutions: The two revolutions gained great experience – despite their short period – regarding the international situation and managing their relations with Washington and the West, and re-adapting their systems and policies while continuing their evaluation of their experiences and stages of growth. With their agreement on the need to benefit from the trends of global economic and technological development and modernization as urgent conditions to keep pace with modernization and the mechanisms of the modern era.

 5) To answer the question of the similarity between the beginnings of the Chinese and Egyptian revolution: the Chinese revolution of 1949 emphasized (three main goals), the first one is the (nationalism), it aimed at independence from foreign influence, the second goal is the (unity under a national goal) that governs a central authority, while the third goal is the (radical change in economic and social conditions). The auditor of the three goals finds them to be the same goals of the Egyptian revolution on (June 30) to get out of the mantle of dependency as a new revolution to correct the course and the path of January 25th revolution that brought the authority of Muslim Brotherhood, and to improve economic and living conditions, through the resulting projects and basic infrastructure.

 6) To get acquainted with the generations and leaders who led the revolutions in Egypt and China: Since the strengthening of the authority of the People’s Liberation Army and the ruling Communist Party after the 1949 revolution in China, the rule of China has continued so far by different (five generations) who have formed the “collective leadership” at the top of the party and state pyramid, and this was reflected in the official discourse for the country, every leadership that succeeded in ruling China after the revolution was linked in the mind and mind of the Chinese people, when each of them was characterized by specific features that fall under the (general ideology of the party). Up to the “fifth generation”, or the current one, led by Chinese President (Xi Jinping). But what distinguishes the generations of the (June 30) revolution in Egypt is that it was essentially a (popular revolution) in which all Egyptian national institutions participated, under the slogan (We want the homeland, while they want militias and sects).

 7) The pillars of power after the revolutions (June 30) in Egypt and (1949) in China: Three leadership positions that constitute the three pillars of power in China are (the ruling Communist Party), the state (the government) with all its leaders and formations, then (the People’s Liberation Army) and sometimes it is called (the people’s army) or the armed forces in the common sense. 

   While the pillars of the (June 30) revolution were the so-called (revolutionaries and the state) together, the judiciary sympathized with it from the beginning and was part of it, then the police sympathized with it, and the army, Al-Azhar and the church adopted it, and the youth of the revolution themselves drew up a roadmap for it.

 8) The agreement (the Egyptian and Chinese revolutions) that modernization in their view is a process that requires firm authority to put it into practice: because the most important feature of the June 30 revolution is: the absence of the slogan of overthrowing the regime and the return of the civil state away from any religious polarization.  The unrest after the fall of the rule of the (Muslim Brotherhood) from the increase in terrorist operations and activities, endangering national security, borders of sovereignty, the problem of water, the Renaissance Dam, and tunnels in Sinai  Therefore, it was necessary to (a firm authority) in Egypt after the success of the revolution (June 30th) facing all this chaos and turmoil. 

  On the Chinese side, there is almost agreement that any modernization plan for China will not succeed without eliminating corruption and the corrupt, so look for corruption.The first Chinese leader from the generation of leaders after the revolution (1949) in China to lead an anti-corruption campaign, was (Jiang Zemin), who was keen to address the political mentalities within the Communist Party, and to open up to his fellow party members about the problems and obstacles facing the development and modernization process. In his country, especially corruption, which resulted in a number of problems such as: class disparity in the population, unemployment, poverty, marginalization…etc.

 9) The processes of selecting, preparing and qualifying new leaders in Egypt and China after the revolutions of (June 30) in Egypt and (1949) in China: The selection of young talents in China after the revolution (1949) – comes on the Faraza, as the famous expression in Egypt says – and it is the same idea in particular, which was previously crystallized by the late leader of the march of renewal (Deng Xiaoping), who put forward his famous saying about (the four transformations), and that the political transformations lead to the future of the new China being assumed by young leaders with the following basic qualities:

 to be (revolutionary) and loyal younger age (the issues here are, of course, relative), but with a broader amount of (knowledge) and a greater degree of (specialization at the external level), so it becomes expected that the new Chinese leaders will be keen and work on (crystallizing better relations with the outside), but within a wider framework political and diplomatic scope. 

