A “Symposium on the work of ideological and moral construction of minors” offered “important instructions” from Xi Jinping on how children should be indoctrinated.
by Hu Zimo
It is a truth universally acknowledged—at least in Beijing—that no citizen is too young to be drafted into the ideological battalions of the state. The latest pronouncement from Xi Jinping, delivered with the solemnity of a headmaster scolding unruly pupils, makes it official: the Communist Party has identified minors as strategic terrain in the endless war for hearts, minds, and obedience.
A CCTV broadcast of December 15, reporting on a “Symposium on the work of ideological and moral construction of minors” with its usual orchestration of reverent tones and choreographed applause, announced that “the construction of minors’ ideological and moral character” is now a strategic, foundational task. We learned that “Xi Jinping’s important instructions were conveyed at the meeting” through Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee.
Translation: Xi Jinping is personally involved, and the Party intends to colonize childhood itself. Forget teddy bears and fairy tales—what the leadership prescribes is a steady diet of “socialist core values,” “patriotic fervor,” and “good moral habits.”
The formula is familiar to anyone who has studied totalitarian regimes. First, declare that education is not about knowledge but about virtue—virtue defined, of course, by the ruling Party. Then, insist that schools, families, and society must form a seamless conveyor belt of indoctrination. In Xi’s words, minors must be guided to “set lofty ideals” and “become socialist builders and successors.” The phrasing is almost touching, until one remembers that “successor” here means successor not to Shakespeare or Einstein, but to the Party line.
The directives read like a parody of a curriculum committee gone mad. Schools are ordered to put “moral education first,” ensuring that math and science are never taught without a side dish of ideology. Families are to be enlisted as auxiliary commissars, their bedtime stories vetted for political correctness. Society—an amorphous entity in Party jargon—is commanded to provide “good cultural products,” which in practice means more patriotic cartoons and fewer pesky foreign influences. The Internet, that unruly playground, is to be tamed into a digital nursery where only approved slogans bloom. Even psychological services are to be expanded, though one suspects the therapy will focus less on coping with anxiety and more on coping with insufficient revolutionary zeal.
The rhetoric is drenched in concern for “healthy growth.” Yet what is health in this context? Not the freedom to explore, question, or dissent, but the ability to recite the catechism of Xi Jinping Thought without hesitation. The Party’s definition of wellness is obedience dressed up as virtue.
History offers plenty of precedents. Stalin’s Young Pioneers, Hitler’s Hitlerjugend, Mao’s Red Guards—all were sold as programs for youth development, all were in fact pipelines for ideological control. China’s current campaign is less flamboyant but no less insidious: a velvet-gloved version of the same old script.
The stakes are not merely domestic. By shaping the next generation into loyal executors of Party doctrine, Beijing ensures that dissent is strangled before it can speak. The child who learns to chant slogans today is the adult who will not question tomorrow. And in a globalized world, the ripple effects of such engineered conformity extend far beyond China’s borders.
The CCTV report was meant to reassure citizens that the Party cares deeply about their children. Read between the lines, however, and the message is chillingly clear: the Party wants to raise your children in China.
Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.
