Wuhan rolls out ‘socialist core values’ recitation campaign

The city of Wuhan, in Central China's Hubei Province, is calling upon all its residents to internalize core socialist values through mandatory recitation sessions around the city, as a part of the efforts to bid for the title of "national civilized city."



After the city kicked off its campaign on October 14, some 400 officials were brought together to recite core socialist values at a conference hall where cell phone signals were blocked, aiming to urge city leaders to set an example for the public, reported the Hubei Daily newspaper.



"Students in our school are asked to remember core socialist values, the connotations of the Chinese Dream, the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), as well as the names and stories of eight 'Moral Role Models' in Wuhan," a postgraduate student surnamed Zhang at the Central China Normal University told the Global Times.



"If anyone failed to recite them when the school checked, they would lose their scholarship for next year," said Zhang, adding that they were told to be on alert as "officials from central government" would conduct random checks between Monday and December 27.



"We held a class meeting to check if we could remember [the core socialist values]. No one could leave until we could recite them all," said a graduate student surnamed Zhou at Wuhan University.



Core socialist values included national prosperity, civility; justice and the rule of law, and the individual values of patriotism and dedication.



Several local residents reached by the Global Times said slogans with the core socialist values have been posted around the city in schools, bus stations, city squares and electronic displays in large shopping malls.



"All the teachers and students were required to recite them," a teacher surnamed Yan at a local primary school told the Global Times.



China kicked off the "national civilized city" campaign on November 28, with a total of 95 candidate cities, Wuhan included, being evaluated on aspects ranging from their urban to moral environments, according to the CPC's Central Civilization Office.



The title has been awarded tri-annually since 2005.

