The new focus of the CCP’s work
“Hong Kong 01” published an article on March 23 stating that the CCP has recently “invigorated investigation and research”, and Xi Jinping and others have made relevant requests at high-level meetings. 》, requiring CCP members and cadres to “especially leading cadres take the lead in conducting in-depth investigations and studies.”
After the request was made, many local provincial and municipal leaders have begun to enter the grassroots. Not long ago, the newly appointed Prime Minister Li Qiang and the Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Li Xiwai have also stepped down to the grassroots in recent days to conduct “investigation and research” in various provinces and cities, and put this requirement into practice.
According to official media sources, Li Qiang went to Hunan from the 21st to the 22nd to conduct research and hosted a symposium on the development of advanced manufacturing.
Official media sources also show that from March 19th to 21st, Li Xi, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, went to Hubei for investigation.
In Hubei, Li Xi investigated Donghu Xincheng Community of Wuhan City, Dongshan Village of Echeng District, Ezhou City, Hubei Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, Provincial Party Committee Inspection Office, Ezhou Huarong District Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Group Co., Ltd., China Three Gorges Group Co., Ltd., Wuhan University, etc.
Li Xi focused on three key points in his research. The first is corruption in the field of rural revitalization, the second is the education and rectification of the discipline inspection and supervision cadre team, and the third is the construction of a clean government in state-owned enterprises and the reform of the discipline inspection and supervision system in colleges and universities.
It is worth noting that during the survey, Li Xi also stated that it is necessary to strengthen the guidance for deepening the reform of the discipline inspection and supervision system for centrally managed enterprises, centrally managed financial companies, and centrally managed colleges and universities. In terms of institutional setup and staffing, we will expand the pilot program of sending discipline inspection and supervision teams to provincial-level colleges and universities and state-owned enterprises.
This means that the above-mentioned areas will become one of the key tasks of the CCP’s discipline inspection and supervision during Li Xi’s tenure.
The so-called “investigation and research” is a slogan put forward by Mao Zedong, the former leader of the CCP, and now the CCP has repeatedly mentioned it again.
The CCP’s official media, Xinhua News Agency, reported on March 19 that the General Office of the CCP Central Committee issued the “Work Plan on Prospering Investigation and Research in the Whole Party,” revisiting the “investigation and research” proposed by Mao Zedong in the 1960s. The Party Central Committee with Xi Jinping as the core attaches great importance to investigation and research work, and the full text mentions “investigation and research” 35 times.
Free Asia reported that Hubei netizen Sun Shuli said, “I feel like I want to consolidate the party, the second is loyalty, and the third is to engage in sports, just these six words.”
Mr. Song, a commentator on current affairs, believes that perhaps in the past few years, party members and cadres at all levels have been pressured from top to bottom, and they dare not talk about the central government. Nowadays, the economy is going down, and there are too many structural problems in the development. Therefore, “just like Mao Zedong led the snake out of the hole in 1957, let those who have different voices speak out through normal channels, so that they can know who is dissatisfied with the current policy. There may be a misunderstanding. Because the recent speeches of various leaders, including Wang Huning at the CPPCC meeting, have emphasized the need for struggle.”
Mr. Song said that shortly after the conclusion of the National People’s Congress of the Communist Party of China, the official suddenly proposed that “Daxing investigation and research” is “not only the top”, which is surprising. He said: “Now there is no one who is not only superior. The whole country’s ethos is that of superiority, and the top leaders have the final say. If this kind of atmosphere continues, it will not be beneficial to China’s political ecology and economic development.”
Zhao Renyi, a scholar on China issues, said that in the final analysis, there are two contents in the documents of the General Office of the Central Committee. The first is the so-called follow the mass line, implement policies close to the people, and do a little more superficial work. In addition, it is to engage in sports like it was in 1957.
The CCP tries to find a solution to the crisis of governance
In September 1965, in the opening speech of the “Eighth National Congress” of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong believed that the Communist Party of China, as the core force of Chinese society, still has serious shortcomings, such as subjectivism, bureaucracy and sectarianism, which are divorced from reality and out of touch with the masses. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen ideological education within the party and vigorously overcome these serious shortcomings. Deng Xiaoping also talked about the importance of adhering to the mass line and opposing bureaucracy in his report on revising the CCP’s constitution at the Eighth National Congress.
In the following year, Mao Zedong launched a rectification movement throughout the party. In September 1957, there was a shortage of daily necessities in China, and strikes, strikes, and demonstrations occurred in many places.
The document issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China admits that various difficult problems in China are more severe and complex than before, and there is an urgent need to “find ways and paths to solve difficult problems” through investigation and research.
At the “Democratic Life Meeting” of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held at the end of last year, Xi Jinping already proposed that the style of investigation and research should be vigorously promoted, and more people should go to the grassroots and frontlines of the fields in charge, and more places where there are many difficulties, where the opinions of the masses are concentrated, and the work cannot be opened up. Go, observe the facts, dissect the sparrow, fully grasp the situation, and be aware of it.
Li Qiang, the prime minister who just took office not long ago, also talked about the need to “invigorate the style of investigation and research” at the press conference of the “two sessions” of the Communist Party of China. He also used himself as an example, saying, “When you sit in the office, you encounter problems, but when you go to the grassroots, you see solutions. The masters are among the people.” At the first executive meeting of the State Council held later, Li Qiang made this request again.
Analysts pointed out that the CCP’s re-promotion of “Daxing Investigation and Research” is likely to be a historical replay of the CCP regime crisis, that is to say, the CCP wants to find a way to alleviate the crisis of governance.
Independent scholar Deng Yuwen said, “During the period from 1958 to 1960, due to the CCP’s political mistakes, large-scale steelmaking and people’s communes appeared. The famine that year caused tens of millions of people to starve to death. Mao Zedong’s personal authority was challenged within the party. Under such circumstances, the crisis must be alleviated, so Mao proposed to find out where the problem is through investigation and research, and find out the way to solve the problem through investigation and research.”
In Deng Yuwen’s view, compared with Mao Zedong, Xi Jinping’s current predicament is worse than worse.
Deng Yuwen said, “Because of the three-year eradication of the epidemic and Xi Jinping’s personal concentration of power, the cadres have been ‘flattened’. The atmosphere of bureaucracy and formalism is very serious, which aggravates and deepens the problem. The CCP’s ‘mass line’ in the past. Hasn’t the CCP always emphasized the mass line and the work style of seeking truth from facts? The current bureaucracy and formalism are much more serious than those in the Mao era.”
At present, China’s society is full of crises, and the confrontation and conflict between the government and the people are intensifying, which is difficult to resolve. Various movements such as “white paper movement” and “white hair movement” emerged one after another, as if a volcano was about to erupt. Therefore, the document of the Central Office mentioned “the masses” at least 16 times, emphasizing the party’s mass line, coming from the masses, going to the masses, enhancing the relationship with the masses, sincerely listening to the voices of the masses, truly reflecting the wishes of the masses, and caring for the masses with genuine affection Suffering and so on.
However, Hong Jingfu, director of the Department of Political Science at National Cheng Kung University, said, “If he (Xi Jinping) is really willing to approach the masses and listen to public opinion, he will be slapping himself in the face by banning his speech, banning his voice, banning his account, etc. on the Internet. Even if the people state relatively objectively the social hotspot events and the economic situation, he thinks that it will damage the image of the party and the government.”