The "request" is in a directive issued by the CCP General Office. The United Front is tasked with bringing private companies under Party control. This opens the path to a return to a planned economy. Dissident state entrepreneurs like Ren Zhiqiang are also targeted. Meanwhile, the Party continues to consolidate its hold on society.
Beijing (AsiaNews) - The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on Tuesday issued a directive calling on private companies to accept its leadership.
The directive from the CCP general office says that private companies must accept its direction when doing business and hiring staff. The reason for this is the need to control a sector that is in constant expansion.
The CCP's United Front – which carries out outreach and influence operations outside party ranks both domestically and internationally – is charged with taking on the private sector.
The directive is aimed at Chinese private companies, including those owned by Hong Kong and Macau residents.
Independent historian Feng Zhi told Radio Free Asia that the document opens the way to a centrally planned economy controlled by the CCP.
Shanxi scholar Li Xiangyang agrees, noting that the directive seeks to boost United Front’s control over the private sector and enhance the “patriotic and socialist education” of employees.
Recently, under the leadership of CCP Secretary General Xi Jinping, the Party has also tried to consolidate its hold on public enterprises.
According to several observers, for example, dissident billionaire Ren Zhiqiang ended up in the crosshairs of the authorities because Party members cannot in any way criticise its leaders, and "state entrepreneurs" must always align themselves with the government’s decisions.
The Party's control over Chinese society, exercised more and more through the United Front, also affects individuals.
As reported by AsiaNews, Catholics cannot become public servants nor Christians join the military. These are but some aspects of the persecution taking place in the country.