China has its own version of DEI which is spreading everywhere (Update)

If you’re familiar with the spread of DEI as a sort of overarching guide to life and politics, one that has infiltrated colleges, schools and workplaces, then this story about China’s attempts to spread Xi Jinping’s socialism will sound familiar.

Formally, it’s called  Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and in practice it’s an attempt to stamp the entire country with his personal brand. There has been a concerted effort to market Xi Jinping Thought as a way to put him on part with Mao and his little red book. But Xi has one advantage that Mao never had. He has the internet, or at least the walled garden that is the Chinese internet. And within that garden, Xi Jinping Thought has been gamified.

A young Chinese Communist Party official pulls out his phone on the bus home from work and opens the “Rejuvenation No. 1” app.

It’s not a style or a shopping site. It’s an app devoted to the sayings of Xi Jinping, China’s leader, and the official’s dedication to it propels his Communist Party branch to the top of the leader board. Smiling, he punches the air in celebration.

The man is the star of an advertisement encouraging officials to sign up in the app for a nationwide quiz on Xi’s personal ideology. So far this summer, 700,000 cadres have logged into the app daily to take part by trying to recall what Xi said about, well, almost everything.

To reach the final next month, they need to accurately answer hundreds of multiple-choice questions like: “In modern China, the essence of patriotism is to resolutely love the nation and the party and be highly unified in […].” Is the answer A) loving socialism, B) pursuing progress, C) daring to take responsibility or D) honing our ability to struggle? (It was A.)

The article explains that Xi Jinping Thought isn’t really an original philosophy so much as it’s just a collection of whatever Xi has said on various topics over the years. Given that Xi has delivered a lot of speeches at this point, the material is almost endless. State newspaper People’s Daily tried to turn it into an infographic back in 2018:

People’s Daily’s courageous attempt at using infographics to explain Xi Jinping Thought. What does this look like to you? pic.twitter.com/f9O9C6ixMA

— Wang Xiangwei (@wangxiangweihk) October 18, 2018

I think it’s supposed to be a tree but it looks more like communist kudzu to me. For those not familiar with it, Kudzu is an invasive species that became known as “the vine that ate the south.”

Known as “mile-a-minute” and “the vine that ate the South,” this creeping, climbing perennial vine terrorizes native plants all over the southeastern United States and is making its way into the Midwest, Northeast and even Oregon.

Kudzu—or kuzu (クズ)—is native to Japan and southeast China. It was first introduced to the United States during the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 where it was touted as a great ornamental plant for its sweet-smelling blooms and sturdy vines.

From the 1930s through the 1950s, the Soil Conservation Service promoted it as a great tool for soil erosion control and was planted in abundance throughout the south. Little did we know that kudzu is quite a killer, overtaking and growing over anything in its path.

That’s pretty much how Xi Jinping Thought acts too. Last month a law was proposed to make its study mandatory in Chinese schools:

Under a proposed law to boost patriotic education in China, schools would be required to have students study “Xi Jinping Thought,” the latest step by authorities to indoctrinate the country’s youth with propaganda about the Communist Party and its leader.

According to draft legislation before the National People’s Congress, schools and organizations involving children and young people have a duty to carry out ideological and political education, including the Communist Party’s official version of history, national symbols, “national unity” and “national security,” state media reported this week.

But it’s not just schools where it is necessary to know the right answers. The same is increasingly true in businesses where failing to show proper appreciation for Xi Jinping Thought could be a career ender.

At some companies, people who do poorly in Xi study apps could find themselves facing extra scrutiny during performance reviews.

“It’s everywhere. It has seeped into society,” said Olivia Cheung, a research fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.

That effort to embed ideology in everyday affairs can be see in the proliferation of platforms like Rejuvenation No. 1.

If all of this sounds vaguely familiar that’s probably because we have the same process happening here only instead of Xi Jinping Thought the dominant species is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. It has also spread from received wisdom to grade schools and companies. Expressions of fealty are now required for anyone who hopes to advance their career at a university or major business. Those institutions most devoted to the ideology have already seen the results: Workers who spend more time complaining about woke issues than focusing on the jobs they were hired to do.

Of course the details are different but the impetus isn’t. In both cases the intent is to “embed ideology in everyday affairs” and thereby establish control over what can be said and, most importantly, who can wield power. It seems to be working in China.

Update: This is interesting. China’s top diplomat making a nakedly racist appeal to the Japanese and Koreans.

China’s highest-ranking diplomat urged Japan and South Korea to cooperate more closely with Beijing, saying they can change their looks but will “never become Westerners.”

“It doesn’t matter how much you dye your hair blonde, how sharp you make your nose, you’ll never become Europeans or Americans. You’ll never become Westerners,” Wang Yi told South Korean and Japanese guests at a conference in Qingdao on Monday.

“We have to know where our roots are,” the diplomat said, according to a recording of the conversation shared by Chinese media.

Sounds a bit like US identity politics to me with the implications that people who stray too far have abandoned their true identity.