Document Number Nine
CCP confidential internal document outlining dangerous "Western values" / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Document Number Nine (or Document No. 9), more properly the Communiqué on the Current State of the Ideological Sphere[1] (also translated as the Briefing on the Current Situation in the Ideological Realm[2]), is a confidential internal document widely circulated within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2013 by the General Office of the CCP.[3][4] The document was first circulated in July 2012.[5] The document warns of seven dangerous Western values, allegedly including media freedom and judicial independence. Teaching on any of the seven topics is forbidden.[6] There is an emphasis on controlling and preventing communication using the internet of ideas subversive to one party rule. The document was issued in the context of planned economic reforms and increased calls for political reform.[7] It has been described as a critique of the "liberal ways of thinking".[8] "Document 9," as it would come to be called, heralded the tone of the new Xi Jinping administration.[7] It laid bare many major themes of Xi's tenure: a disdain for genuine, grassroots civil society; a reassertion of CCP control over any and all media messaging; an insistence that the CCP alone can describe and interpret history.[2]
Communiqué on the Current State of the Ideological Sphere | |||||||
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Simplified Chinese | 关于当前意识形态领域情况的通报 | ||||||
Traditional Chinese | 關於當前意識形態領域情況的通報 | ||||||
Literal meaning | Briefing on the Current Situation in the Ideological Realm | ||||||
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The document was not made available to public by the CCP or any branches of the Chinese government, but in July 2013 was allegedly leaked by Chinese dissident journalist Gao Yu, who was in turn sentenced to a seven-year imprisonment for "leaking state secrets".[9][10]
It is unclear whether this document is official Chinese policy or just a faction within the party.[11] However, The New York Times suggests that it "bears the unmistakable imprimatur of Xi Jinping".[12] It is thought that Document No. 9 was issued by the General Office of the Central Committee, and would have required the approval of CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping and other top leaders.[12]