This is the first entry in our ongoing series attempting to give straightforward answers to frequently asked questions about China. See the introduction to the series here. As we post new entries, they will be archived on our FAQ page.
When talking with people unfamiliar with China, they often ask questions like, “If you’re a communist and you’re Chinese, why aren’t you a member of the CCP? Do most Chinese workers or regular people really support the CCP? Do they think they live in a socialist society?” Since this first set of questions specifically addresses the experiences of PRC citizens, we compiled answers from our Chinese members and other friends from mainland China. (Future installments of this series will be written collectively by our editorial group as a whole, including non-Chinese members.) Below are the English translations of answers from each respondent, in some cases divided into several responses to each specific question. These are then followed by the original Chinese versions of the same questions and answers. Random pseudonyms have been assigned to protect the respondents.
Throughout this series, we encourage readers to reformat these answers for use across platforms. If you’ve designed pamphlets, infographics or other media using these materials, please send them to us (e-mail: [email protected]) so that we can archive them here and repost on social media.
Answers:
Ruirui
（a）If you’re a communist and you’re Chinese, why aren’t you a member of the CCP?
How is this different from asking American or Japanese communists why they aren’t members of the CPUSA or the JCP? Communist Parties are not the same thing as communists in any country.
When I was a child, books and television would describe how, in the past, people’s lives had improved under the leadership of the CCP, and only those individuals with the greatest spirit of sacrifice could join the party, so “joining the party” seemed like a sacred thing. But I grew up after the Reform and Opening, when various phenomena in society and my family’s contradictory attitude toward the CCP filled me with doubts about this society, which was officially termed “the initial stage of socialism.” In college I applied to join the party, but I noticed that our Party Branch Secretary was the most distasteful (庸俗) person in our school, and the “perks” of membership such as precedence in getting a job as a civil servant held no attraction for me, so the whole idea of joining became distasteful. Later I came to realize that the CCP truly had nothing to do with communism, so my interest in it completely disappeared.
（b）Do most Chinese workers or regular people really support the CCP?
In general, workers are oppressed, so their feelings toward the CCP are not positive, or more precisely, they dislike “bureaucrats” (官) or anyone in a position of power. Although many state officials are party members, it is their social position rather than their party affiliation that directly affects workers’ interests. As far as workers are concerned, it is “the government” rather than the CCP that they experience as a concrete entity. Of course, everyone knows that the government is led by the party, so to support the government is to support the CCP and vice versa. As far as I have seen, workers have not seriously considered whether to “support” or “oppose” the CCP or the government. On the one hand, the ability to achieve continued improvement of their material lives after working hard has translated into little motivation for considering things on a political level. On the other, the objective condition of complete powerlessness means that when their interests are hurt, the government is the place where they seek out justice in an attempt to solve their problems. When the government then represses them, some workers give up, while others turn to alternative means in pursuit of justice.
By contrast, shimin (市民—urban intermediate strata) and intellectuals have a slightly higher social status, and in recent years more and more of these people have “had their chives cut” (割韭菜—their savings swallowed up by the state or private monopolies through financial or legal means), so more of them oppose CCP rule, calling for freedom of speech, human rights, Western-style democracy, etc.
（c）Do they think they live in a socialist society?
For workers without much schooling, this society is everywhere “the bosses’ society.” The question of whether it is socialist doesn’t mean anything. As for the idea of “public property” (公有制), due to many years of state propaganda, many people believe that the past system of public property was bad because “everyone eating from one big pot” fostered laziness and a few individuals would use their power for private advantage, etc. By contrast, the current system of private property may ironically seem more “fair,” since I can get paid for my labor and thereby improve my life. If the boss doesn’t pay, or pays too little, then the fault is attributed to the boss rather than to the system. Due to official propaganda, some people do think that China’s current system is “socialist,” but in this sense they simply equate socialism with authoritarianism.
Kaixuan
I resisted joining the Communist Youth League in high school when practically only three out of forty students were not members, and would not have ever wanted to join the CCP. It was clear to me then that joining was either ritualistic (in school) or necessary or even required (in some leadership positions). There is nothing socialist or communist, or even mildly progressive about the CCP. It is a harder question to ask if regular people and workers in China support the CCP. I think people support – or at least do not consider overturning – the rule of CCP to the extent that, despite commonplace grievances about its corruption and authoritarianism, it has proved to be a resilient and capable ruling party, and there is no alternative party or system in insight. Views on whether people live in a socialist society will depend on if they see CCP as embodying socialism. More than a minority will likely say yes, but they will be hard pressed to explain why China is socialist beyond the fact that a rhetorically socialist political party is in power.
