Beijing (AsiaNews) - Overwhelmed by continuous scandals and theft, the Chinese communist regime continues its work of the "moralization" of Party members through books and re-education courses. But experts warn that this battle is useless without a real rule of law and true freedom for citizens to criticize the government. The latest attempt is a set of 4 books - entitled "A Study of the Moral Integrity of Public Officials in Ancient Contemporary China" - that will be used as study material for members of the CCP.
The volumes have been compiled over the last two years by the Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, which has been ordered to prepare them by the disciplinary and propaganda arms of the Beijing Communist Party Committee. Cited in the text are ancient and modern case studies, Confucian and Taoist philosophies and proverbs relating to corruption and virtue, the desire to serve the people, loyalty, pragmatism and self-discipline. This is yet another step backwards from the Maoist revolution, which had marginalized the classics of Chinese thought.
According to the Beijing Daily, which broke the news, "those who act according to conscience are good officials, while those who act against their conscience are bad officials. The researchers believe that the characteristics of a bad officer are excessive greed, brutal tyranny, and the tendency to exploit ordinary people."
Professor Hu Xingdou, a political commentator of the Beijing Institute of Technology, however, is skeptical. According to the teacher, moral values serve only as guidelines: "To succeed in tackling corruption, Beijing must empower a real rule of law and allow the public the freedom to criticize the government. They used to extol Marxism, and that didn't work, so they extolled Confucianism, but that didn't work either...so whatever they're saying now, it's useless."