Shandong Party ‘reforges’ errant members
Print Edition
BEING a member of the Communist Party of China is usually something to brag about, but not in a district in Shandong Province, where new branches have been set up to reexamine and reeducate underperforming or wayward CPC members.
A total of 118 CPC members have been invited to attend “reforging Party branches” at 12 townships in Linzi District in the city of Zibo.
Zhang Qinghui, 53, is one of them. “I thought I was being shamed by being included,” he said.
Zhang was asked to attend the new Party branch at Zhutai Township after he failed a recent CPC member assessment, a new evaluation system for cadres managed by village-level CPC branches, as he had been involved in a fight with other villagers over a debt dispute.
For the next six months, Zhang and 20 other CPC members had to attend a two-hour session once a month to absorb and learn the CPC Constitution, and understand the documents and instructions issued by the leadership. Each attendee is also assigned a mentor, a senior member who supports them through the reeducation and correction process. For the duration of the reeducation, the attendees are not allowed to attend election of their villages.
After the reeducation, Zhang will be tested on what he has learned, as pass indicates that the “reforging” was a success. Failure could lead to their expulsion from the CPC.
Zhang introspected what he did during the class, and learned his lesson.
“I now realize how the fight damaged the reputation of a CPC member,” he said. “Since I took an oath in front of the Party flag while joining in the CPC, I should have set an example.”
The CPC has more than 88 million members. As per its Constitution, an organization of more than three members should establish a CPC branch.
Today, the CPC turns 95. After almost a century, the Party is continuing to improve its members and nip minor shortcomings in the bud.
Song Lei, head of CPC Linzi District Committee organization department, said the members enrolled on the reeducation program had been deemed “sub-healthy” or “unhealthy.”
Some failed to attend Party-related training, others had failed to pay membership fees, while a handful had been implicated in misconduct, like Zhang.
As regulated in the CPC Constitution, the Party branch should provide education to a CPC member who violates the Party rules or fails to fulfil related obligations. If a timely correction is not seen, the member may be persuaded to quit the Party, and even expelled.
“The Party branch for reforging was named as it is like a furnace — it melts down defective iron products and removes the impurities,” said Song.
Song said such Party branches had been invented to maintain discipline and ensure local-level members have access to the latest CPC laws and instructions.
The reeducation program has proved to also work as a deterrent. Zhong Jintang, Party head of Luojia Village, said following the establishment of the reforging branch, attendance at Party meetings and other activities had greatly improved.
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