Cheng Yang
I didn’t join CCP because we have conflicting principles. In earlier days when I was a liberal, I detested what the CCP did in June 1989, feeling that this party had betrayed its own people. Now that I’ve turned to communist ideas, I feel even more incompatible with this party than before, since I don’t feel it is going to accomplish the revolution it had originally proclaimed as its goal.
Specifically, the party nowadays claims to be an agent of the people, while in fact it has become an organization placing its own will above that of society. This is exactly the necessary if not sufficient condition for capitalism.
Xiao Hui
I don’t want to align myself with any political party. As for most Chinese workers, I’m not sure, but even people who do join the CCP usually do so for pragmatic reasons such as career advancement, so simply joining it doesn’t mean that they support its policies. As for whether they believe China is socialist, people have a variety of ideas about what they would mean, but most don’t really care….
Qianxun
（a） If you’re a communist and you’re Chinese, why aren’t you a member of the CCP?
Joining the CCP is no longer related to one’s political orientation at all. It’s usually just a path for one’s own career development and the sense of stability provided by membership within the establishment. When I was in school, those people around me who joined the party all did so out of opportunism. None of them shared any left-wing values, and people with the ability to think independently were rarely interested in hanging out with them. After Xi came to power, there was a re-politicization where the party apparatus again became a force for controlling society. Many employers became unwilling to hire anyone who wasn’t a party member. Now they have quotas, for example at least sixty percent of employees have to be members. In the past only state-owned enterprises had such quotas, but now even foreign enterprise have to do this too. This means that party membership has become even more instrumentalist (something that you just do for a job).
（b）Do most Chinese workers or regular people really support the CCP?
This question is hard to answer—it has to be situated within different generations and regions. In recent years the CCP has done well in its ideological work, winning over much of the younger generation, with the Great Firewall playing a major role as well. People usually don’t distinguish between the party, the state and the government, and nationalism (国族主义) has been continually whipped up against foreign powers. My overall impression is that the party’s base of support is now larger than it was ten years ago. For example, ten years ago if you took a taxi in Beijing, every driver had something bad to say about the party. At the same time, the category of “workers” is too fragmented nowadays, so it’s hard to generalize. The laid-off state-owned enterprise workers I met in the Northeast a few years ago harbored intense resentment against the CCP, saying that it had betrayed the working class. Young workers in the manufacturing and service sectors are trapped in exploitative jobs and leisure consumption such as livestreaming and [taking out] loans [from shady platforms like Ant Financial for consumption and risky investments like gambling] (网贷), they’re deeply in debt, and they’re generally turned off by politics, having nowhere to direct their anger. Over the past few years, the CCP’s propaganda apparatus has firmly taken root within all kinds of entertainment platforms, and on social media it has become common for ordinary lower-middle class people to add an image of the national flag to their profile pictures. During the evictions of “low-end population” [migrant residents in Beijing in the winter of 2017-2018], the workers and participants in the informal economy that I met in Beijing’s urban villages expressed intense anger and cursed the CCP, but after those events had passed, that sort of collective political mood dispersed as well. The relatively organized workers I’ve met who were plugged into community work and NGO networks generally had a more sober understanding of the party.
（c）Do they think they live in a socialist society?
I think the official concept of “socialism with Chinese characteristics” has already penetrated deep into people’s minds. Most ordinary people care less about ideological questions of whether China is socialist or capitalist, and more about “self-confidence in the path” [a slogan of Xi Jinping Thought]. By contrast, many older workers in industrial cities describe the current regime as defined by the “restoration” of capitalism, in a strongly negative sense.
Lao Niu
（a） “If you’re a communist and you’re Chinese, why aren’t you a member of the CCP?”
Nowadays the political goals of the CCP have nothing to do with communism. This is obvious. Its goals are like that of a ship in the ocean, just to maintain the status quo: to maintain the interests of the ruling class.
（b）Do most Chinese workers or regular people really support the CCP?
This is a question that could only be properly answered after conducting an objective survey, but such a survey would be impossible, so as communists we have to just assess the situation ourselves. Currently there is not much class consciousness, people are content if they can just live out their days on their own, so the question whether to support the CCP is not at the forefront of people’s minds. A lot of people might say that they support the party, especially over the past few years as Xi Jinping has pushed so much party-state propaganda, including the call to “remember our original intentions” (不忘初心), and the efforts to rebuild the party’s historical image—a lot of people probably buy into that. Much of this is done through new social media and video platforms. Some liberals and academic Marxists think these platforms are good, that they could even become a new battleground for resistance, but actually the state is using these platforms to promote so-called “Xi Jinping Thought,” the will of the state.
