In December 2010, large-scale anti-government demonstrations broke out in many places in Tunisia, and a great many people took to the streets, eventually forcing the then President Ben Ali to step down. The turbulent wave of the so-called Arab Spring immediately swept across more than 10 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, and many regimes collapsed. The reasons for this were very complicated, but fragile political security and vulnerability to manipulation and subversion by external forces was an important factor. Today, the Arab Spring has already turned into an Arab Winter. Not only has it failed to bring about the “democratic freedom” that the people had hoped for, but instead it has led to fragmented sovereignty, social disorder, economic stagnation, and people’s misery. Iron-clad facts tell us that political security is the foundation of national security. Without political security, there would be no national security of which to speak.
2010年12月，突尼斯多地爆发大规模反政府示威，大批民众涌上街头，最终迫使时任总统本·阿里下台。所谓“阿拉伯之春”的动荡浪潮随即席卷中东、北非地区10多个国家，多国政权垮台，个中原因非常复杂，政治安全脆弱、极易受到外部势力操纵与颠覆是一个重要因素。今天，“阿拉伯之春”早已变成“阿拉伯之冬”，不但没有带来民众所希望的“民主自由”，反而导致主权割裂、社会失序、经济凋敝、民不聊生。铁一般的事实告诉我们，政治安全是国家安全的根本，离开了政治安全，国家安全就无从谈起。
General Secretary Xi Jinping points out that political security involves the stability of national sovereignty, political power, systems, and ideology; is the most fundamental need of a country and is the basic condition for the survival and development of all countries. If a country cannot be independent externally and has political turmoil internally, it is impossible for it to safeguard its own interests and achieve long-term development. The core of political security is regime security and system security. China is a socialist country led by the Chinese Communist Party. The most fundamental thing to safeguarding political security is safeguarding the leadership and governing status of the Chinese Communist Party and safeguarding the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. Only by unswervingly safeguarding political security can we better safeguard national interests and realize the Party’s long-term governance, the country’s enduring peace and stability, and the people’s peace and contentment in life and work. Political security is directly connected to the life and death of the Party and country. In the body of national security, political security is the heart. When the heart stops beating, no matter the strength of the body, its vitality will be lost. Since the founding of New China, the new socialist regime has been under the blockade and containment of hostile forces, and the contest between the two ideologies and systems of socialism and capitalism has never stopped. Right up until now, all kinds of hostile forces have never stopped implementing Westernization and differentiation strategies against China, have never stopped carrying out subverting and sabotaging activities towards the leadership of the CCP and China’s socialist system, and have relentlessly attempted to devise “color revolutions” within China. General Secretary Xi Jinping alerts the entire Party: “If one day a complex situation like a ‘color revolution’ were to occur before our eyes, would our cadres all be able to stand up resolutely to defend the Party’s leadership and the socialist system?” On the fundamental issue of political security, we must always be as cautious as if treading on thin ice, always be prepared for danger in times of peace, must not make strategic or fatal mistakes, and must not have any ambiguity or wavering.
