Why is China promoting patriotic education?

China has recently submitted a draft of the new Patriotic Education Bill to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the country's rubber-stamp legislature.  

The legislation aims to instil patriotism and loyalty to the Communist Party among Chinese youths in all aspects of life.

It wants to enforce patriotic education in schools, religious communities, businesses, and even families.

The draft spells out that parents "shall include love of the motherland in family education."

It also lists punishments for offenses such as insulting the national flag to questioning approved histories and deeds of Communist Party heroes, among other activities.

The legislation was given its first hearing in June.

A move to brainwash Chinese youth?

The move shows that the Communist Party leadership views Chinese youths as a threat to the party's hold on power and legitimacy, say observers.

Young people have been at the forefront of protests and voicing dissent, as seen during last year's protests against Beijing's stringent zero-COVID policies.

Critics slam it as an attempt to "brainwash younger generations."

"More and more patriotism courses intended for brainwashing have become compulsory" in recent years, William (name changed), a Chinese dissident affiliated to the London-based non-profit China Deviants who asked not to reveal his real name, told DW.

Hung Chin-fu, a professor at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan who specializes in Chinese politics and society, said that the legislation's purpose is to make young Chinese "love [Chinese President] Xi Jinping or love Xi Jinping's ideology."

Domestic and international challenges

The proposal comes at a time when China is facing domestic and international challenges.

The country has been battling an economic slowdown, with a troubled property market, weak domestic demand and high youth unemployment, among other problems, triggering fears of a prolonged period of lower growth for the world's second-biggest economy.

Meanwhile, strategic rivalry and mistrust between China and the West are intensifying.

Kathy Huang, a Chinese expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, told DW that the proposed patriotism legalization "is an intentional and timely refocus given the current domestic environment in China."

"These efforts reveal Xi's insecurities about China's growth and his anxieties over the future of the party's popularity," she said.

Hung echoed a similar view.

"In the face of challenging domestic and international situation, we see Xi Jinping taking greater measures for stability maintenance," he said, pointing to other recent measures such as the passage of a sweeping foreign relations and counterespionage laws.

The foreign relations law threatens countermeasures against those seen as harming China's interests, while the counterespionage law has triggered worries among the foreign business community.

Targeting those outside the mainland

This is, however, not the first time China has resorted to such a campaign.

Following the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, for instance, Beijing launched a mass ideological indoctrination program in the 1990s aimed at re-educating the youths who led the anti-government protests.

Patriotic education has since become ubiquitous and systematic in Chinese society.

But the new legislation applies not only to the people of mainland China but also targets residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. It also expands its scope to include overseas Chinese to help them "enhance their sense of national identity."

It also lays emphasis on the cyberspace, with internet service providers required to promote patriotic content. They will also be required to develop new technologies and products to "carry out patriotic activities."

Observers say the expansion of the law's scope to include overseas Chinese could result in an increase in the number of overseas "little pinks" — a term often used to describe young Chinese displaying fervent patriotism abroad.

'Exemplars of patriotism'

This month, supporters of the Chinese government sprayed graffiti echoing Beijing's propaganda on a wall on London's famous Brick Lane.

It drew widespread criticism on social media platforms, and was quickly covered with slogans hostile to the Chinese authorities and Xi Jinping.

At times, such incidents can turn violent. There have been cases in recent years where Chinese nationalists were accused of disrupting pro-Hong Kong democracy rallies or physically attacking protesters in countries like the UK and Australia.

Hung, the professor, argued that radical Chinese nationalists are seen by the CCP as "exemplars of patriotism," while rational voices calling for positive changes have been silenced. 

And the latest patriotic education move will likely strengthen the former group further, he said. 

William shares a similar view.

"Individuals who are brainwashed by [China's patriotic] education will naturally hold strong hostility towards overseas democracy activists."