CPC advances discipline education campaign

Members urged to remain loyal, clean, responsible and help build resilient nation

The ongoing Party-wide discipline education campaign, a longtime tradition of the Communist Party of China, will help the CPC build a united core to face new goals and challenges and keep the country on the right track, according to experts from around the globe.

From April to July, CPC members will study the newly revised Party regulations on disciplinary action, to strengthen their discipline awareness and remain loyal, clean and responsible, according to a circular issued in early April.

Stressing that education should focus on integrating such awareness into everyday work, the circular urges discussions among Party members, as well as using typical violation cases as cautionary lessons, so that Party members will have a better understanding of lines not to be crossed and deeper respect for the rules.

Jon Taylor, a professor of political science at the University of Texas in San Antonio, noted the CPC's previous education campaigns have focused on cultivating closer ties with the people, improving officials' work styles and ensuring that its members stay true to the Party's founding mission.

The new Party discipline campaign builds on these efforts to strengthen the CPC's internal governance and management under President Xi Jinping's thoughts on the Party's self-reform.

Wang Feng, deputy director of the Institute of CPC History and Party Building at Beijing Normal University, said the Party has placed greater emphasis on building discipline to improve self-governance, a signal that self-reform is always happening.

Discipline is a glorious tradition and one of the CPC's unique advantages, which has ensured victories throughout its history, he said.

Steeped in history

The admission oath of the CPC has been revised several times, but the word "discipline" has remained unchanged.

A poem written by the late Chairman Mao Zedong — "Heighten the sense of discipline, and the revolution is sure to be successful" — revealed the relationship between discipline and the victorious revolution.

In 1928, when the CPC was still a small party, Mao issued a military doctrine, "The Three Rules of Discipline and Six Points for Attention", for the Red Army, who were then fighting against the Kuomintang.

A distinctive feature of the doctrine was its respect for the people. The content included: "Obey orders in all your actions; do not take a single needle or piece of thread from the masses; turn in everything captured."

This discipline made the Red Army popular with the people, and was in contrast to the Chiang Kai-shek-led KMT soldiers, who tended to be rude to villagers. The villagers voluntarily gave supplies and shelter to the Red Army and even joined them, greatly helping the CPC's war efforts.

"The people's support is our top political priority," Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has stressed on many occasions. He has made explicit requirements many times for the Party to carry forward the glorious tradition of building discipline.

"We must not allow our discipline to become a dusty document resting on the top shelf," Xi has said.

Addressing the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in January, he said the key task of advancing the Party's self-reform is to improve Party conduct, enforce Party discipline, and fight corruption.

Underscoring the need to improve the legal system used to fight corruption, he called for an education campaign on discipline within the Party.