（c）Do they think they live in a socialist society?
This is even harder to answer, for one because we need to clarify who the “regular people” are, but what we can be sure of is that nowadays most people no longer use the categories of “capitalism” and “socialism” to distinguish their political positions. Now even Xi Jinping has transformed “socialism with Chinese characteristics” from a political goal into a way of life—including with regard women’s rights, identification with the goal of everyone being “modestly well-off” (小康) or achieving “the good life” along the lines of people like Jack Ma. It’s disconnected from politics. This isn’t a problem with the people, but a result of the state’s efforts to depoliticize the distinction between socialism and capitalism. So most people no longer care about this distinction. But what cannot be denied is that capitalism has its own crises, this is an immutable law, so there will continue to be social contradictions.
Xianyu
This question can be answered on several levels. First, there are many different types of communist theory, each with their own concepts of “the party.” There’s no inherent connection between communism and political parties. Imagine asking anarcho-communists to join a party—isn’t that ridiculous? Second, the relationship between communism and the Chinese Communist Party could be likened to that between socialism and the National Socialist German Workers Party: their names are completely disconnected from their content. Third, it’s not like you can just join the CCP if you want to. A common person like me, who does not contribute at all to state-building or economic development, cannot even touch the door of the CCP. Most importantly, the state just published a circular requiring party members to have three children, saying it’s their socialist duty to help offset the demographic crisis. Someone like me, doomed to remain single, cannot shoulder the burden of the party’s great responsibilities—forget about it.
From our childhood onwards, there’s a great deal of continuity between the role played by the Young Pioneers and the Communist Youth League in schools and that played by the CCP in society as a whole. The Pioneers and the League divide students into ranks with the good students in the front and the bad ones in the back. Those the teachers dislike are never qualified to join the League. Their only function is to cultivate a hierarchical worldview