On July 1st, China will celebrate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party in China.
Founded by a few intellectuals 90 years ago, China's Communist Party now presides over the world's second-largest economy -- but this feat has come at a price that threatens its survival, analysts say.
The country is marking the 90th birthday of the Communist Party with its typically over-the-top celebrations like a propaganda blitz that includes a star-studded patriotic film and huge media coverage. However, experts warn the future is clouded for the one-party regime.
Because it's not being managed in a democratic way, growth has carried a heavy price with environmental degradation, lack of healthcare and so forth, said James Seymour, adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Swarms of slogan-shouting petitioners in Beijing are challenging the Chinese Communist Party ahead of the party's 90th anniversary, some of them yelling: Knock down the Chinese Communist Party!
To clean up the streets for the 90th anniversary celebrations of the CCP's establishment, Beijing authorities have launched another round of arrests against the continuous stream of aggrieved citizens from all around the country who come to Beijing to making appeals to higher level regime offices.
The debate aside, here's a look at some of the preparations for Friday's big event:
Students in school uniforms link their arms to form the flag of the Communist Party of China (CPC), in celebration of the party's upcoming 90th anniversary during a photo call at a primary school in Dexing, Jiangxi province June 20, 2011. China will celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the CPC on July 1, 2011.REUTERSStudents hold candles as they sing a revolutionary song around a cake which they made to celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China at a vocational education school in Chongqing municipality June 23, 2011. The cake, measuring nine square metres, weighs about 300 kilograms, local media reported. China will celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1, 2011.REUTERSPeople in red shirts hold a giant flag of the Communist Party of China as they sing revolutionary songs during a celebration ahead of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, on a street in Chongqing municipality, June 27, 2011. A total of 2,348 local residents attended the celebration to march on a street with a 30-meter-long, 20-meter-wide flag to celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), local media reported.REUTERSPerformers dressed in Red Army uniforms sing during a revolutionary songs singing event to celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), in Chongqing municipality June 28, 2011.REUTERSThe local government grow a dyed paddy field in shape of a giant communist emblem, to celebrate the 90th anniversary of China's Communist Party on July 1, on the outskirts of Shanghai, June 28, 2011.REUTERSA dancer performs at The White-Haired Girl ballet in the Shanghai City Theatre June 28, 2011. The White-Haired Girl ballet was performed for the first time in 1945, along with Red Detachment of Women. Together they are considered by many as the classics of revolutionary China's ballet performances. China will celebrate its upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1, 2011.REUTERSStudents wave the flags of Communist Party of China (CPC) during the opening ceremony of a revolutionary song singing concert at Chongqing Olympic Sports Centre in Chongqing municipality June 29, 2011. More than 70,000 people attended the ceremony to celebrate the upcoming 90th anniversary of the founding of the CPC on July 1.REUTERS
