The Guidelines instructing religious communities to implement the Patriotic Education Law and increase CCP propaganda were immediately enforced.
by Ma Wenyan
Earlier this month, “Bitter Winter” published an English translation of the new Guidelines instructing the religious communities of the five authorized religions how they should implement the “Patriotic Education Law” in force since January 1. The statute has been hailed as one the most important recent Chinese laws, as it reorganizes the whole domestic propaganda activity of the Chinese Communist Party.
In different parts of the country, efforts to promote the “Patriotic Education Law” have already been launched by the five authorized religions. Hui Muslims, i.e. those Muslims who are ethnically Chinese (unlike the Uyghurs, who are part of one of the Turkic peoples inhabiting Xinjiang), are being specially targeted.
Traditionally, the Hui were regarded by the CCP as the “good” Muslims in China, unlike the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities accused of promoting “separatism.” However, in the last few years even the Islam of the Hui Muslims has been regarded as not “Sinicized” enough, and mosques have been destroyed or vandalized, causing protests.
The CCP believes that “patriotic education” is the solution for the Hui. In Shandong province, the Islamic Associations of Linyi City, Jining City, Dezhou City, Jinan City and Tai’an City held meetings this month to study the Patriotic Education Law and the guidelines on its implementation by religious communities. A press release reported that, “Everyone agreed that the formulation and implementation of the Patriotic Education Law and the promotion and protection of patriotic education in the new era through the rule of law are of great and far-reaching significance for inheriting and carrying forward the national spirit, gathering the people’s strength, promoting the construction of a strong country and the national rejuvenation. It is necessary to uphold the fine tradition of ‘patriotism is part of faith,’ carry out extensive patriotic education, tell the story of Muslim patriotism…, unify patriotism with love for the Party and love for socialism, being constantly guided by the core values of socialism.”
Similar meetings were organized in Wuhan, where on January 12 the imams of the different mosques of the city preached on “carrying forward the spirit of patriotism and striving to be patriotic and religious Muslims.” The devotees were asked to “prove the Chinese Muslims’ love for the Party.”
The more the “patriotic education” advances, the more Hui mosques look like simple propaganda outlets for the CCP.
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