On a brisk December day, junior high school students in Fuzhou, southeast China, converged at a country park to study the thoughts of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. <\/p>\n
Unfurling a red banner that declared their outing a \u201cwalking classroom of politics and ideology,\u201d they sought enlightenment by retracing the footsteps Xi took on his 2021 visit to the neighborhood, according to a state-affiliated local news outlet. <\/p>\n
Another group of youngsters in the northern coastal city of Tianjin toured a fort to reflect on \u201cthe tragic history of Chinese people\u2019s resistance to foreign aggression.\u201d <\/p>\n
The trips are part of a ramping up of nationalist education in China in recent years \u2013\u00a0now codified into a sweeping new law that came into effect earlier this week. <\/p>\n
That \u201cPatriotic Education Law,\u201d aimed at \u201cenhancing national unity,\u201d mandates that love of the country and the ruling Chinese Communist Party be incorporated into work and study for everyone \u2013 from the youngest children to workers and professionals across all sectors. <\/p>\n
It is meant to help China \u201cunify thoughts\u201d and \u201cgather the strength of the people\u00a0for the great cause of building a strong country and national rejuvenation,\u201d a Chinese propaganda official told a news briefing last month. <\/p>\n
The push for a love of country and the Communist Party is far from new in China, where patriotism and propaganda have been an integral part of education, company culture and life since the People\u2019s Republic was founded nearly 75 years ago. <\/p>\n
And Chinese nationalism has thrived under Xi, the country\u2019s most authoritarian leader in decades, who has pledged to \u201crejuvenate\u201d China to a place of power and prominence globally and encouraged a combative, \u201cwolf warrior\u201d diplomacy amid rising tensions with the West. <\/p>\n
Ultra-nationalism has flourished on social media, where anyone perceived as slighting China \u2013 from live-streamers and comedians to foreign brands \u2013 will face a fierce backlash and boycotts. <\/p>\n
The new rules mark the latest expansion of Xi\u2019s efforts to deepen the party\u2019s presence in all aspects of public and private life. <\/p>\n
But this time, they also follow years of stringent Covid-19 controls in China, which ended late in 2022 after young people across the country took to the streets in unprecedented protests against Xi\u2019s government and its rules. <\/p>\n
They also come as the economy slumps and youth unemployment has reached a record high \u2013 raising the potential for more discontent. <\/p>\n
Experts said Beijing may see the new legal framework as a way to drum up nationalism and consolidate power to ensure social stability amid the challenges ahead. <\/p>\n
China has long relied on its people to buy into its vision like an unwritten \u201csocial contact,\u201d but it is now \u201cin for a bumpy ride in the coming years,\u201d said Jonathan Sullivan, an associate professor specializing in Chinese politics at the University of Nottingham. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere could be challenges to that if there\u2019s a protracted economic downturn \u2026 they\u2019re doing the work to make sure the politically correct way of thinking is completely locked down, consolidating beyond doubt that the party\u2019s way is the only way for China, and that if you love China, you ought to love the party,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
That message has been hammered home in once outspoken Hong Kong following the huge democracy protests that erupted there in 2019. <\/p>\n
Since then, Beijing has made clear it wants a new generation of patriots incubated in the city, rolling out patriotic education rules and political restrictions that forbid anyone deemed unpatriotic from standing for office. <\/p>\n
The introduction of the law also coincides with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People\u2019s Republic of China this coming October 1. Officials will be under pressure to ensure a celebration of patriotism \u2013 and to stamp out any possibility for dissent. <\/p>\n
Under the law, professionals \u2013 from scientists to athletes \u2013 should be nurtured to profess \u201cpatriotic feelings and behavior that bring glory to the country.\u201d <\/p>\n
Local authorities are required to leverage cultural assets, such as museums and traditional Chinese festivals, to \u201cenhance feelings for the country and family,\u201d and step-up patriotic education through news reports, broadcasting and movies. <\/p>\n
Religious bodies should also \u201cstrengthen religious staff and followers\u2019\u201d patriotic sentiment and their awareness of the rule of law \u2013 a stipulation in line with China\u2019s push to \u201csinicize\u201d and tighten its control over religion. <\/p>\n
The latest legislation follows a 2016 directive from the Ministry of Education to introduce across-the-board patriotic education at each stage and in every aspect of schooling, which plays a major part in the new unified law. <\/p>\n
It also follows past efforts, such as smartphone apps for people to \u201clearn about new socialist thought\u201d \u2013 including a lesson on how \u201cGrandpa Xi led us into the new era\u201d \u2013 and for adults to read up and take quizzes on Xi\u2019s latest theories. <\/p>\n
The latter was deemed a success in terms of downloads \u2013 as all 90 million Communist Party members were ordered to use it alongside many employees of state-owned enterprises. <\/p>\n
The new rules affirm that patriotic education will be blended into school subjects and teaching materials \u201cat all grades and all types of institutions,\u201d while parents at home are required to guide their children and encourage them to take part in patriotic activities. <\/p>\n
\u201c(This has to do) with Xi\u2019s consolidation of power. He wants patriotic education to start early,\u201d said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. <\/p>\n
He said the move is aimed at cultivating a loyal mindset toward Xi from a young age, while also sending a message to the wider public that Beijing\u2019s focus is now on consolidating Xi\u2019s power following the economic boom of the past decade. <\/p>\n
The new law also orders cultural establishments such as museums and libraries to be turned into venues of patriotic education activities and tourist destinations into places that \u201cinspire patriotism.\u201d <\/p>\n
Schools are required to organize trips for students to visit these sites, which officials call \u201cwalking classrooms of politics and ideology.\u201d <\/p>\n
Such trips were not uncommon in the past, but the law now officially imposes a legal mandate for schools to do so. <\/p>\n
China has other legislation aimed at stamping\u00a0out unpatriotic behavior, such as banning the desecration of national flags and insults to soldiers. And under Xi in recent years, any dissent in China \u2013 even in the form of online comments that don\u2019t toe the party line \u2013 is enough to land people in trouble with authorities. <\/p>\n
But the latest law\u00a0appears to hint at the introduction of penalties for acts not already punishable under existing laws,\u00a0according to Ye Ruiping, senior law lecturer from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. <\/p>\n
For example, it states that behaviors \u201cadvocating, glorifying and denying acts of invasion, wars and massacres\u201d and \u201cdamaging patriotic education facilities\u201d could be subject to punishments, she said. <\/p>\n\n
On a brisk December day, junior high school students in Fuzhou, southeast China, converged at a country park to study the thoughts of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Unfurling a red banner that declared their outing a \u201cwalking classroom of politics and ideology,\u201d they sought enlightenment by retracing the footsteps Xi took on his 2021 visit <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":13731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13730","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13730"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13730\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}