Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Wei Hongjun smiled and said, "There's no such thing as a complete or incomplete mission for you this time. Your mission is to figure out how to conduct inspections. How to cooperate with local governments, how to connect with the broad masses of cadres and the public, so that they can feel comfortable and comfortable speaking their minds to our work team. And how to identify local problems, etc."

"What you need to do is accumulate experience and identify problems for the next round of inspections. Of course, inspecting local petition work is also a top priority during this visit. The Petition Bureau is the most direct channel between our Party and government and the people. The image of our Party and government is closely tied to the daily work of the Petition Bureau. Therefore, the establishment of local Petition Bureaus is the most direct manifestation of our Party's mass line. We shouldn't turn the work of the Petition Bureau into a pretty decorative piece, but rather into a useful necessity in our daily lives."

"Yes."

Xiahou Wen nodded.

Wei Hongjun continued, "How many work teams do you think should be sent this time?"

"I think three or four is a good idea. After this one is over, we can summarize the experience and add a few more working groups for the second time."

Chen Tanqiu replied.

The others nodded. Too many would be confusing, too few would be unrepresentative.

Wei Hongjun said, "Then the first batch will consist of four work groups. One will be chosen from one province in Northeast China, one from one province in North China, one from one province in East China, and one from one province in Northwest China."

Because this time the work group was under the name of inspecting petition work, the heads of the working groups were all cadres from the Petition Bureau.

Xia Houwen, the director of the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls, led a team to Zhejiang. The other three deputy directors led teams to Liaoning, Hebei, and Gansu provinces respectively.

The next step was to select the work group's staff. The Organization Department, the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the Supervisory Commission, the Propaganda Department, and the Central Policy Research Office would all send cadres to participate. Wei Hongjun also planned to draw some cadres from the Rural Affairs Department and the Ministry of Commerce.

After the meeting, cadres from other departments left, while cadres from the Organization Department and the Supervisory Committee stayed to discuss the details of party member withdrawal.

1054 Formulate detailed rules for party member withdrawal

“Why is the party dues issue so confusing?”

Wei Hongjun and Chen Tanqiu had discussed the establishment of a mechanism for Party member withdrawal several times. The Organization Department had also discussed this issue numerous times. Everyone agreed to expel those who had lost faith, failed to abide by Party discipline, or were unqualified.

The war years were a harsh environment, and these weak-willed party members were naturally cleared out. Being a party member during the war years was dangerous, but in peacetime, party membership was a political identity, not only safe but also "profitable."

Therefore, in peacetime, many Party members who dream of getting promoted and getting rich will infiltrate the Party. In such cases, the Party organization must shoulder its responsibilities and expel those unqualified members. While this is the truth, expelling Party members is not an easy task.

This issue is very sensitive. Without a complete process for clearing out members, it could easily be used as a weapon by leading cadres within grassroots Party organizations to control them, control grassroots Party organizations, and undermine inner-Party democracy. This is why there has been so much debate, and why comprehensive regulations have yet to be released.

However, after these days, the Organization Department has produced a preliminary draft. Wei Hongjun has reviewed it and thinks it's generally quite good. However, there are still some issues that need to be addressed. Wei Hongjun plans to address them one by one, starting with the issue of party dues.

According to the results of discussions between Wei Hongjun, Chen Tanqiu and the cadres of the Organization Department, those who fail to pay their party dues on time are also considered problematic party members.

However, this regulation first requires that party dues be clearly defined. However, the current situation is that the collection of party dues across the country is very scattered. Currently, the central government implements a policy that after the national party dues are collected by local party organizations, they must be transferred to the central government. Therefore, Wei Hongjun can see the information on the collection of party dues in each province, city and county.

It's truly chaotic. In some places, party dues are higher than Wei Hongjun calculated. In others, they're significantly lower. Not only are local party dues chaotic, but the collection of party dues by businesses and schools is also extremely chaotic.

"It's been ten years since the founding of New China, and the issue of party dues in party organizations across the country has still not been fully unified. There's still so much chaos in every region. This is the responsibility of the Organization Department."

Although Chen Tanqiu had considerable experience and the two had collaborated well over the past two years, the chaos surrounding party dues nationwide indicated problems with the Organization Department's work, leading Wei Hongjun to publicly criticize the department.

"This is indeed the responsibility of the Organization Department. As the head of the Organization Department, I failed to resolve the chaos in party dues nationwide, and that is my responsibility."

Chen Tanqiu immediately reviewed himself.

While the Organization Department cannot be solely responsible for party dues, it is the department with the most say on the issue. This is because both the central and local organizations collect dues on behalf of the party organizations, and the Organization Department is also responsible for their use.

