One scholar summarizes that China's new patriotic education law is the culmination of President Xi Jinping's campaign to make political indoctrination the law and ensure ideological unity in the “new era.”
China's new Patriotic Education Law came into effect on January 1, 2024. It called for the creation of a “mighty force for comprehensively building a modern socialist nation and comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” (Article 1), and enacted a uniform patriotic education law. . , a systematic patriotic education program to realize President Xi Jinping's vision of China as a “great socialist country.”
The Patriotic Education Law was enacted on October 24, 2023, about four months after the draft was first submitted to the National People's Congress. The full text of the draft was made public immediately after deliberations began, and the public was encouraged to submit their opinions via the Internet and other means. This has become standard procedure and is part of the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to strengthen its legitimacy by demonstrating a commitment to the rule of law and a legislative process that “reflects the will of the people.” There is.
From this perspective, the enactment of this law may seem somewhat hasty. But in reality, it was the culmination of many years of preparation.
surpassing Deng Xiaoping
Many of the key points of the new law were anticipated in the “Implementation Guidelines for Patriotic Education in a New Era” published in November 2019, which outlined a new education program for the entire society based on “Xi Jinping Thought.” It is.
The name and theme of the 2019 document are both reminiscent of the 1994 Patriotic Education Guidelines adopted under the Jiang Zemin administration. Faced with a legitimacy crisis after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, the state and the Chinese Communist Party sought to strengthen national unity by replacing socialism with patriotism as the binding ideology.
Although commonly associated with Jiang Zemin, the 1994 Outline is essentially the work of Deng Xiaoping. The book states that education should be guided by the Party's core principles and the “theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics developed by Comrade Deng Xiaoping,” and is peppered with quotes from Deng Xiaoping. Resuming the “reform and opening up” movement in 1992 (after a hiatus following the Tiananmen Square massacre), Deng Xiaoping promoted patriotism as an important ideological mechanism for maintaining unity, order, and stability while overhauling China's socialist system. I caught it.
Just as Xi Jinping's “Third Historical Resolution” replaced Deng Xiaoping's 1981 Party History Summary, Xi Jinping's 2019 Guidelines replaced Deng Xiaoping's Platform. In the field of patriotic education, as in other fields, Mr. Xi seems determined to surpass Deng Xiaoping's achievements.
President Xi's basic plan
Mr. Xi's project to enshrine patriotic education and ideological unity in national law began several years before the 2019 guidelines were released.
In February 2014, the National People's Congress Standing Committee recognized Nanjing Massacre Memorial Day (December 13) and Victory Day (December 13) as two major national events that connect China's struggle against Japanese aggression and the global struggle against fascism. (September 3, 2016). In Japan, this marked the beginning of the “historical war” between Beijing and Tokyo that was expected to reach its peak in 2015, as China celebrated the 70th anniversary of its victory over invading Japanese forces and the global defeat of fascism. considered part of the process. But Mr. Xi's focus is elsewhere.
In fact, his intention at this point was to repair relations with Japan. In 2014, it seemed inevitable that tensions between the United States and China would escalate, with the United States rejecting Mr. Xi's initiative for a “new model of great power relations.” To avoid economic isolation, it was inevitable that China's leaders would heed the lessons of history and choose to forge closer ties with Japan. At a national ceremony commemorating the Nanjing Massacre in December 2014, President Xi warned, “Just because a few militarists have started a war of aggression, we should not harbor hatred for the entire nation.'' This is why we have emphasized such distinctions (or “dichotomies''). has become a pillar of the Chinese government's foreign policy toward Japan. The principle had come under criticism within China amid heightened bilateral tensions over historical and territorial issues, but Xi Jinping used his authority to reaffirm its status as official policy. This marked the beginning of a partial thaw in Japan-China relations, which had hit a postwar nadir after the Japanese government nationalized the disputed Senkaku Islands in 2012.
