CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY HAS TO CONFRONT WEAKENING BELIEF IN XI JINPING

"Red tourism," which involves visiting historically and culturally important sites for the Chinese Communist Party, has been booming in the country, as the year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of its founding in July.

Many young Chinese people are among the red tourists, but not all of them are unswervingly loyal to the party, with pessimism growing about the future of the nation in the aftermath of excessive societal competition and widening generational economic disparities, Tomoyuki Tachikawa reported for Kyodo News.

Nevertheless, President Xi Jinping, who is believed to be keen to become China's leader for life, has apparently been putting much more emphasis on strengthening his authority than on taking measures to alleviate concerns among the youth, foreign affairs experts said.

As a result, Xi may be wary about the development of Chinese young people who have no devotion to the ruling party and could become disenchanted with Communist rule.

"In China, more young people have recently been exhausted by a culture of competition and are out of energy," a diplomatic source in Beijing said, adding that the trend of "Tangping,’" or "lying flat," has been budding on social media platforms in the country.

"Although the Communist Party has pledged to make China the world's superpower, the Tangping generation could become nihilistic. They could disobey the party's instructions ahead. This is a threat to President Xi," the source said.

The Communist Party was established in 1921 in Shanghai. In 1949, its then-leader Mao Zedong declared the founding of the People's Republic of China after defeating Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist army and finally ridding the nation of foreign forces. Three years before the ruling party's centennial, China removed from its Constitution the two-term limit for the president.

All eyes are now on whether Xi will be re-elected as leader of the party at its twice-a-decade congress in autumn next year. Xi has been trying to elevate his status to that of the late Mao and to deify the Communist Party by asking government-authorized religious groups to say, "God elected the party," sources familiar with the matter said.

Demonstrating his confidence that his country has followed the path of "socialism with Chinese characteristics," Xi has expressed eagerness to achieve "the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."

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