Xi Jinping tells youth league to ‘dare to struggle’ and unify around the Communist Party
- President urges officials to step up education and guidance for young Chinese, saying they ‘could be confused between ideals and reality’
- In speech marking organisation’s centenary, he also calls for loyalty and says officials ‘must carry awe in your heart and set limits in your speech and behaviour’
“[You] must take the lead in daring to – and being good at – struggle, confront difficulties in the face and overcome hardships,” he said during an event in Beijing marking the youth league’s centenary on Tuesday.
“Members of the league should treat political training seriously and actively seek political progress and unify around the party,” he said. “[You] must strive to be members of the Communist Party.”
The youth league – copied from the Soviet model – serves as a “reserve force” for China’s ruling Communist Party, according to its constitution.
Members must be Chinese nationals aged between 14 and 28, though anyone appointed to an official position can remain in the youth league for longer.
It has more than 73.1 million members, according to the latest official figures. At its peak in the late 2000s, around a quarter of all Chinese nationals in the age group were youth league members.
During his speech, Xi also urged youth league officials to step up education and guidance for young Chinese.
“[They] are more easily influenced by different ideas and could inevitably be confused between ideals and reality, and different isms – between altruism and selfishness, between the small self and the bigger self,” he said.
The president added that the youth league should take “the temperature” of young Chinese, and “notify the party” as well as “relay the party’s warmth” to them.
Beijing has been ramping up political indoctrination efforts among young Chinese, who are seen by many observers as more patriotic – and also more nationalistic – than previous generations.
At Tuesday’s event, Xi also called on youth league officials to be loyal to the party. “[You] must nurture a pragmatic working style and dare to bear the hardship, the risks, and the difficulties on the front line and at the grass roots in rough environments,” he said. “[You] must carry awe in your heart and set limits in your speech and behaviour.”
Others who previously headed the youth league include Premier Li Keqiang, Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua, Natural Resources Minister Lu Hao, and Chief Justice Zhou Qiang. Wang Yang, who heads the country’s top political advisory body and is one of seven members of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee, previously served at the Anhui branch of the youth league.
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The youth league has since gone through an overhaul of its leadership and management structures, after Xi called for the organisation to improve its role in politics.
On Tuesday, Xi ended his speech by quoting former leader Mao Zedong, saying the people “who will become pioneers of the revolution and are farsighted politically” should be nurtured.
“These people are not the arrogant type, nor are they attention seekers, but people who keep their feet on the ground and adhere to the reality,” he said, adding that “China’s revolutionary mission can be completed with a large group of such pioneers”.
