CHINA Beijing creates a police force to ‘control’ culture

After the chengguan of the cities and the nongguan of the countryside, the Chinese leaders propose the wenguan, the so-called “cultural executors”. Equipped with a blue uniform, they are called upon to repress “non-aligned” behaviour. Xi Jinping’s leadership cult is reinforced: his quotes are used in the gaokaouniversity entrance exams.

Beijing () – First there were the chengguanthe police forces specialized in controlling activities in urban centers, recently followed by the nongguan, their counterparts in the countryside and agricultural areas. The latest addition pushed by Beijing is the wenguan, the force in charge of enforcing the cultural management law. Groups of so-called “cultural executors”, dressed in a “blue uniform”, are called upon to repress “behaviors” that do not conform to “morality” or film, television and art programs and shows that are contrary to the moral. Its goal is to “align” Chinese media and agencies with government policy and “Xi Jinping Thought,” which is increasingly becoming the country’s paramount leader.

In the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, the new teams wear their dark blue uniforms decorated with Chinese characters meaning “application of cultural norms.” On May 30, more than 500 people attended the “uniform handover ceremony” in Jiamusi City. The new formation is responsible for suppressing behaviors considered “uncultured” in a wide variety of fields: tourism, publishing, culture, television programs and films.

Among his many responsibilities will be to track down and punish writers on online platforms who spread pornography, violence, “feudal superstition” or other behavior deemed harmful, although his role and powers remain broad and ambiguous. Many citizens took to social media to challenge or mock the emergence of these “cultural enforcers”, also fearing the danger of a cultural desert. “First the control of the cities, then the countryside, now the management of culture. But, what is cultural management?” asked one user.

Cai Shengkun, a US-based expert on China affairs, told Radio Free Asia (RFA) that the creation of a team dedicated to the cultural element actually demonstrates an absolute willingness to control and supervise on the part of Beijing. “It is for the most part a political question” for the management of “the cultural sphere, including cultural products…arts, performance and entertainment.” A plan that dates back to 2018, when the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party wanted to form a team dedicated to cultural issues, including the tourism sector.

The obsession with controlling the cultural element is increasingly pronounced for Beijing, as evidenced by the use of Xi Jinping quotes in university entrance exams (the gaokao). In fact, for the first time in a recent exam, candidates were asked to write a text of more than 800 characters on the “understanding and thought” of two quotes from the president, outlining “the principles” that should animate and guide life. university. The text, prepared by the Chinese Ministry of Education, is aimed at students in 12 provinces and regions, including Xinjiang, Henan and Jiangxi. Among all the Chinese leaders, only Mao Zedong’s poems had previously been used in the gaokaowhich confirms a growing “idolatry” of the president.