Xi refreshes commitment of civil servants to re-inculcate principle of blind loyalty

Amid widespread discontent about the "zero-Covid policy" and "common prosperity", President Xi Jinping refreshes the commitment of its civil servants by holding training sessions to re-inculcate the principle of blind loyalty to the Chinese communist party.

Pia Sherman, writing in Global Strat View said that Xi is making civil servants bow to his thoughts.

The idea is to see that the civil servants are well-versed with the principles surrounding the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

The Thought has been made the "main and required course across the different training programs for civil servants, and as the content of civil servants' learning centre to educate and guide civil servants to consciously become firm believers and faithful practitioners of the Party's innovative theory in the new era, so that they can strengthen the four consciousnesses, four self-confidences and achieve two safeguards."

A statement from the party said, "All civil servants receive ideological education and training in Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era through different forms and systems."

In China, every year, around 200,000 outstanding talents from various fields are recruited into the civil service. By the end of 2021, 30.1 per cent of the national civil servants were 35 years of age or younger, and 78.8 per cent had a bachelor's degree or above, an increase of 2.2 percentage points and 6.9 percentage points from 2017, respectively, said Sherman.

Every year, once the new civil servant recruits enter the system, they are expected to start a life-long exercise to be loyal to the party and the leadership.

On the party's control over the civil service, the statement said, "The Third Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee called for strengthening the party's centralised and unified leadership over the civil servants; through the Plan for Deepening the Reform of Party and State Institutions, it was clear that the Central Organization Department would manage civil servants work in a unified manner."

Chinese bureaucracy also practices a system of post-categorization for civil servants that ensures there is no scope for questioning the leadership at any level of the bureaucracy, reported Global Strat View.

The move to re-inculcate the principle of blind loyalty in civil servants comes in the backdrop of the Chinese Communist Party's 20th-congress that will reaffirm Xi's ultimate power.

On October 16, President Xi Jinping of China may get a third term in office, making him one of the modern greats of the dragon country.

More important than the reaffirmation of his ultimate power will be the broad policy direction he is expected to give to Congress. That will determine the projection of China's power in the domestic maritime arena, prominent neighbours like India and Australia, and the straining relations with the United States.

However, the President encountered some heated moments when people were annoyed by his Zero Covid policy that saw entire cities, including Shanghai, come to a standstill as they were completely locked down.

Millions of Chinese were forced to stay home for months. They were short of groceries, food, and medicine. Children lost out on studies, adults on jobs. Thousands of factories were closed and even the Shanghai port was shut down for weeks. Tonnes of trade cargo were stuck in the port, leading to substantial losses.

The lockdowns sparked waves of public outcry, with many growing increasingly frustrated with the unending restrictions on their daily life. The zero-tolerance approach has also crippled economic growth -- long a source of legitimacy for the party. Youth unemployment surged to a record high of 20 per cent, while a rural banking scandal and a spiralling property crisis sparked protests.

Moreover, Xi has continued to call for the common prosperity of the country's entire population amid the massive crackdown on big tech giants in China.

(ANI)

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