Pay attention at the back to Chairman Xi’s ‘Thought’
Primary school children will now be indoctrinated into his ‘Marxist’ theory as he tightens his grip on society
Chinese children will learn the harsh lesson of “Marxism” by swotting up on President Xi Jinping’s political ideology.
New guidelines from the Ministry of Education will make the catchy titled “Xi Thought” compulsory in schools across the country. It will also be at the core of a radical overhaul of the national curriculum.
The decision announced earlier this week will enshrine Xi’s doctrine into nearly all aspects of life in the world’s second-largest economy.
“Primary schools will focus on cultivating [a] love for the country, the Communist Party of China, and socialism,” state-run Global Times reported.
Background:
- The “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” is now incorporated into China’s Constitution.
- It will be at the heart of the curriculum from primary schools to universities.
- It is also entrenched in academia, big business and the PLA military, as well as the judiciary.
- The doctrine has 14 main principles, emphasizing “Communist Marxism” ideals.
- It calls for “absolute authority of the Party over the People’s Liberation Army.”
- Chinese companies should also understand and practice “Xi’s Thought.”
Thought control: “In middle schools, the focus will be on a combination of knowledge study to help students form basic political judgments and opinions. In college, there will be more emphasis on the establishment of theoretical thinking,” Global Times, which is owned by the Party’s mouthpiece, The People Daily, reported.
Loyalty to Xi: “Studying Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the primary political task of the Communist Party of China and of the country,” the Ministry of Education said in a statement carried by state media and social media.
Delve deeper: Party General-Secretary Xi has imprisoned his rivals, purged the liberal wing of the CCP and scrapped the two-term presidential limit. He has also swept away critics in academia that have questioned his shrill nationalism policy and his cult doctrine.
Winds of change: Cai Xia, a retired professor from Beijing’s elite Central Party School, was forced into exile last year because of her political views.
What happened? She called Xi a “mafia boss” and the ruling Communist Party a “political zombie,” stressing that the Chinese people were desperate for a more open society.
Democratic system: “It’s not too late to change China from an autocratic system to a democratic system. The earlier the better, for China and the whole world. Even though Xi Jinping calls for a ‘shared future for all mankind,’ he has already launched the Cold War and it never stops,” Cai said in a media interview.
China Factor comment: Xi’s Thought is now embedded in the Rule of Law. What is just as dangerous is his control of China’s military or the People’s Liberation Army. “In the ‘New Era’, the PLA is Xi’s Army,” Elsa B Kania, of the Center for a New American Security, pointed out in a commentary for the Center for Advanced China Research.