Analysis of the mentality of Chinese society on the eve of the "18th National Congress"

Analysis of the mentality of Chinese society on the eve of the "18th National Congress" On September 28, the "18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China" attracted the attention of world politicians (…

On September 28, the date for the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (i.e., the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China) that attracted the attention of world politicians was finally settled on November 8. This conference will undoubtedly have a profound impact on the political landscape of China and the world. On the same day, the CCP also announced that Bo Xilai, one of the most powerful figures in the party, former Politburo member and Chongqing Municipal Party Committee Secretary, would be expelled from the party and public office, and would be handed over to the judicial authorities for criminal prosecution.

For the Chinese Communist Party, the "18th National Congress" is obviously a carefully packaged festive ceremony, while the Bo Xilai incident is a huge scandal. Two conflicting news on honors were released on the same day, which not only reflects the CCP's eagerness to heal its wounds, but also subtly reflects the game of mentality among the various mentalities in China.

The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is not only a major event in Chinese politics, but also a major event in world politics, because it is a "transformative meeting" that has the power to determine China's public and foreign policies.

The author calls the "18th National Congress" a "transformative meeting". There are three considerations: firstly, the meeting will bring about a major change in the collective leadership of the CCP, which will be the largest change of people at the top decision-making level of the CCP; secondly, China is currently facing unprecedented changes. Unprecedented conflicts and challenges, the CCP understands very well that failure to change can only accelerate death; thirdly, the world situation and China's more than one billion people have also been calling for change. The "18th National Congress" cannot completely turn a blind eye to these calls. Active and passive changes will be reflected in this meeting.

The degree and direction of change in the "18th National Congress" are largely affected by the various complex mentalities that already exist in Chinese society. The increasingly complex social mentality in China as a whole, and the game of forces from all walks of life affected by this mentality, will be the fundamental factors that determine China's political situation. In the author's opinion, generally speaking, there are eight typical social psychology in Chinese society.

> One is "resentment". The most popular news on the Internet recently is the "Smiling Cousin" incident in Shaanxi Province. This incident originated from the smile of Shaanxi Provincial Work Safety Supervision Director Yang Dacai at the scene of a major car accident in August, which angered the public. People searched for pictures on the Internet and found that Director Yang wore luxury watches of different brands on different occasions, totaling at least 11 pieces and worth millions of yuan. After being questioned by netizens, the Shaanxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection launched a corruption investigation into Director Yang and dismissed him from his post. This incident once again set off an upsurge in public calls for officials to disclose their assets.

The public trouble Director Yang caused for himself with his inappropriate smile is an outlet for the Chinese people to find an outlet for their growing dissatisfaction with official corruption and political opacity. It is worth noting that after Director Yang was dismissed, netizens persisted and questioned that a deputy governor in charge of Director Yang had improperly protected the director, and launched a human flesh search against the deputy governor.

Why are netizens so persistent? That's because many people are dissatisfied with the opacity and backroom operations of Chinese politics. It is this kind of opacity that makes power run disorderly and makes the protection of civil rights ineffective. It can be said that if one word must be used to describe the main feature of China's current social mentality, it would be "grievances". Not only are people's grievances boiling, but there are also many official and business grievances. Lower-level officials complain about the lack of room for advancement and opportunities. Mid-level officials complain about the lack of understanding among the people, and senior officials complain about the lack of cooperation at the local level. Businessmen, especially private capital, which accounts for the majority of market entities, complain about unfair competition. However, we must also note that the greater the resentment, the louder the call for reform. Therefore, this is precisely the biggest driving force for China’s thorough reform in the future.

>The second one is "cold". Just after the Chinese Communist Party announced the date of the 18th National Congress, the author talked about this matter with a local division-level official in Shaoyang, Hunan. His answer was interesting: "Never mind it! It's none of my business!" In this official's view, China has many problems anyway. There are fatal institutional problems and major hidden dangers in politics, economy, culture, education, society and many other aspects. A political meeting that completely lacks transparency is unlikely to solve any major problems.

This official's mentality is actually the common mentality of many Chinese people - indifference. In the eyes of many people, after years of lame development that focused on the economy but not society, the CCP regime is at the end of its tether. No matter how much it emphasizes self-salvation, everyone no longer cares because they believe that China today appears to be strong, but is actually in turmoil. As long as the CCP continues to be in power, it will never get better. Therefore, a considerable number of them have no hope for the 18th National Congress, and more and more people are even choosing to vote with their feet for immigration.

>The third one is "doubt". Similar to the psychology of indifference is the psychology of distrust. The CCP has gone through a lot of development and evolution from an "anti-authoritarian" and "democracy-seeking" political force at the beginning of the founding of the party to a much-criticized "authoritarian party" today. In particular, the suppression of counter-revolutionaries, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and the June 4th Incident after 1949 have made more and more Chinese people feel cheated and repeatedly disappointed. Especially in recent years, the government's brutal deprivation of farmers' land rights, the continued widening of the income gap, the increasingly common and serious official corruption, the unscrupulous judicial corruption, and the indifference to people's demands have completely disappointed the majority of intellectuals, farmers, and citizens. They no longer believe in any of the CCP's promises or political slogans, and many people are waiting for the "last straw."

