Party re-emphasizes ideology education

A new round of moral and belief education is requiring Chinese government officials to reaffirm their faith in "socialism with Chinese characters."

According to a circular issued recently by the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, "deepened education" in Marxist principles must be stressed among officials to prevent them from "being disoriented and losing themselves" to the influences of Western ideals, including constitutional democracy, universal values and civil society, or to the influences of superstition and religion.

"Lack of faith" and "bad morality and ethics" among officials have become a serious problem for the image of the CPC, especially with the surge in temptations that has come hand-in-hand with profound changes in international and domestic circumstances, Xinhua News Agency recently reported.

The circular also required local Party schools and governance academies to reinforce education in traditional Chinese culture, urging officials to defend the spiritual independence of the nation, to fight against harmful behaviors and to avoid becoming a "yes-man for Western moral values."

A long-term education mechanism should be established to address these challenges, said the circular.

An anonymous Beijing-based professor of political science told the Global Times that China should establish its own core value system, so as to resist so-called Western values.

"The present problem is not a result of the penetration of Western ideology. The policy of reform and opening up doesn't only apply to building [the physical aspects of our] civilization, but should [be applied to] spiritual and cultural life as well," said the professor.

The circular comes together with the intensification of a new round of ideology work.

Earlier this month, officials at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the country's top State-run think tank, said that ideology and political discipline are its primary criteria for evaluating officials and research fellows after receiving warnings from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Party's central disciplinary watchdog.