‘Absolute loyalty’: Top Xi Jinping aide demands Communist Party units toe the line
Demand from the top comes as party bosses revive Deng-era term to describe the president as the ‘core’ of the organisation’s leadership
China’s top presidential aide issued a sweeping call on Wednesday for all Communist Party agencies of ministerial level and above to have “absolutely loyalty” to the party, and for that allegiance to be their fundamental political requirement.
Analysts said the call was a demand for loyalty to President Xi Jinping, the party’s general secretary.
It also comes as party chiefs of several provinces and cities have referred to Xi as the “core” of the party’s leadership, a term that has only been widely used in the past to refer to former leaders Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin.
Li Zhanshu, 65, director of the General Office of the party’s Central Committee and Xi’s top aide, made the call during a meeting of units directly under the Central Committee.
There are around two dozen such party organs, ranging from the vice-ministerial to vice-state level, including the central propaganda department, the Central Organisation Department, the party’s anti-graft watchdog and People’s Daily. “Party organisations of all levels and all party members should be aligned with the central leadership of the party led by Xi Jinping in actions and thoughts,” Li said.
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It is the latest call for “absolute loyalty” to the party among top cadres. A Politburo meeting in November decided that “absolute loyalty to the party” was the most important political requirement, Xinhua reported.
The emphasis on loyalty to the party’s central leadership is indeed a call for submission to the top leader