through the differentiation of students into strata, so that we understand that people are not all equal. Members of the Pioneers and the League are qualified to run for positions as “cadres” at the school, are given priority in the granting of awards, and are allowed to wear the League’s shiny badges and neckerchiefs dyed red with the blood of martyrs. In middle school, when we were told to write letters applying for League membership, I had not yet arrived at a sociological understanding of the organization, but my rebellious spirit and disdain for fake shit kept me from joining. Ultimately that didn’t affect me much, except to decrease the number of awards I received. I imagine the CCP is similar.
中国工人如何看待中国共产党？
这是我们连载中的、尝试去为关于中国常见问题提供简要解答系列文章的第一篇。可从此链接阅读系列序言。在我们刊出新文章时，它们会被存档至我们的常见问题页。
在跟不熟悉中国的人谈的时候，他们经常会问这样的问题：“如果你是共产主义者，你也是中国人，为什么你不是中共党员？大部分的中国工人和普通人是否真的支持中共？他们觉得他们是生活在一个社会主义社会吗？” 因为这些第一组问题对应中国国民的生活体验，我们整理了我们的中国成员及其他在中国大陆的朋友的回应。（这系列往后的文章将由我们整个编辑组集体撰写，当中亦包括非华人成员。）以下是各人的中文回应的英文翻译，其中部分回应依问题分割。然后会附上这些问题和回应的中文原版。这里采用了随机化名，以保护回应者的身份。
我们鼓励读者用其他格式把这一系列回答转发到各个平台。如果您利用这些材料设计了小册子或者信息图表，请发送一份给我们（邮箱：[email protected]），这样我们就可以留个存档，并且在社交媒体转发。
睿睿
一、你是共产主义者，那你为什么没有入党呢？
这个问题和问一个美国的共产主义者为什么不加入美国共产党，或者日本的共产主义者为什么不加入日本共产党，有什么区别？共产党≠共产主义者的党派，这个不管哪个国家都是一样的吧？
小时候书里、电视上会讲，过去的人们如何在共产党的领导下获得更好的生活，而共产党也是最富有牺牲精神的人才能加入，觉得“入党”是个神圣的事。但我是在改革开放之后的中国长大的，社会上的种种现象，家人对于CCP的矛盾评价，都让我对于这个官方所说的处在”社会主义初级阶段”的社会充满疑惑。上大学时，第一次申请入党，发现我们的”党委书记”却是学院里最庸俗的人，加入CCP就可以优先做公务员一类的”好处”对我也没有什么吸引力，而且觉得这让入党变得更庸俗。再后来，了解到CCP这个名字原来真的和共产主义没什么关系，也就完全没想法了。
二、大部分工人或老百姓会支持共产党吗？
工人普遍是备受压抑的，与其说他们对CCP没好感，不如说他们对一切当“官”的、有权的人没好感。虽然很多官员是党员，但直接影响工人利益的是他们的社会职位而不是党派身份。对于工人来说CCP似乎不是一个具体的东西，而“政府”是具体的。当然大家都知道，这是CCP领导的政府。所以支持政府就是支持CCP，反对CCP就等于反对政府。在我看来，绝大部分工人没有认真去想要如何“支持”CCP或者政府，也没有认真去想如何反对他们。他们完全无权的客观条件造成了他们一般想法是，这些当官的在他们遇到问题时可以主持公义，或者在被小官的欺负的时候有更大的官主持公道。
而市民、或者知识分子，相对于工人，会有更多的人反对CCP的统治，要言论自由，要人权，希望推行西方的民主制度。
三、他们认为中国真的是个社会主义社会吗？
对于没读过很多书的工人来说，这个到处是“老板”的社会，是不是社会主义，不是一个有意义的问题。对于“公有制”，因为一直以来官方的宣传，有很多人会认为过去的公有制是不好的，因为大锅饭养懒汉，因为会有人以权谋私等等，而现在这个私有制的社会反而可能更“公平”些，——我付出劳动，可以拿到工资，改善生活。——如果有老板不给，或者给少了，那么就是这个老板的错，不是“制度”的错。也有一些人会因为官方的宣传认为自己生活的中国的制度就是“社会主义”，而且这个“社会主义”=专制。
凯旋
我高中的时候拒绝入团，那时候班上40个人，其实只有3个人不是团员。之后我也从来没想过入党。我很明白，不论入团还是入党，要么（在学校的话）是仪式性的，要么（要党领导的话）是必要条件。中共没什么社会主义或者共产主义，甚至是温和进步的东西。要问国内的一般人或者工人是否支持中共，这个问题更难一些。我认为人们支持，或者说起码没想过推翻中共的统治，是说虽然普遍不满它的腐败和威权作风，这却是个有韧性有能耐的执政党，而且可见范围里没有替代的政党和制度。人们是否生活在社会主义社会里，这要看他们是不是认为中共代表了社会主义。稍微不算少数的人可能会赞同，但是他们很难解释，除了执政的是一个修辞上属于社会主义的政党之外，还有没有其他方面证明中国是社会主义。
程阳
