Government/Politics - 78. page

On Tuesday December 17, the Chinese Ministry of Education released a statement of its approved amendments to the school charters of Fudan University, Nanjing University, and Shaanxi Normal University. The revised charters of the three universities emphasized, “adherence to the (Chinese Communist) Party’s comprehensive leadership.” They stated that, “The School’s Party committees are the core of school leadership.” They also inserted expressions such as, “making it our mission to achieve the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” People became concerned that the CCP is further strengthening its control over universities and that academic freedom was declining again.

The amendments to the charter of Fudan University, known for its liberal arts, have attracted much attention. The BBC Chinese reporter compared the 2000 version of Fudan University’s charter with the revision that the Ministry of Education published. The new version removed expressions such as “freedom of thought,” “management of academic affairs by teachers and students,” “democratic management,” “independence,” and “the school is a community with scholarship at its core.”

The Party’s leadership stands out in the new charter. Added political expressions emphasize that the Party committee is above the school president, and that the university serves the Party. To name some specifics, it insists on “arming the minds of teachers and students with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” “cultivating and practicing the core values of socialism,” “realizing the historical process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation,” and “the new era of socialism with Chinese characteristics.”

The new charter places more emphasis on “ideological and political education.” It thus makes a change from “in undergraduate education, the school builds general education as the foundation” to “in undergraduate education, the school makes ideological and political education the key and general education as the foundation.”

The new charter strengthens the party’s leadership over universities and adds “adhering to the principle of the Party in control of cadres” and “adhering to the principle of the Party in control of talent.” Multiple texts involving the election and selection of personnel were changed to “in accordance with the principle of democratic centralism.” The Ministry of Education’s announcement attracted strong attention and concerns over cyberspace in China. Relevant content regarding the amendment of the charter of Fudan University was deleted from social network sites and accounts. On Wednesday December 18, netizens posted Fudan University’s school song on social networks as a silent protest.

In recent years, China’s disciplinary authorities have descended on university campuses to examine the “political discipline” of higher education institutions, including ideological issues and the infiltration of Western values, including democracy and freedom of speech. A Financial Times article three years ago stated that China’s president Xi Jinping called on universities to strengthen the Party’s leadership and stop using imported teaching materials that contain Western values.

Source: BBC Chinese, December 18, 2019
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-50836094

On December 15, Xinhua News Agency, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, published the newly revised Code of Professional Ethics for Chinese Journalists. Among others items, the Code proposes that journalists arm their minds with Xi Jinping’s “Ideology of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era,” and always keep in mind the mission of journalism of the Chinese Communist Party.

The Code also proposed strengthening the concept of the rule of law; abiding by the Constitution, laws, and regulations; and effectively safeguarding national political security, cultural security, and social stability; as well as adhering to the Party’s discipline in journalism.

The Code proposed the cultivation a global and international vision so as to “vividly tell China stories, stories of the Chinese Communist Party, stories of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and stories of the Chinese people,” so that “the world would understand China better.”

Source: People’s Daily, December 16, 2019
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2019-12/16/nw.D110000renmrb_20191216_4-04.htm

In late October, the library in Zhenyuan County in China’s northwestern Gansu Province burned some 60 books. The photo of the book burning scene spread widely online and received public attention. The book burning incident resulted from a directive that the Chinese Ministry of Education issued in October. The “Notice on Launching a Special Campaign to Examine and Cleanse Books in Nationwide Elementary and Middle School Libraries” requires schools to conduct a self-examination of books in accordance with the “cleanup standards.” The “clean-up standards,” were attached to the notice. They stated that the books to be cleansed should include “illegal books,” “inappropriate books,” and “books with a poor appearance so they are not worthy of preservation.”

Hu Ping, an overseas independent scholar overseas, believes the burning of the books reflects the CCP’s control over the people’s ideology, which also includes actions such as cleaning online postings and college informants. Hu told the BBC that book censorship is not new to mainland China. The books stored in libraries have already been screened. However, under the existing mechanism of censorship, the book burning reflects the current regime’s dramatic leaning toward the left.

Source: BBC Chinese, December 11, 2019
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/chinese-news-50727670

At an event on December 8, Xu Zhengzhong, deputy editor-in-chief of the People’s Daily, the official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced  that the “National Key Laboratory of Cognitive Content for Communication” had been established. The lab has a mission to “spread the voice of the CCP wider and farther.”

The lab is under People’s Daily’s supervision and uses People’s Daily’s online platform. The lab will focus on artificial intelligence research and focus on three main directions: scientific theory and the computation of the accurate dissemination of mainstream values, intelligent content review and risk management, and national cyberspace governance in terms of content dissemination.

Xu said that the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the CCP proposed “to build a mainstream public opinion landscape that integrates online and offline contents and coordinates domestic and foreign propaganda; and also to establish an all-media communication system based on content production, supported by advanced technology and innovation management.”

According to Xu, the lab is also to implement the spirit of the “1.25” speech of Xi Jinping. In the future, the technology of media fusion will be used to “expand the coverage of mainstream values and to spread the Party’s voice wider and farther.”

Xi Jinping delivered the “1.25” speech on January 25 this year at the 12th study session of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee. Xi said, “We must use the achievements of the information revolution to promote the in-depth integration of media, scale up and strengthen mainstream public opinion, and consolidate the common ideological basis of the people, of the Party, and of the nation, so as to provide spiritual strength and public opinion support for achieving the goal of ‘two hundred years’ and achieving the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”

Source: Central News Agency, December 8, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201912080073.aspx

On November 28, Guo Shengkun, who is the head of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Political and Legal Affairs Commission (PLAC), published an article in People’s Daily. The article called for the firm defense of “national political security,” which is “the lifeline of the Party’s and the nation’s security, and an unshakable bottom line.” Guo vowed “resolutely and severely to prevent and crack down on” the infiltration of hostile forces. The PLAC is a CCP agency that oversees all legal enforcement authorities, including the police force.

In the article Guo also said that the construction of the “people’s defense line for national security” should be strengthened. The whole country and the entire population should enhance their awareness of the sense of national security and enhance the nation’s ability to prevent and defend against national security risks. He said that everyone ought to be “on high vigilance, take resolute precautions, and severely punish” the hostile forces’ infiltration and their destructive and subversive, activities to promote secession, thus “building a solid copper and iron wall for national security.” Guo also advocated for concerted efforts to advance national security work and walk the “path of national security with Chinese characteristics.”

Regarding issues causing potential social unrest, Guo demanded that the problem be prevented at an early stage and at the grassroots level. “Small matters stay in the village, big issues go no further than the township, and conflicts are not passed on to higher level authorities.”

Source: Central News Agency, November 28, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201911280317.aspx