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Members are being sent a political happy political birthday card. Photo: Handout.

Ain’t no party like a Communist Party: Chinese cadres told how to celebrate political ‘birthdays’

  • Disciplinary watchdog urges members to ‘celebrate’ by retaking party oath, attending study sessions and meeting superiors to discuss their shortcomings
  • Move to tighten control follows practice of sending ‘birthday card’ to members on anniversary of ‘handing over everything to the party’

The Chinese Communist Party has published a step-by-step guide for its nearly 90 million members on how to celebrate their “political birthdays” – including a suggestion they meet their superiors to discuss their shortcomings.

The party’s top disciplinary watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), published an article on its website on Monday advising all party members on how to celebrate the anniversary as part of the drive to strengthen control over its members.

In December, the South China Morning Post reported that party members in various parts of the country were receiving “Happy Political Birthday” cards from branch managers, congratulating them on the anniversary of joining the party and reminding them to uphold party discipline.

The CCDI said: “When party members solemnly swear under the red party flag, it means they made a solemn commitment to hand over everything to the party. Such an important moment in life should be deeply remembered.”

Besides receiving a happy birthday card party, members are asked to retake the party oath, read through their party application letter again, join a group study session and arrange a meeting with the party branch chief to understand their shortcomings.

Xi Jinping pictured on a visit to a party branch at a Shanghai financial centre. Photo: Xinhua

The card quotes the slogan from CCP’s 19th National Party Congress – “stay true to our founding mission, we can accomplish the mission” – and reminded the recipients not to forget why they joined the party.

The head of a party branch at a state-owned enterprise in China’s eastern Jiangxi province has previously said that party members whose “political birthdays” fall in the same month were being asked to retake their oaths together.

The CCDI said “political birthdays” were a helpful way for the party to care for its members and to strengthen their sense of identity.

In case this all seems too much like a chore, it advised members not to make the occasion too formal by “making sure the activity is really popular, functional and effective”.

After decades of breakneck economic growth, the party is plagued by rampant corruption and a loss of discipline and conviction among its cadres, which President Xi Jinping, who is also the party’s secretary general, believes has eroded the party’s control at a grass-roots level and poses a threat to its rule.

He has repeatedly urged the party to strengthen its “weak and lax” local units, and ordered that branches to be extended to areas where it once had only a token role – such as in private and overseas companies.

By the end of 2016, 70 per cent of foreign-funded firms and 68 per cent of all private businesses in China had set up party branches, according to official figures.

Even commercial buildings, business districts and dedicated marketplaces in China are now required to set up Communist Party branches, joining a long list of economic and social institutions where the party is extending its reach.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: celebrate ‘political birthdays’, party says
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