However, ten years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, there is still no unified standard for party dues. This is definitely a problem between the Central Organization Department and organization departments at all levels.

"The party dues issue is so confusing right now. What exactly is the problem?"

Wei Hongjun didn't really want Chen Tanqiu to make a self-criticism. He just wanted to know what exactly happened, so he asked Chen Tanqiu directly.

"One reason is historical. At the Second National Congress of the Communist Party of China, it was stipulated that party members with a monthly salary of less than 50 yuan were required to pay a monthly party dues of one yuan; those with a monthly salary of more than 50 yuan were required to pay a monthly dues calculated at one-tenth of their monthly salary; those without a monthly salary or workers with a monthly salary of less than 20 yuan were required to pay 20 cents per month; unemployed workers and imprisoned party members were exempt from paying party dues."

"This regulation was fine at first, but it was mainly aimed at urban party members, primarily workers. This was because the main task of our party at the time was the labor movement. However, as the number of our party members swelled, and after the KMT-CCP ​​split and the Agrarian Revolution began, problems began to arise. At that time, our Soviet base areas implemented a supply system, and many peasant party members emerged. Therefore, the party dues set earlier for workers were completely inapplicable in the Soviet areas. Moreover, the conditions in each Soviet area were different at the time, so it was impossible to standardize party dues."

"During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the Organization Department considered standardizing party dues, but the economic conditions of each base area were different at the time. Even the price of tickets in border areas varied, making it impossible to unify. This problem persisted until the early years of liberation. At that time, the renminbi had not yet been fully adopted. Each liberated area had its own currency, and the newly liberated areas were just beginning to popularize the renminbi. Even some powerful liberated areas, such as the Northeast Liberated Area, did not fully accept the renminbi until the 1950s. Therefore, until the Eighth National Congress, the issue of unified party dues nationwide remained unresolved."

"After the Eighth National Congress, the renminbi began to circulate nationwide, and the central government also set wage standards. But by then, party committees across the country had already formulated party dues standards based on their own circumstances."

"Some places have high party dues rates, others have low rates. And both have been in place for some time. So when the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee later introduced new standards for collecting party dues, few local governments responded. They continued to collect party dues based on their previous rates."

Chen Tanqiu was also a little helpless.

The Central Organization Department's influence at the local level isn't as strong as one might imagine. Many local leaders, in particular, believe that Party dues are such a minor issue that they shouldn't be making such a fuss about them.

The total annual party dues across the country are only a little over 10 million yuan, which translates to only a few hundred thousand yuan per province. It's not worth causing a province-wide turmoil over such a small sum.

Party dues will continue to be collected according to the original, familiar ratio. Therefore, they don't take the Party dues standards set by the Organization Department of the Central Committee seriously. As a result, even after the Second Session of the Ninth Central Committee, Party dues are still collected nationwide according to their own standards in each region.

"We have also conducted investigations at the local level. Besides not following the standards set by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the situation in other aspects of local party dues collection is also very chaotic."

Ma Mingfang, Vice Minister of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, said: "First, because there is a discrepancy between the CPC Central Organization Department's documents and the actual party dues collected by local party committees, many local party members themselves are not clear about how much they should pay. As a result, some people pay more than they should, but the party organizations that collect the dues don't remind them or refund them. In any case, the situation in many party organizations is that they collect whatever you pay, and they won't remind you just because you pay more."

"Secondly, some party members pay less than the standard dues, and some even round off their dues. They pay one dollar instead of one. Many party organizations turn a blind eye to this kind of thing. They see it as no big deal, as the dues will ultimately go to the central government anyway. The central government won't actually conduct inspections at the local level just for this small amount of money."

"Third, many party members saw their salaries change after changing positions. However, despite the salary increase, they still paid their party dues based on their original salary. They also didn't take the initiative to contact the party organization to change it, and the party organization didn't investigate."

"Fourth, this is a problem that has arisen among many rural Party members. Many rural peasant Party members do not pay their dues. In particular, many peasant Party members who joined the Party after liberation are very averse to paying dues, and some have not paid for several years. However, the rural Party organizations have turned a blind eye to this, and as a result, the Party dues collected by rural Party organizations as a whole are now very unsatisfactory. This trend of not paying dues is contagious."

"Fifth, some grassroots party organizations, due to insufficient funds for activities, arbitrarily raise party dues. Besides turning a portion over, they retain the rest for their own use. This situation is very common among grassroots party organizations."

