Government/Politics - 97. page

According to an article Sohu published, starting this spring, all schools in Jiangxi Province will introduce “red culture” courses, and use the “red culture” textbooks that the Ministry of Education Development Research Center, the Jiangxi Provincial Party Committee Education Working Committee, and the Provincial Department of Education developed jointly. This set of textbooks ranges from kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school and also including secondary vocational schools, to college including higher vocational colleges. This will be the first set of “red culture” textbooks in China.

Yu Weiyue, deputy director of the Department of Basic Education of the Ministry of Education, stated that the purpose of the preparation of “red culture” textbooks is to “plant the seeds of love for the party, patriotism, and the people in the hearts of children; to apply these sentiments to their daily behavior, and to have them become part of their lifelong values.”

Deputy Governor of the Jiangxi Provincial Government said that Jiangxi Province will take the lead in the country to promote the “red culture” in the campus and the classroom, and strive to spread the “red culture” education to the rest of the country.

Source: Sohu, March 2, 2019
https://www.sohu.com/a/298566425_267106?scm=1002.44003c.fd00fe.PC_ARTICLE_REC&spm=smpc.content.fd-d.16.1551398400023WRl5Apr

Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has recently focused on ideology. Not long ago, at the Politburo’s “Democratic Life Meeting,” Politburo members were told to submit a written “performance report.” On February 28, the CCP released, “Opinions on strengthening the political construction of the Party.” On March 1, at the Central Party School’s opening ceremony of the “training session for young and middle-aged cadres, Xi Jinping gave a speech.

Xi said that it is “a big event” to train and select outstanding young cadres, which matters for the destiny of the party, the country, and the nation, as well as for the well-being of the people. The cadres, especially young cadres, must maintain “loyalty to the party, gratitude to the people, an enterprising spirit for their work, and a sense of respect for the law and for discipline.”

Xi added that being politically steadfast cannot be separated from “being firm on theory.” The ideals and beliefs of the Chinese Communists are based on a profound understanding of Marxism. With firm ideals and convictions, the cadres can adhere to the correct political direction. “Once you have set your mind on a faith, you have to believe it throughout your lifetime, otherwise there will be big problems.” He said that the key to measuring whether a cadre has ideals or not depends on “whether he is loyal to the party.” “Leading cadres must be loyal and clean.” “Loyalty is always of the foremost importance.”

Source: Central News Agency, March 1, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201903010218.aspx

Recently, in two incidents, Chinese students used language on campus to attack Tibetans and Uighurs who differed from China’s official values. Radio Free Asia reported that some analysts have said foreign students have been spreading Chinese ideology in Western countries.

Chemi Lhamo, a Tibetan female student in Canada, was elected as the president of the student union, which triggered a reaction from the Chinese students. They accused Lhamo of being for “Tibetan independence” and posted harsh messages on Lhamo’s social media accounts.

In addition, at the Xinjiang Re-education Camp lecture that McMaster University recently held in Canada, a Chinese student suddenly screamed at the speaker, former Canadian Uyghur President Rukiye Turdush, and made a number of swearing slurs. Prior to the lecture, Chinese students in a WeChat group had discussed how to plan the disruption of the lecture and also informed the Chinese Consulate of the activity.

The two incidents seem to have had the effect, gradually, of increasing the outside world’s realization that China’s nationalist sentiments are on the rise in the West. Chinese students seem to be extremely sensitive when dealing with ethnic issues involving Tibet and Xinjiang.

The two incidents on the Canadian university campus are similar to the experience of Wang Qianyuan, a Chinese student at Duke University, and Yang Shuping, a Chinese student at the University of Maryland. Wang Qianyuan tried to reconcile a confrontation between a pro-Chinese government group and some independent Tibetan demonstrators; Yang Shuping publicly criticized China’s air quality. They all suffered from a large number of Chinese “Fenqing” (referring to Chinese youth who display a high level of Chinese nationalism) because what someone did or said did not conform to the choices of the Chinese government.

One interviewee told RFA that, even after the students who are brainwashed in China step outside of China, they continue to spread the Chinese (party) ideology on foreign campuses. These Chinese students stick with each other and have little interaction with the mainstream society in the country where they live. They interact with each other using Chinese social media. Their behavior will cause resistance and resentment against the Chinese community overseas because it is not easy for many Canadians, as in these cases, to tell the difference between Chinese government and Chinese foreign students. At the same time, it is not easy for these Chinese students to exercise their individual rights. When they study abroad, the Chinese government constantly monitors their behavior and activities.

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 15, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/shaoshuminzu/hj-02152019095052.html

The famous Dutch university, Leiden University, announced on February 19 that it will close its Confucius Institute at the end of August this year. The university posted an official statement on its website stating that, since “the Confucius Institute’s activities no longer align with the University’s China strategy and the direction that it has taken in recent years,” therefore it will end the contract with the Confucius Institute when it expires on August 31, 2019.

In addition, the University of Minnesota announced on Thursday that the Confucius Institute has drawn attention from legislators, domestic organizations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, so the school will close its Confucius Institute at the end of this semester.

Currently 13 universities in the U.S. have already closed the Confucius Institutes on their campuses.

Source: Radio Free Asia, February 24, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/7-02242019125213.html

In January, right after the New Year, the Ministry of Publicity initiated use of a web and phone application and now requires that the party’s 90 million members study Xi Jinping’s thoughts. The app uses a point system to track members’ progress. If a member does not have a high enough score, he will be notified and subjected to disciplinary action. The application contains articles and movies for members to read or to watch and they can then answer the question of the week or take a test on a specified topic to earn points. The app awards double points if the members use them in the early morning, during lunch time, or in the evening so that the party members do not take up any working hours to earn the points. The application topped the list of apps that have been downloaded in China recently. There are also sharing articles posted on Baidu which teach strategies to score the highest number of points in shortest time frame.

Source: Central News Agency, February 15, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201902150143.aspx