China feels that the country is not patriotic enough. The new law aims to change this

(CNN) — On a cold December day, high school students in Fuzhou, southeast China, gathered in a rural park to study the ideas of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

According to state-affiliated local media outlets, he hoisted a red banner declaring his excursion a “moving orbit of politics and ideology” and sought to enlighten himself by following in Xi’s footsteps on a 2021 visit to the neighborhood.

Another group of youth from the northern coastal city of Tianjin visited a fortress to contemplate “the tragic story of the Chinese people’s resistance to foreign aggression.”

The trips are part of an intensification of nationalist indoctrination in China in recent years, now codified in a new law that came into effect earlier this week.

The “Patriotic Education Law”, which aims to “strengthen national unity”, requires that love for the motherland and the ruling Communist Party of China be inculcated in the work and study of everyone from young children to workers and all professionals . Area.

A Chinese propaganda official announced at a press conference last month that it aimed to help China “unify ideas” and “gather people’s strength for the great purpose of building a strong country and national rejuvenation.” .

Promoting love of country and the Communist Party is nothing new in China, where patriotism and propaganda have been an integral part of education, business culture and life since the founding of the People’s Republic nearly 75 years ago.

And Chinese nationalism has flourished under Xi, the country’s most authoritarian leader in decades, who has promised to “revitalize” China to a place of global power and prominence and become a belligerent, “wolf warrior” amid rising tensions with the West. “Diplomacy has been encouraged.

Ultranationalism is thriving on social media, where anyone insulting China – from livestreamers and comedians to foreign brands – will face fierce backlash and boycotts.

The new rules mark the latest expansion of Xi’s efforts to deepen the party’s presence in all aspects of public and private life.

But this time they come after years of strict COVID-19 controls in China, which ended in late 2022 after young people across the country took to the streets in unprecedented protests against Xi’s government and its rules.

They also come at a time when the economy is sinking and youth unemployment has reached record highs, increasing the potential for discontent.

Experts say Beijing may view the new legal framework as a way to consolidate power while promoting nationalism and ensuring social stability amid further challenges.

Jonathan Sullivan, an associate professor specializing in Chinese politics at China University, said China has long relied on its people to accept its vision as an unwritten “social contract,” but now “it may be difficult in the coming years.” “It’s a Hard Way.” University of Nottingham.

“Problems could arise if there is a prolonged economic recession (…), they are working to ensure that the politically correct way of thinking stops completely, without a doubt “Let it be cemented that the Party’s way is the only way for China, and if you love China, you must love the Party,” he said.

That message has been underlined in Hong Kong following massive pro-democracy protests there in 2019.

Since then, Beijing has made clear that it wants to cultivate a new generation of patriots in the city, imposing patriotic education regulations and political bans that bar anyone deemed a patriot from running for public office. Let’s stop.

The introduction of the law also coincides with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China next October 1. There will be pressure on officials to ensure patriotic celebrations and eliminate any possibility of dissent.

Patriotic curriculum for all walks of life

According to the law, professionals – from scientists to athletes – must be educated to embrace “patriotic feelings and behaviors that glorify the country.”

Local authorities should take advantage of cultural assets such as museums and traditional Chinese festivals to “strengthen feelings for country and family” and intensify patriotic education through news, radio and film.

Religious institutions should also “strengthen the patriotic spirit of religious personnel and their followers” and enhance their awareness of the rule of law, a move consistent with China’s drive to “Sinicize” and tighten its control over religion. There is a condition.

The latest law follows the Ministry of Education’s 2016 directive to introduce comprehensive patriotic education in every stage and all aspects of school education, which plays a key role in the new unified law.

It also follows previous efforts, such as a smartphone app for people to “learn about new socialist thinking” – including a lesson on “How Grandfather Xi led us into the new era” – and reading for adults. And Xi’s latest theories to complete the quiz.

The latter was considered successful in terms of downloads, as many employees of state-owned companies as well as all 90 million members of the Communist Party were ordered to use it.

The new standards state that patriotic education will be integrated into school subjects and teaching materials “in all grades and all types of institutions”, while at home parents must guide their children and encourage them to participate in patriotic activities. Will have to be encouraged to take it.

“(It’s) about consolidating Xi’s power. He wants patriotic education to start early,” said Alfred Wu, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

In his opinion, this measure is aimed at developing a loyal mentality towards Xi from an early age, while sending a message to the general public that Beijing is now focused on consolidating Xi’s power after the economic boom of the last decade. Used to be.

The new law also mandates that cultural establishments such as museums and libraries become venues for patriotic education activities and tourist destinations become “places that inspire patriotism.”

Schools are required to organize trips for students to visit these places, which officials call “moving classrooms of politics and ideology.”

Such trips were not uncommon in the past, but now the law officially mandates schools to make them.

China has other laws aimed at eliminating unpatriotic behavior, such as bans on insulting the national flag and insulting soldiers. And in recent years, under Xi’s leadership, any dissent in China — even in the form of online comments that don’t conform to the party line — is enough to get you in trouble with the authorities.

However, according to Ye Ruiping, a law professor at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand, the latest law hints at introducing penalties for acts that are not already punishable by existing laws.

For example, it establishes that behaviors that “defend, glorify and deny acts of invasion, war and genocide” and “damage patriotic education facilities” may be subject to punishment, he explained.