China’s Patriotic Education Law, implemented last year, included patriotism and party loyalty in China’s legal framework, requiring unconditional loyalty rather than earning public trust, a Taiwanese academic said.
Since the law’s implementation more than a year ago, China’s local governments have promoted events and education centered around party loyalty, patriotism and socialism, National Cheng Kung University political science professor Hung Chin-fu (洪敬富) wrote in an article published in the Mainland Affairs Council’s latest briefing.
Beijing has also amplified narratives about anti-China forces interfering in domestic affairs, particularly regarding Taiwan, democracy, human rights and governance systems, he said.
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China uses patriotism as a tool to rationalize nationalism, he said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party justifies its actions by calling them “patriotic,” and combines nationalism with national interests.
Actions by nationalists online, including xenophobic statements, boycotting foreign products and promoting national brands, are glorified as expressions of patriotism and party loyalty by the public and government officials, Hung said.
The prevalence of xenophobia in Chinese society has manifested in attacks on foreigners, Hung added.
For example, four American teachers on June 11 last year were attacked in Jilin Province by a man with anti-US sentiments. On Sept. 28 last year, a 10-year-old Japanese boy was attacked on his way to the Shenzhen Japanese school and died from the injuries at a hospital. Then there was the Chinese man who on Oct. 1 spoke of party loyalty and patriotism before attacking three five-year-old children in Zurich, Switzerland.
Those tragic events show how China’s narrow nationalist ideology and patriotic education has fueled violent xenophobic sentiments, Hung said.
The Patriotic Education Law integrates party loyalty, patriotism and socialism into China’s legal framework, rather than being limited to propaganda, he said.
That “trinity” put forth by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is captured by the slogan “listen to the party, thank the party and follow the party (聽黨話，感黨恩，跟黨走),” he added.
China is so focused on cultivating patriotism that it largely neglects public welfare, such as providing necessary services, including medicine, employment, education and housing, Hung said.
The Chinese government should focus on people’s needs and earn the public’s trust through concrete action, rather than requiring them to be unconditionally loyal and patriotic, he said.
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