476 { China’s Quest
socialism. ...The bottom line of this turmoil is extremely clear: Its bot-
tom line is death to our Party and state.^23
Deng Xiaoping seconded Li Xiannian:
Comrade Xiannian is correct. The causes of this incident have to do
with the global context. The Western world, especially the United States,
has thrown its entire propaganda machine into agitation work and has
given a lot of encouragement and assistance to the so-called democrats
or opposition in China.... This is the root of the chaotic situation we
face today. When the West stirs up turmoil in other countries, in fact it
is playing power politics—hegemonism—and is only trying to control
those other countries to pull into its power sphere countries that were
previously beyond its control. ... What they’re really after is our sover-
eig nt y. ... If the turmoil keeps going, it could continue until Party and
state authority are worn out.^24
The situation was clear; the CCP’s rule over China was under siege by
Chinese demanding freedom and democracy under the systematic instiga-
tion of the United States and other Western countries.The Turn to Patriotic EducationShortly after 6-4, Deng concluded that the biggest mistake he and the CCP
had made since 1978 was inadequate attention to the ideological education of
China’s youth. The key theme that had to be taught to China’s youth, Deng
said, was how China had been humiliated by the foreign imperialist powers in
the old days before 1949.^25 Following Deng’s directive, CCP authorities soon
mandated a curriculum of patriotic and national defense education to inoc-
ulate young Chinese against peaceful evolution by “Western capitalist pow-
ers led by the United States.” The crux of the patriotic education curriculum
was the narrative of China’s victimization by predatory imperialist powers.
Within a few years, this campaign gained traction and helped prepare the
ground for the new nationalism that arose in China a few years later in the
mid-1990s.
In March 1991, Secretary General Jiang Zemin put Deng’s conclusion into
a policy directive to the educational and propaganda systems outlining the
content of the new patriotic education campaign. Four themes were to be
stressed, according to Jiang.
1) The 100 years of bullying and humiliation of China by
foreign powers
2) The bitter but widespread struggle of Chinese against foreign
aggression