"Sixth, some Party groups are completely helpless against those who delay or even refuse to pay their dues. Therefore, to meet their dues collection targets, the group leaders are forced to pay out of their own pockets. Our investigation by the Organization Department of the Central Committee revealed that some group leaders have already paid dozens of yuan out of their own pockets in recent years due to dues issues."

"Seventh, some leading cadres fail to set an example and instead ignore the regulations on party dues payment, often failing to pay at all. As a result, their secretaries or officials in charge of party dues pay for them. Sometimes, even the cashier at the work unit uses the unit's funds to help the leading cadres pay their dues."

Ma Mingfang carefully reported to Wei Hongjun the current chaotic situation regarding Party dues payments nationwide. The chaotic situation surrounding Party dues payments is truly beyond imagination; there are all kinds of chaotic situations.

Wei Hongjun was somewhat annoyed. As a proletarian party, the Communist Party of China values ​​faith and discipline above all else. The CCP's success during the war years was based not only on faith but also on iron discipline. Party dues are a direct reflection of both faith and discipline.

How many Party members, even during the revolutionary years, saved money to pay their dues, and even in enemy prisons, never forgot to do so. This was because they were true revolutionaries, and communism was their faith. Paying dues was a sign of their loyalty to the organization and their unwavering commitment to their faith.

Yet, only a few years after liberation, these Party members are so perfunctory about the issue of dues. Even these Party organizations are just doing what they can to collect dues. What kind of fighting power can such Party organizations have?

Therefore, Wei Hongjun said, "This problem must be changed quickly. The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee must convene a national meeting of organizational cadres, and important leaders from provincial organization departments must attend. The party dues standards set by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee must be followed by all provinces. This is the party dues standard, and all party members across the country must abide by it. How can local party committees collect as they please?"

"The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee must issue a document regarding Party dues collection standards, requiring all provinces to disseminate them to rural cooperatives. This document must be posted in a prominent location for everyone to see, and all Party members must be aware of the standards. If any province is perfunctory and fails to disseminate the Organization Department's Party dues standards throughout the province, and fails to make them known to all Party members, then this is dereliction of duty."

If the central government doesn't take some tough measures against them, the local governments will really not take the central government's decisions seriously.

The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee established the Party dues standard in 1955, but it remains so chaotic. Of course, Wei Hongjun also understands that this is not just because local governments don't care about this matter, but also because the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee itself doesn't regard this matter as a big deal.

Again, the national party dues are only over 10 million yuan. The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee is unlikely to get into conflict with the local provincial party committees over such a small amount of money.

It was not until the mechanism for party members to withdraw was established that we realized how important the issue of party dues was.

"I'll make arrangements for this after I return. We'll strive to convene a national meeting of organizational cadres in mid-October."

Chen Tanqiu nodded.

The Party dues issue was indeed the fault of the Organization Department. Since it was a problem of the Organization Department, Chen Tanqiu naturally had to resolve it as soon as possible.

"Party dues must be dealt with with strong penalties. I'll just mention two issues. One is non-payment of dues. If a party member fails to pay dues for six consecutive months, the intermediate party organization should remind and warn them. If they still haven't paid after six months, they must be expelled."

"Some party members try to exploit loopholes and avoid the six-month consecutive period of not paying dues. They pay once in the middle, then skip a few months, then pay again. There's nothing to say about that. If you haven't paid dues for six months or more over two years, the withdrawal process will begin."

"Another issue is the Party dues of leading cadres. If a leading cadre uses funds from the unit's financial resources to pay dues, it's embezzlement of public funds. Even if it's just one cent or one dollar, it's embezzlement. The cashier will be held responsible for embezzlement, and the leading cadre will bear joint liability. Even if the leading cadre was unaware, if they used unit funds to pay dues for three to six consecutive months, the Party's internal expulsion process will be initiated. This applies to cadres at all levels. If they use unit funds to pay dues for six months to a year, the case will be referred to the Supervisory Commission and judicial authorities."

"If a secretary of a leading cadre, or a cadre from another party organization, helps a leading cadre pay party dues for several consecutive months, then this matter must be monitored, regardless of whether the leading cadre knows about it or not. Although the money involved is not much, it is still a form of bribery."

Chen Tanqiu nodded.

Leading cadres aren't fools. Surely they don't know whether they should pay their dues? They simply know it, believing that even if they don't, someone will pay for them. Even those who collect dues don't dare to urge leading cadres to pay, so they'll just have to quietly make up the difference. That's why they're so confident, unconcerned about whether they pay their dues or not.

