Xi warns CPC of Soviet-style collapse if faced with dissent

China`s Xi Jinping has warned cadres of a Soviet-style collapse if the party is confronted with ideological dissent, military disloyalty and corruption.

Beijing: China`s new Communist Party leader Xi Jinping has warned cadres of a Soviet-style collapse if the party is confronted with ideological dissent, military disloyalty and corruption, the deadly mix that led to the dramatic disintegration of once mighty Soviet Union.

China must heed the still "deeply profound" lessons of the former Soviet Union, where political rot, ideological heresy and military disloyalty brought down the governing party, Xi, 59, reportedly told party leaders during his tour of Guangdong province in December last year soon after his election as the General Secretary of the ruling party a month before. "Why did the Soviet Union disintegrate? Why did the Soviet Communist Party collapse? An important reason was that their ideals and convictions wavered," the New York Times, which has obtained the summary of his comments, quoted Xi as saying. Official media, which covered his visit to China`s richest province, did not publicise his remarks. "Finally, all it took was one quiet word from (the last Soviet leader) Mikhail Gorbachev to declare the dissolution of the Soviet Communist Party, and a great party was gone," he said about the dramatic collapse of the Soviet Communist Party in 1991. "In the end, nobody was a real man, nobody came out to resist," Xi said, referring to the collapse of the mighty Soviet Union after the 74-year-long rule by the Soviet Communist Party. About Chinese Communist Party whose iron-fisted rule of the country entering 64th year, he said, "We`re a major power, and we absolutely cannot allow any subversive errors when it comes to the fundamental issues." In some ways, Xi`s warnings were not new as the lessons of the Soviet collapse are part of the curriculum of schools run by the CPC to enlighten its cadre about hidden dangers and threats to the party`s rule. "The Soviet Communist Party collapsed in 1991 after 74 years in power. It is a wake-up call for the CPC and a very good lesson to be learnt," Zhou Jintang, the vice president of the China Executive Leadership Academy at Jiangxi province, told visiting Foreign Journalists few months ago. The Academy, one of six established by the CPC, trains around 5,000 middle rung party leaders and officials from the military, government business every year in various aspects of ideological education. Ever since he took over as Party leader, Xi, currently the Vice President, has been warning the party about rot setting in its ranks reminding them about "cyclical fall of rulers" throughout Chinese history. In one of his meetings with the non-Communist parties, Xi also narrated an ancient Chinese saying which stated "things must have gone rotten before insects can grow" while asking his party-men to stay clean and self-disciplined. Vowing to carry forward reforms, he has also been cautioning about any ideological confusion in the CPC in the backdrop of disgraced Party leader, Bo Xilai, who, before his fall last year, tried to resurrect old Maoist hardline ideology playing up on the growing rich-poor divide. Since his election, Xi has also been insisting that the country`s 2.3-million-strong PLA, the world`s largest Army, should remain under the leadership of the party and cannot have an independent command structure. After taking over as party chief, Xi also took over as the Chairman of the Military Commission, which controlled the armed forces. He is due to take over as President after the retirement of Hu Jintao, making him the most powerful leader of the party in recent years. Hu had to wait for two years to become head of the Military Commission after his election as party chief ten years ago. In one of his addresses to the military last month, Xi called for absolute loyalty to the CPC. PTI