Young communists eye 10 mln volunteers for campaign

China's communist youth movement plans to recruit 10.5 million volunteers to help promote socialist values and counter "wrong" ideas online.

All towns, cities, counties, provinces and universities are required to meet their respective recruitment quotas, Apple Daily reported Wednesday, citing documents from the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC).

The number should not be less than 20 percent of CYLC members in these areas.

The Shenzhen campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and United International College (UIC), both located in Zhuhai and jointly founded with Beijing Normal University and Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), have a quota of 100 and 800, respectively.

The document, issued in early March, said the recruitment is in line with instructions from President Xi Jinping.

CUHK Shenzhen did not reply to queries seeking comment but UIC said there is no CYLC campus organization.

Tommy Cheung, former chairman of the CUHK Students Union, said the school administration should clarify the issue.

Shandong province has the highest recruitment quota of 780,000, followed by Henan province with 680,000 and Guangdong with 630,000.

Also, state-owned enterprises, railroad companies, civil airliners and financial institutions have been given quotas.

The campaign will be reviewed on April 25, with the goal of creating an online army by June 25.

Online campaigns this year will be carried out around key celebrations such as the 1919 May 4 movement, July 1 of Communist Party Foundation Day, October 1 National Day and the December 13 Nanjing Massacre.

Volunteers will take to the internet to spread positive and friendly messages and counter any negative ideas about the commemorations.

CYLC is a youth movement of people between 14 and 28 years old. It is run by the Communist Party and is is organized around the party system.

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