Attract non-CPC elite to Party’s efforts: Xi

By Hu Qingyun Source:Global Times Published: 2015-5-21 0:18:02

Opinion makers should promote positive, accurate views : experts


Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday called on authorities to befriend and recruit more non-Communist Party of China (CPC) intellectuals and representatives, stressing their role in economic development and cleansing the Internet.

Xi, the General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said that high value should be placed on intellectuals in new economic and social organizations and they should exert their roles in development.

People from private business should be educated, helped and united and students studying abroad should also be encouraged to return home and serve the country in various ways, said the president.

Uniting the non-CPC intellectuals has been a basic and strategically important work under the party's efforts to unite the nation, Xinhua reported.

Specially, Xi called for establishing regular contact with outstanding people from new media organizations and stressed their role in cleansing the Internet.

Observers noted that Xi's remarks show that the Party has adjusted its methods to better promote government policies and its ideology to unite non-CPC elites to work along with the Party in realizing Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation. Wang Sixin, a professor at the Communication University of China, said that Xi's remarks show the Party and government have realized the importance of guiding public opinion through new media.

Wang said that online public opinion remains divided over many government affairs, especially in ideological work, mainly because people misunderstand the Party and government or have been influenced by Western values.

"The split in online public opinion might cause social unrest and threaten the Party's ruling foundation," Wang said.

"If influential users and organizations on the Internet better understand the ideology, they can give positive and accurate opinions to their followers," said Zhang Xixian, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

At the same meeting, Xi called for officials to learn to make friends with non-CPC intellectuals in "doing ideological work." In the first meeting of a central Internet security and informatization leading group in February 2014, Xi called for innovative methods to spread mainstream values and stimulate positive energy while maintaining proper guidance of online opinions in terms of timing, intensity and impact.

There are 130,103 verified government and individual officials' Sina Weibo accounts at the end of 2014, 30,000 accounts more than in 2013, according to people.com.cn in January 2015.

Wang said that to implement Xi's remarks, authorities may hold regular discussions with outstanding people or provide them with regular ideology training.

A dozen new media service operators and prominent Weibo users attended an ideology training course conducted by the CPC's United Front Work Department in March, which is the department's first time to include the people in the courses, according to an article published by the department's magazine on Tuesday.

Xinhua contributed to this story



Posted in: China Watch

blog comments powered by Disqus