  On the other hand, one of the most important gains of the (June 30) revolution was the (presidential programmes), so the president (El-Sisi) paid great attention to the youth, by preparing them for leadership, inaugurating the (World Youth Forum), and announcing what is known as (the presidential program to qualify youth for leadership). The idea of ​​which began with announcing the initiative of President (El-Sisi) on it himself in September 2015, with the aim of creating and qualifying a base of youth competencies and qualifying them for political, administrative and societal work in the country, and raising their efficiency with the latest practical and administrative theories to qualify them to plan for the future, and increase their ability to apply the latest methods for facing challenges.

 10) The tyranny of the language (frankness) or (disclosure) of the reality of the prevailing conditions in (the official Chinese and Egyptian political discourses) after the revolutions of (June 30th) in Egypt and (1949) in China: those interested in Chinese affairs stopped for a long time to analyze when the late Chinese leader contemplated  (Jiang Zemin) as he handed over the reins of power to those who would come after him, they were provoked by the tone of (frankness) or (self-criticism) that they are training in (the Cadre School of the ruling Communist Party), and within the framework of this frankness, the Chinese leader (Jian Zemin) did not hesitate to say without equivocation or falsification Comrades:

 “If we do not strike with an iron hand at the hands of corruption and the corrupt, the bond of blood and flesh that is, the bond that binds our party to the masses that binds the party and the masses together will crack and the party will be in danger of losing its ruling position in the country. The party may even find itself heading towards self-destruction”. 

  On the Egyptian side, we note that the speeches of President (El-Sisi) after the (June 30th revolution), from the first moment, were dominated by the language of credibility and frankness as a general approach to his speeches, without making any kind of propaganda. Rather, it was a frankness and disclosure of all the challenges and dangers facing the people.  As (El-Sisi) literally said:

 “From the first moment I stand before you, I want to be honest with you as I have always been, honest with my country, and honest with myself”. Or his literally serious speech in one of his speeches, saying:

“Egyptians have a very difficult, heavy task). So is his discourse (we must be honest with ourselves) and the sentence of (making the future is a joint work, it is a contract between the ruler and his people), or his frank talk (the truth is I want to be honest with you, and the circumstances are as you see and appreciate), or his realistic talk with (I do not offer miracles. Rather, I offer hard work, effort, and self-denial without limits), as well as his promise to the Egyptian people in the realistic context of his speech to them (I promise you that we can together, people and leadership). And other phrases and sentences that were contained in his political discourses in their entirety, which carry the meanings of frankness and truth without a stylized choice of the meanings of words, and these are the same ideas that were brought up in (school or the so-called cadre of the Communist Party in China) after the revolution (1949) in China.

 Through the researcher’s presentation of all the previous points, it becomes clear to us in the evidence the size of the similarity and intersection between the challenges facing both Egypt and China, and this is what prompted China to support Egypt after the (June 30th revolution), with the continued keenness of the Chinese state to continue relations with Egypt during the era of President (El-Sisi) after the June 30 revolution in a positive way, and taking advantage of what has been achieved in previous periods to build stronger and more solid relations and explore new areas and horizons for Egyptian-Chinese cooperation, based on mutual giving, and based on each party’s understanding of the other party’s national interests and responding to them, with what this requires from consolidating the main pillars of the Egyptian-Chinese economic, commercial, cultural and military relations under the leadership of President (Abdel Fattah El-Sisi).

   Hence, I conclude my previous analyzes with what I learned from (China’s policy) and its recent transformations and competition with Washington and others, which is that we must bear in mind – and from my experience and constant communication with the Chinese – that China does not decide its foreign policy based on the rightness or invalidity of matters.  Because this is a political standard that is crowded with emotional and emotional factors, and it does not have practical results.  But it takes the (national interest) as a criterion for its foreign policy.  The point is to say that the preservation of diplomatic policy to the maximum extent of China’s national interests, after careful calculation, is the successful (quiet star of Chinese diplomacy). Therefore, the Chinese rapprochement with Cairo, and Beijing’s support for the demands of the June 30 revolution in Egypt did not come out of nowhere, but rather based on accurate calculations, and it is the conclusive indication of the maturity of (Chinese diplomacy) which opponents witnessed before friends, and how many friends of China are everywhere.

Dr.Nadia Helmy
Dr.Nadia Helmy
Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Politics and Economics / Beni Suef University- Egypt. An Expert in Chinese Politics, Sino-Israeli relationships, and Asian affairs- Visiting Senior Researcher at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)/ Lund University, Sweden- Director of the South and East Asia Studies Unit