Speech at a Ceremony Commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Victory of the Long March

　　2016年10月21日

　　October 21, 2016

　　同志们：

　　Comrades,

　　今天，我们在这里隆重集会，纪念中国工农红军长征胜利80周年。

　　Today, we are gathered here to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Long March by the Chinese Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army.

　　红军长征的那个年代，中国处在半殖民地半封建社会的黑暗境地，社会危机四伏，日寇野蛮侵略，国民党反动派置民族危亡于不顾，向革命根据地连续发动大规模“围剿”，中国共产党和红军到了危急关头，中国革命到了危急关头，中华民族到了危急关头。

　　The Long March took place at a dark time in Chinese history, a time when China had been reduced to a semi-colonial, semi-feudal country, when crisis lurked in all corners, and when the Japanese aggressors brutally invaded our lands. The reactionary Kuomintang (KMT), ignoring the peril of the nation, launched a series of large-scale “encirclement and eradication” campaigns in an attempt to wipe out the revolutionary bases of the Communist Party of China (CPC). This was a critical moment for the CPC and the Red Army, for China’s revolution, and for the Chinese nation.

　　面对生死存亡的严峻考验，从1934年10月至1936年10月，红军第一、第二、第四方面军和第二十五军进行了伟大的长征。我们党领导红军，以非凡的智慧和大无畏的英雄气概，战胜千难万险，付出巨大牺牲，胜利完成震撼世界、彪炳史册的长征，宣告了国民党反动派消灭中国共产党和红军的图谋彻底失败，宣告了中国共产党和红军肩负着民族希望胜利实现了北上抗日的战略转移，实现了中国共产党和中国革命事业从挫折走向胜利的伟大转折，开启了中国共产党为实现民族独立、人民解放而斗争的新的伟大进军。

　　In the face of this life-or-death challenge, the first, second, and fourth front armies of the Red Army, accompanied by the 25th Red Army, carried out the great Long March, which lasted from October 1934 to October 1936. Under the leadership of the CPC, the Red Army displayed extraordinary wisdom and immense bravery. Surmounting all manner of adversities and enduring great sacrifices, it marched to a victory that stunned the world and went down in history. The victory of the Long March marked the total failure of the KMT’s attempts to annihilate the CPC and the Red Army. It marked the successful strategic retreat of the CPC and Red Army to northern China, where they carried national hope for resistance against Japanese aggression. It marked a great turning point for the CPC and China’s revolution, putting them on the path to victory. And it marked the beginning of a new advance by the CPC to liberate the Chinese people and achieve national independence.

　　这一惊天动地的革命壮举，是中国共产党和红军谱写的壮丽史诗，是中华民族伟大复兴历史进程中的巍峨丰碑。

　　This was an earth-shaking revolutionary feat. It was a magnificent epic written by the CPC and Red Army, and a great milestone on the Chinese nation’s historic path to rejuvenation.

　　在这里，我代表党中央、国务院和中央军委，代表全党全军全国各族人民，向领导红军创造这一历史伟业的毛泽东、周恩来、朱德同志等老一辈革命家，向在长征中浴血奋战和在各地坚持革命斗争的红军指战员，向当年支援红军长征的各族人民特别是各革命根据地人民，向所有健在的红军老战士，致以崇高的敬意!

　　On behalf of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission, as well as the entire Party, military, and people of all ethnic groups in China, I hereby pay my highest respects to Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, and all the other veteran revolutionaries who led the Red Army to this great historical accomplishment; to the soldiers of the Red Army who fought bitterly during the Long March and who continued fighting in various parts of the country; to the people of all ethnic groups who aided the Red Army on its Long March, especially those in revolutionary bases; and to all those veterans of the Red Army who are still with us today.

　　我提议，全体起立，为在长征途中和在各地革命斗争中英勇牺牲的革命烈士默哀!

　　Now, let us stand and observe a moment of silence for all the martyrs of the revolution who laid down their lives during the Long March and in revolutionary struggles across the country.