习近平总书记指出，政治安全涉及国家主权、政权、制度和意识形态的稳固，是一个国家最根本的需求，是一切国家生存和发展的基础条件。一个国家对外不能独立自主，内部政治动荡，就不可能维护自身利益，就不可能实现长远发展。政治安全的核心是政权安全和制度安全。我国是中国共产党领导的社会主义国家，维护政治安全最根本的就是维护中国共产党的领导和执政地位、维护中国特色社会主义制度。只有坚定不移地维护政治安全，才能更好地保障国家利益，实现党长期执政、国家长治久安和人民安居乐业。政治安全攸关党和国家生死存亡。在国家安全这一肌体中，政治安全是心脏，心脏停止了跳动，再强壮的肌体也会失去生机。自新中国成立以来，新生的社会主义政权就处在敌对势力的封锁、遏制之下，社会主义和资本主义两种意识形态、两种制度的较量始终未曾停歇。直到现在，各种敌对势力也从来没有停止对我国实施西化、分化战略，从来没有停止对中国共产党领导和我国社会主义制度进行颠覆破坏活动，始终企图在我国策划“颜色革命”。习近平总书记警醒全党：“如果哪天在我们眼前发生‘颜色革命’那样的复杂局面，我们的干部是不是都能毅然决然站出来捍卫党的领导、捍卫社会主义制度？”在政治安全这个根本性问题上，我们要时刻保持如履薄冰的谨慎，时刻保持居安思危的忧患，绝不能犯战略性、颠覆性错误，绝不能有任何含糊和动摇。
Political security is the fundamental guarantee for the people to live and work in peace and contentment. Safeguarding political security is where the fundamental interests of the people of all ethnic groups nationwide lie. Without the cornerstone of political security, the good life that people desire would be nothing more than a castle in the sky. Along the way, we have gone from being poor and weak, and down and out, to being the second largest economy in the world and entering the ranks of middle-income countries. The people’s lives have undergone earth-shaking changes from insufficient food and clothing to an all-round moderately prosperous life. We have successfully fought floods, SARS, earthquakes, crises, emergency situations, and epidemics, effectively responding to all kinds of risks and challenges that endanger the fundamental interests of the people. The most important reason for this is that we have established a political regime and fundamental political system in which the people are the masters of the country, and established the core leadership position of the CCP, providing the fundamental prerequisite and continuous guarantee for realizing the interests of the people and safeguarding the safety of the people.
政治安全是人民安居乐业的根本保障。维护政治安全是全国各族人民根本利益所在，没有政治安全这块基石，人民的美好生活就如同空中楼阁。一路走来，我们从积贫积弱、一穷二白，到稳居世界第二大经济体、进入中等收入国家行列，人民生活从温饱不足到全面小康，发生了翻天覆地的变化；我们成功战洪水、防非典、抗地震、化危机、应变局、斗疫情，有效应对了危害人民群众根本利益的各种风险挑战。这其中最重要的原因在于我们建立了人民当家作主的政权和根本政治制度，确立了中国共产党的领导核心地位，为实现人民利益、维护人民安全提供了根本前提和持续保障。
Political security determines and affects national security in each different field such as economic security, military security, and social security. National security is composed of security across multiple fields. The security of different fields is interconnected and mutually influencing, having both a conductive and linked effect. Among them, political security is the core and plays a decisive role, regulating and restricting security in other fields. Without the guarantee of political security, there can be no security in other fields of which to speak, and security issues in other fields must ultimately be reflected in the safeguarding of political security. We must plan and advance national security work in each different field from the elevated perspective of safeguarding political security, treat safeguarding political security as the primary task of coping with security risks and challenges in each field, and give full play to its role as a breakthrough point in coordinating security in the various fields.
政治安全决定和影响着国家的经济安全、军事安全、社会安全等各个领域的安全。国家安全是由多个领域安全共同组成的，不同领域的安全相互联系、相互影响，具有传导效应和联动效应。其中政治安全是核心，起决定性作用，规定和制约着其他领域的安全。没有政治安全的保障，其他领域的安全就无从谈起，其他领域的安全问题最终也要反映到维护政治安全上来。必须从维护政治安全的高度谋划和推进各领域国家安全工作，把维护政治安全作为应对各领域安全风险挑战的首要任务，充分发挥其在协调各领域安全中的抓手作用。
“The clear-eyed prevent blight before it sets in; the wise plan for disasters the future may bring.” At present, the overall social and political situation in China is generally stable, but the situation faced in political security is very complex, and the task of safeguarding political security is very arduous. We must take precautionary measures and prevent the small and the gradual, always adhere to the leadership of the CCP, always adhere to the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, always maintain a taut ideological string, constantly enhance political acumen and political discernment, constantly improve the ability to prevent and resist political risks, and firmly grasp the initiative to safeguard political security.
“明者防祸于未萌，智者图患于将来。”当前，我国社会政治大局总体稳定，但政治安全面临的形势十分复杂，维护政治安全的任务十分艰巨。我们必须未雨绸缪、防微杜渐，始终坚持中国共产党领导，始终坚持中国特色社会主义制度，始终绷紧意识形态这根弦，不断增强政治敏锐性和政治鉴别力，不断提高防范和抵御政治风险的能力，牢牢掌握维护政治安全的主动权。