Building a Socialist Cultural Power

3. persist in taking the establishment as the foundation, making breakthroughs at the same time, and constantly consolidate and strengthen mainstream ideological public opinion

In the ideological field, adhering to the emphasis on construction and building on the foundation has been the consistent policy of the Communist Party of China since the reform and opening up. The principle of stressing construction was put forward by the party in the early stage of reform and opening up on the basis of summing up positive and negative experiences, especially on the basis of summing up the lessons of the “Cultural Revolution” such as taking class struggle as the keynote and engaging in mass judgment. In recent years, the Party Central Committee has repeatedly emphasized strengthening ideological and theoretical construction, strengthening the construction of socialist core values, strengthening communication capacity building, and promoting the creation and production of excellent works, all of which run through the keynote of “construction” and “standing.”

To persist in taking the establishment as the foundation, we must adhere to the correct guidance of public opinion. Comrade Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that it is necessary to expand and strengthen mainstream ideology and public opinion, boost the morale and spirit of the whole party and the people of the whole country, and unite and advance towards the grand goal set by the party Central Committee. To grasp the correct guidance of public opinion, the core essence is to adhere to the principles of party spirit, adhere to the Marxist outlook on news, adhere to the principle of positive propaganda as the mainstay, unswervingly adhere to the principle of party management of the media, persist in politicians running newspapers, periodicals, platforms, and news websites, sing the main melody, and spread positive energy. History and reality tell us that the power of public opinion must not be underestimated. News and public opinion work is at the forefront of ideological struggle, and good public opinion can become the “propeller” of development, the “barometer” of public opinion, the “glue” of society, and the “weather vane” of morality. China Aerospace Studies Institute 273 Translation published Fall 2023Basic Issues of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era Grasping the correct orientation of public opinion is an all-round requirement, which must run through all aspects and links of public opinion work, and earnestly ensure that everyone is responsible at all levels. It is necessary to focus on the implementation of “holding high the banner, leading the guide, focusing on the center, serving the overall situation, uniting the people, boosting morale, shaping people, cohesion, clarifying fallacies, distinguishing right from wrong, connecting China and the world, and communicating the world” 1 The 48-character duty and mission of vigorously carry forward all ideological spirits conducive to upholding the leadership of the Communist Party of China and China’s socialist system, all ideological spirits conducive to promoting reform and development, all ideological spirits conducive to enhancing the unity of the people of all ethnic groups in the country, and all ideological spirits conducive to maintaining social harmony and stability, and profoundly expounding why the Communist Party of China “can” and why Marxism is the intrinsic truth of “doing” and why socialism with Chinese characteristics is “good” has inspired the powerful force of unity and progress of the whole society. Construction and management complement each other, and supporting the right and dispelling evil are inseparable. While adhering to the principle of “taking establishment as the foundation,” we must also intensify the work of “making breakthroughs at the same time.” This is because, in the past period, the political issues of right and wrong, the problem of confused values, and the vulgarity and vulgarity have become more prominent in some areas. As Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out in his speech at the Central United Front Work Conference on May 18, 2015;“In today’s world, invisible wars in the ideological field are everywhere, and the contest without guns in the political field has not stopped. 2 This is also because some people have a one-sided understanding of “emphasis on construction” and regard “emphasis on construction” and “no debate.” It has become an excuse to shirk responsibility, and even a shield to exploit loopholes. Comrade Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: “Adhering to positive propaganda does not mean giving up the struggle of public opinion. “We must dare to grasp and manage, dare to show our sword, focus on unity and win over the majority, carry out public opinion struggles in a reasonable, advantageous, and restrained manner, and help cadres and the masses draw a clear line between right and wrong and clarify ambiguous understanding.“3 So as to maximize the consensus of the whole party and society, and realize and consolidate ideological unity and unity. Dare to show the sword has been a distinctive feature of ideological work since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Comrade Xi Jinping stressed at the 2013 National Conference on Propaganda and Ideological Work: “We must take a clear-cut stand and adhere to the truth, and take a firm stand to refute fallacies.” 1 This requires that while vigorously promoting ideological construction, cultural construction, and value building, we must never be vague about major issues of right and wrong and political principles, still less should we retreat from making retreats, and we must dare to grasp and manage, dare to show our swords, and not do anything Wall-riding faction” and “wind watching faction” do not engage in the set of “cherishing feathers.” It is necessary to take a clear-cut stand in supporting correct ideological remarks, take a clear-cut stand in opposing and resisting all kinds of erroneous viewpoints, ensure that position management is not slack, tasks are not carried out sloppily, and responsibility is not vaguely pursued, that erroneous ideas and remarks are not evaded and dare to confront each other, that rumors are exposed, fallacies are refuted, and fog is clarified, so that the party’s propositions and the will of the people will become the strongest voice of the times.

4. fight the battle of network ideology

The Internet has increasingly become the main position, the main battlefield, and the forefront of ideological struggle, and if the Internet cannot be passed, it will not be able to pass the threshold of long-term rule. It is necessary to adhere to the principle that positive energy is the general requirement and manageable is the last word, grasp the dialectical relationship between security and development, freedom and order, openness and autonomy, management and service, resolutely win the ideological struggle on the Internet, and make the Internet, the largest variable, become the largest increment in career development.

Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out at the 2013 National Conference on Propaganda and Ideological Work: “We must solve the problem of ‘skill panic’ and truly become an expert in using new means and methods of modern media.“2 It is necessary to strengthen the construction of Internet content, deeply implement the network content construction project, strengthen positive publicity on the Internet, unite and unite hundreds of millions of netizens with Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, develop a positive and progressive Internet culture, innovate and improve online publicity, and form a strong positive public opinion online. Strengthen the dissemination of mainstream ideology on the Internet, lead diverse and changeable online public opinion with positive voices, publicize mainstream values in a way that netizens like to hear, highlight the spirit of the times, lead moral trends, and make the Party’s propositions always become the strongest voice in cyberspace. Make full use of network advantages to enhance the authority, timeliness and pertinence of news and publicity, and achieve new breakthroughs in online publicity on major themes.