>The fourth one is "looking". However, what contrasts with the indifference and distrust is hope. Friends within the Post Office revealed to me that on the eve of the 18th National Congress, there was a significant increase in letters from various places looking to central leaders. Many of them were marked on the envelopes with "a party member's suggestions for the 18th National Congress," "a grassroots cadre's blessings for the 18th National Congress," etc. This shows that the CCP still has many loyal fans.

Although the various problems of the current regime of the Chinese Communist Party are deeply distressing to most people, it must be noted that due to various interests, among the more than 80 million party members and some people, there are still many people who have deep feelings for the Communist Party, such as veteran cadres, veteran party members, and direct beneficiaries of market reforms. They believe that China’s economic prosperity and social development today are entirely due to the CCP. These people are dissatisfied with various problems within the party and social problems, and hope that the CCP will eliminate its long-standing shortcomings and regain its glory through its own reforms. This group of people have particularly strong expectations for the 18th National Congress. In their eyes, even the good style of a leader's father, such as the integrity and courage of Xi Jinping's father, Xi Zhongxun, can be a reason for them to look forward to the next leader.

>The fifth day is "Shou". In the recent period, China's stock market has been particularly sluggish, and many people of insight have called for a major operation on China's securities system, especially to change the shortcomings of the stock market as a pure place to make money. However, these reform calls and suggestions have also been opposed by many people. They even openly declared: "China's securities system is generally very healthy."

Such remarks are actually a symptom of "maintenance psychology", that is, many vested interests neither want to continue the reform nor retreat to before the reform. They believe that maintaining the status quo is best. Strictly speaking, not everyone thinks that the various problems currently existing in the Chinese Communist regime are problems. From the perspective of people in the powerful class, these issues are precisely the best institutional guarantees for safeguarding the interests of the powerful. Many people may think that the political dispute in China is nothing more than a dispute between left and right, that is, whether to continue reform or return to the past. In fact, they have just ignored an important fact. The other biggest attempt is to maintain the status quo and keep nothing unchanged, because only in this way can they ensure their vested interests. Therefore, this group of people, mainly the powerful, are actually most afraid of the upcoming 18th National Congress, because they understand that this meeting will inevitably lead to certain institutional changes and changes in leadership concepts, which may not be conducive to maintaining their interests. These people are the ones who need to be on guard most during the upcoming 18th National Congress.

>The sixth one is "fear". Similar to "maintenance psychology" is self-preservation psychology. Chinese people have a cultural tradition of "being wise and protecting oneself". They are afraid of change and fear that a fire at the city gate will affect the fish in the pond. In their eyes, how to protect their own economic or political interests is the highest standard. Therefore, these people will feel deeply uneasy whenever they hear the word "change". This mentality is particularly common among people, mainly businessmen. They hope for political stability and for society to avoid major conflicts. Seeing the increasingly fierce social conflicts and risks of instability, these people feel increasingly confused, worried and at a loss as to what to do.

The seventh one is "prostitution". On the eve of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, many people are making speculations about the personnel arrangements of the future leadership of the Communist Party of China. Many of their perceptions and judgments are, to put it bluntly, "obscene". For example, they hope that someone will come on stage, regain Deng Xiaoping's mantle with a tough stance, and vigorously promote China's reform. As everyone knows, not to mention that no one within the CCP can reach Deng Xiaoping's level of power. Even if Deng is reincarnated, he will be unable to reverse the current situation.

There are some intellectuals and other people now, although they have been disappointed many times, but based on the most kind trust, they are always disappointed again and again, and their passions are ignited again and again. No matter how many grievances these people have suffered, no matter how many blows they have endured, as the saying goes, "Failed after repeated defeats", many people's hopes have been rekindled in the face of the upcoming new face of decision-making. They expect the new leadership to break the old system and have the courage to reform, but there is no doubt that these good wishes will come to nothing after all, because the essence of luck is gambling, and the current CCP regime cannot afford another gamble.

>The eighth day is "chaos". Recently, anti-Japanese demonstrations have been held in China around the dispute over the Diaoyu Islands. During the process, there were many acts of beating, smashing, looting, burning and even openly advocating violence. Many people tend to criticize this from the two perspectives of "extremely narrow nationalism" and "stupid behavior", but few people realize that these behaviors are actually the embodiment of the destructive psychology of the current society.

Some Chinese people are now completely disappointed with the current situation, but they also believe that with the current economic development situation and the ability of the ruling party to control Chinese society, it is neither possible for the CCP to take substantive reform steps in the direction of democracy and civil society, nor is it possible to generate factors and forces sufficient to trigger major social changes within the existing framework. Therefore, these people look forward to a certain event, or hope that some major events will occur when new and old leaders change, such as major natural disasters, major government mistakes, large-scale public protests or resistance, etc. These people firmly believe in one truth: "If there is no destruction, no establishment." With a destructive mentality, they long for major chaos in China so as to draw chestnuts from the fire.

The eight main social mentality mentioned above actually represent the different opinions of people at different levels and different interest circles. Although these opinions are contradictory and conflicting, there is no doubt that at the upcoming 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, these mentality and voices will subtly and profoundly affect the attitude of future decision-makers through certain channels and characters. For the CCP, how to abandon political baggage and be brave enough to push forward reforms requires not only courage, but also wisdom and mind.

>Chen Jieren is a freelance writer.