Beijing (AFP) - From budgeting for rural weddings to dressing
appropriately and avoiding online porn, China's Communist Party has issued new
guidelines to improve the "moral quality" of its citizens.
Officials
have released several sets of guidelines this week alongside a secretive
conclave of high-ranking officials in Beijing which discusses the country's
future direction.
On
Sunday the government published its "Outline for the Implementation of
Citizen Moral Construction in the New Era" -- which advises readers how to
use the internet, raise children, celebrate public holidays and behave while
travelling abroad.
The
guidelines from the Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical
Progress calls for building "Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese
power".
The
texts urge citizens to avoid pornography and vulgarity online, and follow
correct etiquette when raising the flag or singing the national anthem.
Public
institutions like libraries and youth centres must carry out "targeted
moral education" to improve people's ideological awareness and moral
standards, according to the rules.
The
guideline also stresses patriotism and loyalty to the motherland.
"People
who have a servile attitude to foreign countries, damage national dignity and
sell national interests must be disciplined according to the law," it
says.
-
'Bad customs' -
A
separate set of behavioural guidelines published this week targeted China's
rural areas, and urged local governments to weed out "bad customs".
These
included abuse of the elderly as well as the practice of extravagant weddings
and funerals, according to Zhang Zhiyong, an official from the commission.
Zhang
said the most important thing for "rural civility" is the
construction and improvement of ideology and morality.
"We
must strengthen marital education for young people, and put to full use the
Communist Youth League, women's federations, and other group
organisations," said Zhang.
State
broadcaster CCTV said that the custom to spend a lot on weddings and provide a
house and gifts for a new bride -- often beyond the means or poorer rural
families -- was "putting pressure on unmarried males".
China's
decades-long one-child policy has resulted in a massive gender gap, and Beijing
is anxious about the potential social impact of millions of unmarried men in
the countryside.
Zhang
called for official organisations to be more closely involved in the lives of
rural villagers.
The
rules were published as Beijing holds The Fourth Plenum of the Party's Central
Committee, a closed-door meeting of high-ranking officials where the country's
roadmap and future direction is discussed.
Beijing
produced a list of 58 national "moral models" who exemplify
patriotism and "lofty morality" for the celebration of China's 70th
national holiday on October 1.
The
latest round of moral guidelines update an earlier set published in 2001.
"Money-worship,
hedonism, and extreme individualism have grown," according to the 2001
guidelines.
Eighteen
years later, the refreshed guidelines listed the same offences -- and described
them as "still outstanding".
