At the National Conference on Party-Building convened in Beijing on June 15th, the leadership set out its approach to studying and implementing Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building. What it presented on this occasion was the “Fourteen Commitments.”

As far as the author is aware, these “Fourteen Insists” are being unveiled for the first time. A formulation bearing the same name, the "Fourteen Insists,” also exists within a separate strand of Xi Jinping Thought (The “Basic Policy” set out in 2017), by the one presented this time is a new formulation specific to party building.

The “Fourteen Insists” are as follows:

・Upholding the Party's leadership as the most essential feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics
・Upholding the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee
・Upholding comprehensive and strict self-governance of the Party
・Upholding the principle of staying true to the Party's original aspiration and keeping its mission firmly in mind
・Upholding the Party's political development as the overarching priority
・Upholding the Party's theoretical innovation as the means of uniting hearts and forging the soul
・Upholding the tempering of a strong sense of Party spirit
・Upholding the development of an organizational system that runs seamlessly from top to bottom and possesses real executive capacity
・Upholding the cultivation of a high-caliber cadre corps worthy of bearing the weighty responsibility of national rejuvenation
・Upholding the advancement of conduct (work-style) improvement as a regular and enduringly effective undertaking
・Upholding the management and governance of the entire Party through rigorous discipline
・Upholding the integrated advancement of ensuring that officials "dare not, are unable to, and have no desire to engage in corruption"
・Upholding governance of the Party through institutions and through regulations (rules and statutes)
・Upholding the implementation and enforcement of political accountability in the management and governance of the Party

Although the individual items have all been advanced before, there appears to be particular significance in now packaging them together and positioning them as "a concentrated synthesis of General Secretary Xi Jinping's new concepts, new thinking, and new strategies on Party building in the new era, carrying emblematic and guiding significance."

Judging by the content, it cannot be asserted that General Secretary Xi Jinping's ideological control has entered a new phase. At the very least, however, it may serve to justify the large-scale purging of senior Party and military officials carried out to date, and may be invoked as grounds for the purges that are likely to continue.

DEEP DIVE Breaking News 042 The “Fourteen Commitments” of Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building

DEEP DIVE Breaking News 042　The “Fourteen Commitments” of Xi Jinping Thought on Party Building