-Respondents satisfied with Party’s role in leading pandemic fight, poverty relief
BEIJING: Chinese people’s satisfaction and trust in the century-old Communist Party of China has been on the rise, driven by the Party leading the country in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and eliminating extreme poverty, according to reports and analysts.
Earlier this month, an image circulated online moved many netizens. Three epidemic-control workers dressed in white protective suits were seen in a fast-moving vehicle carrying medical supplies into driving wind and rain along a street in Guangzhou, Guangdong province’s capital, which was recently hit by a new outbreak of COVID-19.
A red Party flag attached to the vehicle fluttered above the workers’ heads, its bright color standing out in the dim light. The image was taken by a resident in Liwan district, a high-risk area where the first locally transmitted case was reported in the latest outbreak, on June 2. He shared it on the microblogging service SinaWeibo and wrote: “In the rainstorm, it is you who carry this flag to charge to the front. Pay tribute to the heroes in harm’s way.”
Many netizens commented that the Party flag made them feel at ease. One wrote, “The Party flag always flutters high on the front line”, and another commented “At critical moments, Party members will surely step up.”
The Party’s flag is reassuring to the Chinese people, especially after the strong leadership shown by Party organizations in implementing epidemic control measures beginning last year, and the arduous efforts of millions of Party members to eradicate absolute poverty in China. A survey conducted by the University of California’s China Data Lab showed support for the government among the Chinese public has risen, with the average level of trust in the central government increasing from 8.23 in June 2019 to 8.87 in May last year, measured on a scale of one to 10. When respondents were asked whether they preferred living under China’s political system compared with others, the percentage of respondents who preferred China’s system increased from 70 percent to 83 percent over the same period. A long-term Harvard University survey released last year found that Chinese citizens’ satisfaction with the Party and the government has increased across the board, with the central government receiving a strong level of approval of 93 percent in 2016, the end of the survey period.
From the impact of broad national policies to the conduct of local town officials, Chinese citizens rate the government as more capable and effective than ever before, according to the report from the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation under the Harvard Kennedy School. “The most striking feature of our survey’s data since 2003 is the near universal increase in Chinese citizens’ average satisfaction toward all four levels of government,” the authors said in the report.
The independent survey drew on in-person interviews with more than 31,000 individuals from urban and rural areas between 2003 and 2016 to offer a look at how ordinary Chinese citizens felt about the government.
– The Daily Mail-China Daily News exchange item
