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Gao Junya-Correspondent
I just did an interesting and meaningful project over the past three months.
As many of you may have known, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
For Chinese journalists at home and abroad, this is quite an important event to cover.
And as an overseas correspondent based in Zimbabwe, I was assigned to collect all China-related reports in The Herald over the past century, especially in 1921 when the CPC was established, and in 1949, when the People’s Republic of China was founded, following a revolution led by the Party, to get a better picture of China’s transformation over the years.
I didn’t expect I would begin a wonderful journey, travelling through historical moments, “witness” the history and learn about how difficult it was for China to become what it is like now.
Tendai Manzvanzvike, who heads the Zimpapers Knowledge Centre, was very helpful and contributive to my research over the past three months.
She got me at least 10 huge bundles of The Herald newspapers, which was called The Rhodesia Herald at that time ,and went through all the pages to look for China-related stories.
I appreciated her time and efforts a lot.
China in 1921 — Struggle with famine and other hardships
In 1921, we found 14 China-related stories published in The Rhodesia Herald, and six of them were about the famine striking the country. Quite heartbreaking!
A story published on 20 January, 1921, says 15 million Chinese people were likely to starve to death owing to the crop failure in 1920.
The story also points out that although the then Central Government and foreign agencies were doing whatever it took to alleviate the sufferings, they didn’t have sufficient funds available to give more than a small amount of relief. On February 25, 1921, the newspaper published a letter from a reader W. Deall from Umtali (now Mutare), who said that there was a great surplus of foodstuffs in Rhodesia and the Union and the problem was how to dispose of thousands of surplus bags of mealies.
Given that millions of people in China were being threatened with absolute starvation, he suggested taking the surplus grain in Rhodesia to the country badly in need of help.
And in another story published in the same year, another sympathiser, wrote to the editor of The Rhodesia Herald, saying he would donate five pounds (£5), to help famine sufferers in China. Those were the heart-warming moments in a trying time. These stories give some insight into China in the early 1920s, when the country was struggling and its people were suffering. It looked very dark at that time. But there was light at the end of a tunnel, as in July 1921, the Communist Party of China was founded in Shanghai, the country’s largest city.
China in 1949: Stand up in the East
To my great surprise, there was a notable increase in China-related stories published in The Rhodesia Herald in 1949. According to our research statistics, a total of 109 such stories were published that year and most of them made the front page. Most of the stories before October focused on China’s civil war, which was drawing to an end.
“Communist army has strict discipline”; “Chang Kai-shek may go into exile in Formosa”; “Plan to take all China this year”; “Line of defence shortened in China”; “Communists’ intensions on China”; “The new order takes shape in China” …
By browsing through the headlines, one can get a clear picture of what was going on in China at that time. The Communist Party, supported by the Chinese people, won the war and created a new China.
The Rhodesia Herald covered the founding of the People’s Republic on 1 October, 1949: “All foreign governments have been notified that the new Communist Government, the sole ‘legal government’ representing all the people in China, is willing to establish diplomatic relations with any foreign government which ‘would be willing to observe the principles of equality, mutual benefit, mutual respect of territorial integrity and sovereignty’.”
Manzvanzvike points out that China became so important on the global stage that nearly everybody was closely watching it, eager to figure out what would happen next.
Colonisers also kept a close eye on the new country as they wanted to know if such a power change would take place in Zimbabwe and Africa. Yes, China led by the CPC definitely changed the world’s outlook and balance of power. It also found the right path to development from a backward, troubled country to an influential power.
China over the past 70 years: growing Manzvanzvike has been at the helm of foreign news for The Herald for many years. She told me that over the years, more and more China-related stories have been published in the national newspaper.
The stories mainly focus on China’s development, how the country has shared the fruits of its development with Africa and the robust growth of China-Africa relations.
She said, China started almost from scratch, yet under the leadership of the CPC, it has undergone tremendous transformation, becoming the second largest economy in the world. She believes there is much experience to learn. She wants more Zimbabweans to understand that China is not just a big country they see on the map, but that it is the people who are very hard working.
On a small strip of land, they can produce a lot of food. She hopes Zimbabwe values its friendship with China and promotes its social and economic development through bilateral cooperation.
The past three months’ research with Manzvanzvike enabled me to learn more vivid stories about the CPC’s history and China’s modern history.
It seemed that I was taken back to those years, observing in person what was going on and how difficult it was for China to become what it is now. The experience made me appreciate my life more than ever before.
I was also impressed with the history of The Herald. It was founded as early as 1891 and is celebrating its 130th birthday this year.
It is like a wise man to me, ready to offer his knowledge and answer my questions any time. Manzvanzvike is in charge of the newspaper’s archives. She’s eager to digitalise the newspapers. I can feel her passion for her job, and I hope that she can achieve her goal soon, so that people like me can learn from the wise man’s words at any time.
◆ Gao Junya is a Harare-based journalist with China Media Group.
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