The use of "comrade" as a political instrument in the Chinese Communist Party, from Mao to Xi

In: The China journal: Zhongguo yan jiu, Band 77, S. 72-92

Abstract

The mandate that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members should "address each other as comrades, not by official rank" (hu cheng tongzhi, bu yao jiao guanxian 互称同志, 不要叫官衔) as an expression of equality and shared values has been reemphasized by the Party leadership time and again. This article shows that relations within the Party are also sometimes deliberately fraught with tension, and as a result, the word "comrade" has been used during intra-Party conflicts with the aim of creating status uncertainty among cadre ranks. This strategic use of "comrade" emerges in purges, campaign politics, and anticorruption efforts. It allows the highest leaders to consolidate their power under the linguistic umbrella of solidarity and to inculcate doubt about personal loyalties among Party factions. (China J/GIGA)