"China to require patriotism education for intellectuals " (and the rise of "Xi thought")

What was old is new again. I read about this, back in the day they called it the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution or something.

From Global Times (cn), August 2:

Chinese authorities are requiring intellectuals to participate in patriotism-themed activities and training to achieve the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation.

The campaign will be "launched mainly among young and middle-aged intellectuals at schools, research institutes, enterprises and public institutes," according to a notice released by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee's Organization Department and the Publicity Department, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

It needs to be promoted at a "normal" pace, without any time frame.  The format of the activities should not be uniform, or have rigid regulations and targets, the notice says.

Because of the wide range of intellectuals who have distinguished themselves in different fields, the activities should respect their diversity, the notice said.

"China's patriotism education has faded in recent years, which has led to many abnormal phenomena," Su Wei, a professor at the Party School of the CPC Chongqing Municipal Committee, told the Global Times on Thursday....MORE

Related, at Reuters, June 21:

In China, universities seek to plant 'Xi Thought' in minds of students

Armed with interactive online courses, generous funding and new dedicated research institutes, China’s universities are on the frontlines of an effort to promote the thinking of President Xi Jinping to China and the world.

Since October, many universities across China have placed “Xi Thought” at the core of their curricula – the first time since the era of Mao Zedong that a Chinese leader has been accorded similar academic stature.

Mandatory ideology classes have been updated by the universities in response to instruction from the leadership that Xi’s ideas must enter the textbooks, classrooms and minds of students.

For Hu Angang, an economics professor at the prestigious Tsinghua University and an expert in the field of “Chinese exceptionalism”, the emergence of a leader like China has been a long time coming.

Hu has for decades argued that China’s unique political system would eventually guide the country to become a superpower on par with the United States.
Now he is among a growing number of thinkers studying what is officially known as “Xi Jinping Thought for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” and disseminating it to students and officials.

“Xi’s proposals are all beneficial for the world, they are incomparable,” Hu said in his office on the Tsinghua campus in northwest Beijing...MORE

Now, if only Chairman Xi could package those thoughts into a little book, maybe put an eye-catching red cover on it...