China needs ideology law, say legal experts
Chinese legal experts are calling for an ideology management law, saying it would improve national soft power and national security as “hostile forces” are deliberately spreading the wrong ideology to influence the Chinese people.
“China needs a firewall from the Constitution and laws to safeguard mainstream ideology… and help the country’s advantageous ideology better contribute to national governance,” Mo Jihong, a research fellow at the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences ( CASS), told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Mo is also a deputy Party chief of Zhangye, Northwest China’s Gansu Province, according to the Zhangye government website.
Ideology is vital to national security, but current provisions on ideology management in regulations and laws, including the Constitution and Criminal Law, are not unified, Mo said.
“A specific law would provide a legal basis to manage ideology,” Mo added.
“The Internet needs to be the primary medium for ideology building and management,” Mo noted. “Online discussions shall be strictly regulated by laws and online platforms best suited to spreading the main ideology should be established.”
Aside from legislation, ideology management could also be included in a specific Party document, he said, adding that it could increase the Party’s “core role” in safeguarding mainstream ideology, strengthen the Party’s ability to fight against harmful thoughts, and further maintain Party purity.
“An ideology regulation is also needed to protect China’s history from being distorted. Some hostile forces are peddling their ideologies in China, whose narratives run counter to China’s history,” Xin Xiangyang, a research fellow on Marxism at the CASS, told the Global Times.
However, Xin noted that it is difficult to implement such a law, as issues related to ideology also involve the political and economic sectors.
To safeguard national security, Mo also called for the establishment of an inspection system in the cultural sector, such as in areas of mass media and higher education, saying it would prevent those “who are silently peddling their wrong ideologies to Chinese people, especially ideas meant to subvert the State and betray China’s interests.”