Chairman Xi used his nation-state’s New Years Eve address to attempt to placate the world that China is a tolerant state and not grossly violating the rights of its own citizens and anyone else, especially the Uighurs, that live inside its borders.
In the address, Chairman Xi expressed tolerance for different religions and beliefs so long as all of them echoed the most important truth to the people of China, the critical necessity of the party and the state in fulfilling their lives, no matter what ‘path’ that might be.
It’s called Cultural Nationalism, and it demands that every belief system essentially echo the beliefs of the Chinese Communist Party. Jesus becomes a Socialist parable about how to sacrifice yourself to the people, represented by the state, crystalized in the leadership and semi-divinity of Chairman Xi.
Jinping’s fallback on cultural nationalism
From www.thehansindia.com
2022-01-09 20:32:30
Excerpt:
In his New Year message to the nation, Chinese President Xi Jinping carried forward the process of what has aptly been called ‘Sinicization of Marxism.’ He referred to the ‘great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’ in progress and particularly appreciated the youth who have pledged to the Party ‘to make their country strong’ and ‘save their pure true love for the motherland.’
He talked of the historical convergence of the two centenary goals in the year gone by – realisation of a ‘moderately progressive society in all respects after eliminating extreme poverty’ on one hand, and launch of the mission of ‘building a modern Socialist country for great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation’ on the other – crediting the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) for both.
Stating that this progress is not going to be easy, Xi struck a note on cultural moorings of Chinese nationalism by referring to Yellow River and the Yangtze River as the two ‘mother rivers of the Chinese nation’ and reaching out to ‘our compatriots overseas’ to compliment them for working so hard.
At the same time, religious affairs in China have been put under stricter watch since 2015 when Sinicization was introduced. Over the years, religious beliefs have attracted party control – they have been pushed towards ‘alignment with Chinese culture’ and rejection of foreign influence.
Importantly, it is against the backdrop of accusations of repression in China on Muslims, Christians and Tibetan Buddhists that Xi Jinping addressed a national conference on ‘work related to religious affairs’ held at Beijing in early December and highlighted the need for religions ‘to adapt to Socialist society in the Chinese context.’
He made a significant observation that ‘while freedom of belief was to be fully implemented,’ religion should act as the bridge connecting ‘Party and the Government’ with the people and enjoined upon religious personages and believers to enhance the recognition of ‘motherland, Chinese nation, Chinese…
