Xi Jinping, Communist Party thought the focus of latest China game show
The man stars in an ad urging officials to sign up for a nationwide quiz on the app about Xi’s personal ideology. So far this summer, 700,000 of the nearly 97 million party members have logged into the app every day to participate and remember what Xi has said about, well, almost everything.
To reach the final next month, they must answer hundreds of multiple-choice questions accurately, such as: “In modern China, the essence of patriotism is to resolutely love the nation and the party and be highly united.” be.” […].” Is the answer: A) loving socialism, B) striving for progress, C) having the courage to take responsibility, or D) improving our fighting ability? (It was a.)
The quiz is the latest way to mass display political loyalty and passion for Xi, who has attained more personal power than any other Chinese leader since Mao Zedong and began an atypical third term as president in March.
In April he launched a Marxist study campaign that focused on his personal ideology with a modern twist. Since then, everyone from technology company employees to students has been trained on Xi Thought in lessons on apps, on game shows, and in exams.
During his first decade in power, Xi developed a philosophy officially known as Xi Jinping’s Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.
This is less a clear theory than a vast collection of nearly all statements attributed to him, with the exception of inconvenient early writings and speeches on subjects such as censorship and the Tiananmen Square protests.
Each leader of the People’s Republic had similar ideologies that should guide the party and the nation. But Xi’s version emphasizes his personal role as “core leader” and encapsulates his vision of a revived, united and loyal party leading China to a dominant position on the world stage.
The process of gamified learning sessions started in 2019 with the launch of the app Xuexi Qiangguo – a name that could mean either “Study for a strong nation” or “Study Xi for a strong nation”.
Since then, there have been a variety of platforms on Xi Thought.
But it’s not just Communist Party officials who have to worry about seeing their socialism in their struggles. In some companies, people who perform poorly in Xi learning apps might face special scrutiny in performance appraisals.
“It’s everywhere. It’s invaded society,” said Olivia Cheung, a research fellow at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.
This effort to ingrain ideology into everyday affairs is evident in the proliferation of platforms such as Rejuvenation No. 1.
The app was developed by the Bank of China and the Zhejiang Provincial Government Working Committee, and the content comes from one of the party’s theoretical journals.
The prize for the winners will be announced after the finals in July? “A combination of spiritual and material rewards” will be granted to you and your Communist Party work unit, as well as being featured in major party newspapers, according to an official announcement.
Aside from the quiz, the app allows people to pay their party membership fees and connect with other cadres across the country and around the world, making it useful for state-owned companies, hospitals, and private companies, the developers claim.
But the creation of Ideology 2.0 spawned all sorts of attempts to cheat the system. A new online industry has sprung up where people – for a fee – offer to help others improve their Rejuvenation app scores.
Others exchanged questions and answers online for free.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, please keep updating [the doc]Okay?” Someone replied to an answer provider.
Some contestants expressed dismay after making it to the semifinals. “It was not easy to answer the questions for more than 20 days. I was about to throw away my revision work when I was told I had made it to the semifinals,” wrote one user. “Now I have 15 days to answer questions on so many subjects I can’t remember them all.”
“Smart” party building
China’s communist leaders have long promoted “party building” – essentially making sure everyone understands the tasks entrusted to them from above. Mao did it with his Little Red Book, but Xi has promoted “smart” party building with improved tools like these apps. This has been particularly evident since March, when Xi began his third term and filled the upper echelons of leadership with his followers.
The Communist Party’s tight control over what’s shared and posted online means it can make material about Xi seem extremely popular, even when it wouldn’t otherwise stand up to cat videos and celebrity gossip.
“We live in an era where the propaganda machine can treat this content as viral despite it being the most non-viral content out there,” said David Bandurski, director of the China Media Project, a research group.
It all started with the “Study for a strong nation” app. “It’s a very different Little Red Book. It’s algorithmic. It’s playful. If you are a local official from the Shanghai government, for example, you must use the app,” Bandurski said.
Other local governments have followed in the footsteps of Zhejiang and Rejuvenation No. 1 app kicked. The Shandong government has created a platform called “Lighthouse – Online Party Building” to be used for a similar competition.
“Smart” party building shows up in other ways, too. This month, People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, promoted its “proofreading” platform.
The service allows users to upload documents or images to ensure they are politically correct. Image recognition can be used to identify officials who have fallen out of favor and should be deleted, or other content such as flags and emblems that the platform advertises as “sensitive”.
There are also paper alternatives to prove allegiance to the leader. At least seven books dedicated to Xi were published in April alone, including a study guide, two volumes of selected works, and a short volume on the “self-revolution” needed by the party to “prepare for the great test of rough and choppy waters.” seas.”
Familiarity with Xi’s work is becoming increasingly necessary in order to get ahead, even for those who are not Communist Party apparatchiks. Questions about his theories are increasingly appearing in professional exams for journalists, teachers and lawyers.
Essay prompts for university entrance exams, which are critical to success in modern China, now often include Xi’s sayings.
This year marked the first time that Xi was directly named in the test papers, in contrast to previous years when his sayings were used as essay essays without revealing their source.
A recent challenge began with a quote from a Xi speech on clearly anti-American themes: “One is not seen in a more favorable light after blowing out the lamps of others; Nor will they go further by blocking the way for others,” Xi said at the time.
Students were told to reflect on how Xi “used a living language to proclaim a universal truth.” There was no indication in the request that a dissenting opinion would be welcome.
Pei-Lin Wu and Vic Chiang from Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.