我没有入党是因为我和党的原则互相矛盾。以前我还是自由派的时候，我很不满中共在六四的做法，觉得这个党背叛了自己的人民。之后我转向共产主义思想了以后，我觉得自己和这个党更加不相容了，因为我觉得这个党不会完成那个所谓要完成的革命。
特别是现在的党，声称是人民的代表，其实已经变成将自己的意志凌驾于社会之上的组织。这正是资本主义的必然不充分条件。
肖慧
我不想和任何一个政党联合。至于大部分中国工人的想法，我不大确认，但是就算有人想入党，也通常出于实际的目的（比如升职），所以不能说入党就说明他们支持党的政策。至于他们信不信中国是社会主义，各人对如何理解社会主义会有不同的想法，但是大多人真的不在意……
千寻
一、你是共产主义者，那你为什么没有入党呢？
入党在中国已经跟个人的政治立场毫无关联了，它很多时候仅仅关乎自身职业发展的上升途径，以及成为体制内的一员带来的稳定感。读书时学校里身边的入党积极分子都是投机心态，没有人分享任何左翼价值，有独立思考能力的人通常不愿与他们为伍。习上台以后，重新的政治化，让党机器再度成为控制社会的力量，很多用人单位只招党员，因为它们有“党员指标”的考核（比如百分之60的员工需要是党员，以前只有国企有相关指标，后来外企也会有这样的指标），入党这个行为就变得更加功利了。
二、大部分工人或老百姓会支持共产党吗？
这个问题很难回答，要放在不同代际和不同地域中来看。这些年CCP的宣传工作做得非常好，笼络了大量年轻一代，防火墙也起到了很大的作用。人们通常也不对CCP/国家/政府进行区分，国族主义这些年借外力不断被煽动，我的总体观感上是，现在比十年前CCP的基本盘更大——十年前在北京打车，每个出租车司机都会骂几句CCP。同时，工人的范畴在今天的中国太破碎了，很难一概而论，我几年前在东北接触到的老国企的下岗工人非常痛恨CCP，认为工人阶级受到了极大的背叛。年轻的制造业工人和服务业工人困囿于剥削性劳动和直播/网贷等娱乐性消费之中，负债累累，对政治普遍比较冷感，不知道愤怒可以指向哪里。CCP的宣传机器这些年在各种娱乐平台扎根得非常稳，反倒会看到这些中下阶层的普通人社交媒体头像上总是挂着国旗。驱赶低端人口的时候我接触到的北京城中村的工人和非正规经济从业者，在极端事件驱动下会愤怒，骂CCP，但是事件过去后那种集体的政治情绪又消散了。我接触到的跟一些做社区工作的NGO网络走得近的、更被组织起来的工人，更容易对CCP有清醒的认识。
三、他们认为中国真的是个社会主义社会吗？
我觉得官方的“中特社”（中国特色的社会主义）这个概念已经很深入人心了，普通人不关心姓资还是姓社的意识形态问题，而是“道路自信”。而很多工业城市的老一代工人会非常坚定地认为这是一个资本主义“复辟”了的政权。
老牛
一、你是共产主义者，那你为什么没有入党呢？
现在共产党的政治目标和共产主义没有什么关系，这个是很显然的一个事情. 它的目标是，大海里面的一艘船没有目标，只有维持现状就可以，只要统治阶级可以维护自己的利益就可以了。
二、大部分工人或老百姓会支持共产党吗？
这是需要客观的数据调查你才能回答的问题，但是没有人可以做这个，所以作为共产主义者你可以做出自己的判断：现在，可能没有那么强的阶级意识了，只要能过好自己的日子就可以了，所以支不支持CCP这个问题不是个非常首要的事，然后很多人可能会在口头上说他支持吧，特别是近几年来习近平加大力度推广党国的这一套宣传，然后以及所谓“不忘初心”这一套，重新打造一种共产党的历史形象，应该很多人还是很认同的。还有包括像现在新兴的这种社交媒体或者是视频平台，有一些偏自由主义的这种人，或者一些学院马克思主义者，他会觉得这种平台很好，甚至可能会成为一种新的反抗的征地。但是我觉得反而是，国家正在用这种平台来传播所谓的“习近平思想”或者说国家的意志。
三、他们认为中国真的是个社会主义社会吗？
这个比较难回答，因为谁是“老百姓”，这是要说清楚的一个问题，但是可以肯定的是，我觉得现在大多数的人并不用“资本主义”和“社会主义”这两个范畴来区分自己的政治立场。现在甚至习近平是把“中国特色的社会主义”不是打造成一个政治目标而是一种生活方式。包括女权方面，认同“小康”的目标，或者是通过像马云这样的人来实现幸福生活这么的一种生活方式或者追求。它跟政治没有太大的关系了。但这个不是人民的问题，这个是国家想方设法地把社会主义和资本主义【的区分给】去政治化带来的一个结果吧。所以现在大多数的人并不关心到底是社会主义还是资本主义。但是不能否认的是，资本主义肯定有自己的危机，这是刻板规律，所以它肯定会有社会矛盾，这是我的理解。
咸鱼
这个问题可以从几个层面回答。首先，共产主义理论五花八门，其对于党的论述也不一而足。共产主义和党没有根本的联系。想象下，你若要求无政府共产主义者去入党，不是搞笑吗。再者，中共与共产主义的关系和纳粹党与社会主义的关系不相上下。名字和内涵之间也没什么根本的联系。还有，共产党不是可想进就能进的。我这种对国家建设经济发展毫无贡献的普通民众，连共产党的门都摸不着。最重要的是，刚出来没几天的通讯，这不人口增速放缓吗，国家要求党员生三个孩子，说是对社会主义的义务。我这种注定单身的，担当不起党的重望，还是算了吧。
说真的，从小到大，少先队、共青团在学校里的作用，和共产党在广大社会上发挥的作用，是有很大相似性的。少先队共青团分批分次，优秀学生靠前，不良学生靠后，老师不喜欢的可能从来没资格入团。它们的唯一作用是作为学生内阶层的划分依据，培养等级鲜明的世界观，让我们懂得，人与人之间是不一样的。队员团员有资格竞选干部，优先评比表彰，还可以佩戴烈士鲜血染红的红领巾以及亮晶晶的团徽。中学到了我有入团资格的时候，要求我写一篇入团申请之类的。我当时对团没有深刻的社会学意识，但是因为年轻懵懂的反叛精神和对假大空的鄙视，一直没有入团。说到底除了少评了几个表彰啥的，也没什么影响。我想党可能也差不多吧。
