Xi looks to legacy of Mao for inspiration to solve corruption
Campaign to tackle graft and win public support is compared to tactics of late leader
The Communist Party, under new general secretary Xi Jinping, is delving deeper into the legacy of the late Mao Zedong for inspiration to help clean up its ranks amid rising disillusionment over widespread official corruption, analysts said.
The party held a teleconference in Beijing yesterday to kick-start a clean-up campaign to reinforce the "mass line" of its 80 million members. The mass line is a party policy aimed at broadening and cultivating contacts with the masses.
Xi, who became party leader seven months ago, said the year-long campaign would be a "thorough clean-up" of undesirable work styles such as formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance, Xinhua reported.
"Winning or losing public support is an issue that concerns the party's survival or extinction," Xi said.
The new campaign is an addition to an ongoing anti-corruption campaign Xi launched when he became party leader in November, which is targeting mediocrity, laziness and extravagance amid rising public dismay over rampant official corruption and a widening wealth gap.
Tuesday's conference was also attended by the other six members of the party's all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.
