By Hu Zexi, People’s Daily
The science-based decisions of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the concerted efforts of the Chinese people are what made China achieve such an impressive progress, said Adham Sayed, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lebanon, when receiving an exclusive interview with People’s Daily.
The Lebanese has been studying and working in China since 2015, where he is able to closely observe the country’s development and changes. To write a book that introduces to the world the Chinese achievements he witnesses has always been a dream of his.
When the pandemic broke out in 2020, Sayed was studying for his Ph.D. at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan and decided to stay on. He later published a book, titled “Confidence Comes from Effectiveness: A Foreigner’s Wuhan Diary,” in China and its Arabic version back in Lebanon.
The book records the stories happening in Wuhan, presents to the world China’s response measures, and demonstrates the Chinese strength in his eyes.
Sayed believes that China’s practices in the fight against the virus vividly mirrored the institutional advantages of the country.
“I saw the greatness of the Chinese people amid the pandemic. However, that’s not enough to explain why China has succeeded,” he told People’s Daily.
“People need strong leadership, and the CPC is exactly providing this strong leadership to the Chinese people. It always puts people in the first place, and the Chinese government’s science-based measures are highly responsible for people’s lives and health. Why are the Chinese people able to unite together to fight the virus for more than two years? It’s because they trust the CPC and their government,” Sayed said.
Today, Chinese democracy is attracting international attention. Sayed noted that many international research organizations, including a team at Harvard University, have discovered the high level of trust of the Chinese people in the CPC and the Chinese government, which is identical to what he has observed in China.
“Democracy concerns the future of a country and the life of the people. No country has the right to force a so-called “correct” democratic system on other countries. People would genuinely support a political system once they are benefiting from it, and that’s what I see in China,” Sayed stressed.
Sayed pays close attention to the concrete practices of the CPC in national governance. He told People’s Daily that persistence and advancing with the times are what impressed him the most about the CPC’s governance philosophy. “The CPC is aware that it must constantly promote reforms to keep pace with social changes and better answer the questions of China,” he said.
“President Xi Jinping has a profound understanding of the Chinese people’s aspiration for a better life. The Chinese government attaches high importance on ecological progress, fight against corruption and common prosperity, which are all powerful responses to the people’s aspiration,” Sayed said.
He said it’s a huge success going down in history that China had tackled absolute poverty in its own ways, adding that the country would embark on a new journey to take its people to common prosperity and lay a more solid foundation for its development in the long run.
Sayed has joined multiple inter-party exchange activities held by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, from which he felt strongly that the CPC treats political parties from across the world equally.
“I felt the respect from the CPC during these activities. We were equal, and we learned from each other,” Sayed told People’s Daily, adding that members of the CPC have a firm faith and consider making China great as their life goal.
As changes of the times combine with the once-in-a-century pandemic, the world finds itself in a new period of turbulence and transformation. Sayed holds that China is playing a more and more important role in enhancing international governance and promoting multilateral cooperation under the current situation.
Taking the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as an example, he said win-win results are what China aims at in the international cooperation it advocates, and it’s a future-oriented way of cooperation.
“Countries need to establish win-win relations, rather than resorting to zero sum games, and to achieve win-win results is exactly an important feature of the BRI cooperation. China always stresses the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, and is committed to win-win cooperation and common development. That’s what we see today in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America,” he said.
“The world is going through a very difficult time due to the pandemic and other reasons. The international society is paying more attention to China and expecting more from it,” Sayed noted. “This year the 20th National Congress of the CPC will be convened. It will be an important event not only for the CPC and China, but also for the whole world.”
CPC providing powerful leadership for Chinese people: Member of Lebanese party
