The ideology of Xi Jingping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, or Xi Jingping Thought for short, XJT for shorter, was enshrined in China’s constitution 2018, about the same time the Chinese Communist Party was eliminating presidential term limits to accommodate the dictator. By then XJT was already coming to saturate everything in China, sort of the way Mao Zedong Thought (MZT) used to.
According to the February 2018 overview by The New York Times, the doctrine of XJT “is a blueprint for consolidating and strengthening power at three levels: the nation, the party and Mr. Xi himself.”
Mr. Xi’s philosophy teaches that the goal of a powerful, unified China can be achieved only if the Communist Party stays firmly in control of China. The party, he says, is the solution to China’s problems, not their source.
Harping on the importance of one-party rule is not new in China. But Mr. Xi has taken aggressive steps to revitalize the Communist Party’s grip on business, the news media, the internet, culture and education. The influence of party permeates every corner of society — even rap music.
Although XJT was already everywhere in China by 2018, it’s not the kind of thing that that Xi wants to let rest on its laurels. Just as, during the days of Mao, people used to have to waste time on MZT to prove ideological loyalty, so, today, more and more Chinese citizens are being flogged into wasting time on XJT and proving that they can regurgitate it. Per Bloomberg (August 8, 2023), “Some bank executives and business heads have to take around a third of working time to study Xi Thought, joining activities and courses, or reading four books from Xi every month. . . . Attendance is mandatory this year and they also need to submit papers on what they’ve learned.”
