Beijing mounts campaign to counteract the countryside threat of clans and gangsters to “the primary-level political system”.

By Yuanyue Dang | South China Morning Post

Summary

A cartoon circulating on China’s government websites and social media depicts a family elder demanding his nephew, a village official, block the construction of a telecommunications tower. The tower is later demolished by villagers, which causes “more than 200,000 yuan [US$28,000] damage.” The moral of the narrative: the village official finds himself expelled from the Communist Party.

Published on Aug. 12 on the WeChat account of the Organization Department of the eastern province of Jiangsu’s party committee, the illustrated narrative is part of a public education campaign launched by Beijing to address the influence of clans and gangsters in China’s rural areas.

Family heritage is highly valued in these areas, where clans—often made up of male relatives with the same surname—hold considerable influence. Under China’s village committee organization law, villagers can elect officials to form a committee to run their village and determine some village affairs by votes.

This influence has sometimes led to the formation of a “state within a state,” posing a challenge to the introduction and implementation of party policies at the village level.

Beijing’s education campaign aimed at the countryside threat to “the primary-level political system” is related to new party discipline rules which came into effect this year. The new rules broaden the scope of violations and punishments, including banning party members from reading negative party histories and reaffirming the party’s stance against clan influence. Party members who organize and use clan influence to confront the party and the government are subject to disqualification.

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