In this context, the establishment of the two holidays should not be seen as a slap in Japan's face, but as a step towards Xi Jinping's goal of legislating patriotism. This trend continued with the August 2014 law, which designated September 30th as Martyrs' Day in honor of patriots who sacrificed their lives in conflicts such as World War II and the Civil War. Just a month later, President Xi and six other members of the Politburo Standing Committee led a wreath-laying ceremony at the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square.(*1)
Between fall 2017 and spring 2018, the government took further steps to legislate patriotic ideas and actions. A new national anthem law went into effect in October 2017, followed by a law stipulating criminal penalties for those who disrespect the national anthem or the Chinese flag. (Given that previous laws regarding the national flag and anthem were enacted just before the announcement of Deng Xiaoping's Charter, it can be assumed that the 2017 National Anthem Law was similarly intended to pave the way for the 2019 guidelines.) The National People's Congress is a hero. The Martyrs Protection Act was passed, creating detailed criminal penalties for defaming, belittling, or denying the achievements of national heroes.(*2)
Given this systematic preparation, the Patriotic Education Act can be seen as the culmination of a carefully designed plan to legislate nationalism, patriotism, and loyalty to the Communist Party. This is the basic law that supports ideological unification in Xi Jinping's “new era,” and means the normalization of patriotism in Chinese society.
unity as patriotism
The Patriotic Education Act tends to lack specific content, but it is completely ineffective when it comes to the Taiwan issue. The final version of the law expresses in clear terms President Xi's firm determination to reunite Taiwan with the mainland.
The 2019 guidelines did not address the Taiwan issue head-on. “My Taiwanese brethren'' have simply been added to the list of people in the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Region and overseas Chinese in efforts to strengthen national identity and unity. However, when it comes to the 2023 bill, Xi insisted on going further.
The draft submitted to the National People's Congress included a separate paragraph on Taiwan, indicating a change in focus. However, at that stage, the message was still limited to a call to educate Taiwanese compatriots about “China's history, culture, and national situation'' and “one country, two systems.'' However, by the time this law was enacted, the corresponding provisions had been expanded and radically changed.
According to Article 23 of the Patriotic Education Law, the state “strengthens public relations and education to promote the policy of national reunification, and promote the understanding of all Chinese people, including compatriots in Taiwan, of their sacred duty to accomplish the cause of national reunification.” It is stipulated that It's ethnic unity. (Please note here that “compatriots in Taiwan” is clearly included in the Chinese people.) Furthermore, the state must “protect the rights and interests of compatriots in Taiwan in accordance with the law, and support the separation of Taiwanese compatriots seeking “Taiwan independence.'' We will firmly oppose the movements of the Chinese people.'' We will protect the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation. ”
Communist Party in Chinese Civilization
Although there is a strong tendency in Japan to view China's patriotic education policy as anti-Japanese propaganda, the true purpose of this law lies elsewhere. As is well known, Xi Jinping has been deeply interested in history education for many years. The three-volume Official History of the Communist Party of China, published in 2016, was compiled under his supervision. As the country's president, Mr. Xi called for a national curriculum centered on the “four histories” of explaining the history of the Chinese Communist Party, New China, reform and opening up, and the development of socialism.
Perhaps the most important change introduced by the Patriotic Education Act was the addition of “History of the Development of the Chinese People'' to this curriculum. The story of the “four histories” showed the leading role of the Communist Party in building a new China. It began around the time of the Opium War, when China broke away from semi-feudal and semi-colonial rule by the great powers, emphasized the victory in the struggle against Japanese aggression and the defeat of the Kuomintang, and paved the way for the establishment of the People's Party. Republic of China. On the other hand, the history of the development of the Chinese people is a story spanning thousands of years. The aim is to legitimize the Party in this larger context and position it as an indispensable force for the long-term development of the Chinese people and the only means to realize “the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” be. Reflecting this new and broader perspective, Article 8 emphasizes the role of patriotic education in “transmitting and developing China's great traditional culture.”
Considering the Patriotic Education Act from this perspective, we can see the error in viewing it in the narrow context of anti-Japanese propaganda or a “history war.'' In fact, the law has a larger political purpose. In other words, the goal is to unite the “Chinese people” and form a nation worthy of the “great modern socialist nation” that Xi Jinping's Communist Party has pledged to build.
(Banner photo: Volunteer explaining the patriotic education method to elementary school students in Huai'an, China, December 28, 2023 ©CFOTO/Kyodo)
(*1) ^ Article 28 of the Patriotic Education Law requires similar commemorative activities to be held on Victory Day, Martyrs' Day, and Nanjing Massacre Memorial Day.
(*2) ^ Article 37 of the Patriotic Education Act prohibits acts that are considered insulting or disrespectful to the national anthem, flag, or national heroes and martyrs.
