‘We must fully trust intellectuals’: China’s President Xi Jinping calls for tolerance of dissent
Moderate remarks by the Communist Party chief in recent weeks are in sharp contrast to high-handed policies
In a rare move, President and Communist Party chief Xi Jinping has called to embrace intellectuals and tolerate dissenting voices among them.
“We must fully trust [our] intellectuals,” Xi told a gathering this week of a group of 70 leading intellectuals, model workers and youth representatives from across the country.
The meeting with intellectuals was held on Tuesday in the eastern province of Anhui, where Xi was on an inspection tour.
It also marked International Labour Day, which falls on Monday, and Youth Day next Wednesday, state media reported yesterday.
[We] must take initiative to seek their views and suggestions on policy making, and [we] must welcome their criticism
Xi’s remarks came ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Cultural Revolution, in which many of the country’s intellectuals were persecuted, on May 16.
Xi said that party and government officials should tolerate dissenting voices from intellectuals, even if some of their “views and criticisms are prejudiced and incorrect”. He said that officials should not take action or punish intellectuals who criticised the government and its policies.