It is necessary to excavate and publicize the most beautiful people on the Internet, advocate the most beautiful spirit, spread the stories of ordinary people, and let positive energy fully flow on the Internet. Innovate and transform the form of discourse expression, organically interact and connect propaganda discourse, policy discourse and information service discourse, build value resonance in frank communication through warm and sentimental “online language and online language”, and strive to open up the “two public opinion fields.” Cyberspace has become an important space for human activities, and the network society has become an important part of the real society, playing an increasingly important influence and role in the operation of the real society. In the face of the rapid development of Internet technology and its applications, it is necessary to establish a comprehensive network governance system. Integrate the functions of relevant institutions, improve linkage mechanisms for basic management, content management, industry management, and the prevention and crackdown on online violations and crimes, improve mechanisms for handling network emergencies, and form a strong joint force for network governance that combines positive guidance and lawful management. Improve the ability of comprehensive network governance, and form a comprehensive governance bureau with multi- subject participation of party committee leadership, government management, enterprise performance of responsibilities, social supervision, and self-discipline of netizens, and a combination of economic, legal, technical and other means. Insist on promoting positive energy and suppressing negative factors. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out: “Cyberspace is the common spiritual home of hundreds of millions of people. Cyberspace is clear and ecologically sound, which is in the interests of the people. The miasma and ecological deterioration of cyberspace are not in the interests of the people. “1 It is necessary to establish and improve online risk prevention mechanisms, properly regulate and control online public opinion such as social hot issues, sensitive incidents, and emergencies, promptly refute erroneous trends of thought on the Internet, resolutely control harmful political information such as distorting the party’s history, national history, and military history, negating the party’s leadership and China’s socialist system, attacking the party’s line, principles, and policies, and slandering the party’s leader’s ideology and image, and comprehensively cleaning up harmful information such as online rumors, violent terrorist audio and video.

5. Strictly implement the responsibility system for ideological work

To do a good job in ideological work, we must persist in the whole party and implement the responsibilities of party committees (party groups). This is an inevitable requirement for implementing the party’s management of ideological work, and is also the basic guarantee for promoting ideological work.

Only by strengthening the sense of responsibility, establishing rigid constraints, and strengthening accountability can we ensure that all tasks are implemented. It is necessary to tighten and consolidate the political responsibility and leadership responsibility for doing a good job in ideological work, and comprehensively implement the responsibility system for ideological work. We should strengthen the construction and management of positions, conscientiously implement the principles of sponsorship and territorial management, and earnestly ensure that there is a duty to defend the territory, be responsible for defending the territory, and fulfill our responsibilities in defending the territory, so that all kinds of ideological fronts will always become strong positions for disseminating advanced ideology and culture, and never provide channels for the dissemination of erroneous ideas and viewpoints.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has made a series of clear provisions on the main body of accountability, the content of accountability, and the methods of accountability for ideological work. The main body of accountability is mainly the leading comrades of party committees (leading party groups) at all levels, relevant responsible comrades, and responsible comrades of functional departments for propaganda, ideological and cultural work. The content of accountability is mainly the responsibility for implementing the relevant decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and higher-level Party committees, analyzing and judging the situation in the ideological field, strengthening unified leadership, position construction and management, maintaining network ideological security, handling relevant major issues, and intellectual work and team building. The methods of accountability are mainly to give reminders, criticism and education, order written inspections, report criticism, and give organizational handling and disciplinary sanctions, depending on the seriousness of the case.

Strengthening the main responsibility and direct responsibility and implementing “one post, two responsibilities” is the key to implementing the responsibility system for ideological work. It is necessary to enhance the awareness of the secretary of the party organization as the first responsible person, enhance the awareness of the direct responsibility of the leaders in charge, and enhance the awareness of “one post and two responsibilities” of other members of the leadership group. In particular, the principal responsible comrades of party committees (leading party groups) should take the lead in grasping ideological work, make clear their stance, dare to speak out at critical moments, stand in the front line of ideological work with a clear-cut stand, and unswervingly defend the mainstream socialist ideology. Further deepen and refine the list of responsibilities for ideological work, improve the chain of work responsibility, strengthen work assessment, strengthen accountability, and truly form a work pattern in which the party committee has unified leadership, the party and government have joint management, the propaganda department has organized and coordinated, and the relevant departments have division of labor and responsibility. To implement the responsibility system for ideological work, it is necessary to actively and steadily handle issues in the ideological field. Issues in the ideological field are highly policy-oriented, highly sensitive, and pay great attention, and it is particularly necessary to pay attention to methods and methods, pay attention to the art of strategy, maximize the enthusiasm of all parties, and resolve negative factors. It is necessary to strengthen problem-orientation, persist in having a clear purpose, pay attention to correctly distinguishing and handling contradictions among the people and contradictions between ourselves and the enemy, analyze specific problems in detail, solve whatever problems they are, and use whatever methods should be used to solve them.

In concrete work practice, it is necessary to enhance awareness of problems, pay attention to discovering problems as early as possible, do work patiently and meticulously, and strive to solve problems in the bud; correctly distinguish and handle issues of political principle, ideological understanding, and academic viewpoints; some need to fight-for-tat and strike hard, while others can comprehensively use educational, administrative, legal discipline, economic, and other means. No matter what issues are handled, Nagisa 8 should be conducive to upholding and strengthening the party’s leadership, to uniting the hearts and minds of the party and the people, and to safeguarding the overall situation of reform, development, and stability.