China’s focus on personality cult is a reminder of Mao era

Technological advancements allow for mass surveillance and extreme censorship, which have resulted in a dystopian police state where blind allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and leader Xi Jinpingare demanded and enforced, wrote Kelly Alkhoul in a piece titled ‘Long live Xi Jinping’ could backfire on China’ published in The Hill.

“This is especially prevalent among ethnic and religious minorities, whose religious and cultural identities are viewed as obstacles to state loyalty,” pointed out Alkhouli director of international relations at the Center of Political and Foreign Affairs (CPFA), an European think-tank.

“Religious statues have been destroyed, temples are required to showcase portraits of Xi in order to avoid demolition, and Catholic priests are chosen by the state and must incorporate the ideologies of Xi — called “Xi Jinping Thought” — into their sermons,” Alkhouli said, adding, “In certain provinces, the state has even gone as far as leveraging poverty-alleviation subsidies in exchange for villagers replacing depictions of Jesus, the Virgin Mary or Buddhist deities in their own homes with portraits of Xi. Of course, the extent of religious subjugation is primarily dependent on the state’s perceived threat of separatism, meaning that Tibetans and Uyghurs are regarded with even greater contempt and left to suffer through more coercive and aggressive methods.”

Alkhouli highlighted Tibetan and Uyghur persecution in her article. “From a moral perspective, the state’s response is abhorrent and a clear violation of fundamental human rights. From a strategic perspective, China’s open disdain and demeaning methods have pushed minorities to fervently cling to their cultural identity. The CCP’s Orwellian strategy is turning harmless individuals and communities into resentful opponents.”