What Wei Hongjun needs to do is completely expose the hypocrisy of these leading cadres, who have lost all dignity for a little money. They either take advantage of their work unit or their own subordinates. "Don't you want to pay your dues? Then simply don't be a member. I'll start the process of persuading you to quit."

New China is both short of cadres and not short of them. The shortfall is in qualified and capable cadres. The longfall is in the fact that there are plenty of cadres at the back who want to move up.

Chen Tanqiu said: "Regarding the confusion over party dues and the handling of party members who do not pay their dues, the Organization Department will formulate more clear regulations."

Compared to the revolutionary era, the current party dues collection standards are relatively low. The party dues standards set by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee will definitely not affect the lives of party members.

For example, some Party members with relatively low incomes are exempt from dues, while others are charged between 0.1% and 0.3% of their income. Rural Party members, with the exception of some who pay no dues, mostly pay only a few cents annually. Many rural Party members can afford this, yet many do not pay.

For those with a fixed monthly income of less than 50 yuan, the party dues are %, or about or yuan per month. For those with a monthly income of more than yuan, the dues are %. For example, Wei Hongjun's monthly party dues were or yuan.

Precisely because the amount of party dues was small, neither the Organization Department nor the local authorities considered it a major issue. Now that Wei Hongjun has convened a meeting specifically to address the issue of party dues, the Organization Department must certainly work hard to resolve it.

After discussing the issue of party dues, Wei Hongjun continued to discuss the draft presented by the Organization Department.

"This draft still lacks some more specific issues. The regulations should be more detailed, with very clear rules, rather than vague. For example, if a person fails to attend Party activities or meetings several times, they can initially receive a warning. If they continue to miss Party activities and meetings after the warning, the process of persuading them to withdraw can be initiated. This must be clear, especially with specific numerical requirements. For example, regarding Party dues, there should be clear numerical requirements for failure to pay for six consecutive months, or for more than six months within two years. Only with clear regulations can we prevent local Party committee leaders from arbitrarily persuading Party members to withdraw."

"it is good."

Chen Tanqiu recorded Wei Hongjun's opinions.

"At the end of each year, the Provincial and Municipal Organization Departments hold unified talks with Party members who are being persuaded to withdraw from the Party, giving them a chance to defend themselves and appeal. If there are no objections, the withdrawal procedures are officially completed after approval by the Provincial and Municipal Organization Departments. I think this makes a lot of sense and is the right approach."

"Persuading members to withdraw is to maintain the purity of the Party and to eliminate unqualified members. However, withdrawing members cannot become a weapon for grassroots Party organizations to suppress inner-Party democracy, nor can it be used to threaten grassroots Party members. Therefore, we must give these withdrawn members an opportunity to speak face-to-face with higher-level Party committees, to defend themselves, and to appeal. This is a very good idea."

"But how many people are there in the Provincial and Municipal Organization Departments? With so much manpower and time, would they be able to hear reports face-to-face with all the expelled party members at the end of the year? Would there still be time for investigation? If many people suddenly file complaints against the expulsion decision at the end of the year, would the Provincial and Municipal Organization Departments really be able to investigate thoroughly in such a short period of time? Would it not affect the expulsion process?"

"So I think there should be more channels for expelled party members to defend themselves and appeal, and the Organization Department should have more channels for review. For example, the Organization Department could send cadres to work in local petition offices. This way, they can have direct contact with local party organizations and expelled party members at any time. Those expelled party members can go to the petition office at any time and find Organization Department cadres to appeal. The petition office can then work with the Organization Department to investigate these matters. This way, many issues can be investigated regularly."

"The provincial and municipal party committees' organization departments will handle these reports on persuaded party members to withdraw at the end of the year, eliminating the need to spend a lot of time meeting with and checking each one. At that time, the organization departments will only need to randomly check a certain percentage of persuaded party members to withdraw."

"We will go back and discuss this in detail."

Wei Hongjun put forward suggestions, but the Organization Department still needs to go back and improve them in more detail.

"There are generally no problems with this draft. After the Organization Department refines some of the content, it can be formally discussed in the Secretariat. If it is acceptable, it can be passed at the Third Session of the Ninth Central Committee next year."

"We will come up with a more complete draft as soon as possible."

1055 Inspection

"Line up, line up, if you don't line up you won't get any."

"Where are you from? Which unit are you from? Do you even know what queuing means? Why don't you listen to me? If you don't want to queue, get out."

"No sales if you don't queue up. You, you, you, go to the back. It's shameful for a grown man to cut in line."

Long lines formed at the entrances of state-owned supply and marketing cooperatives and those run by rural cooperatives. Many people carried large baskets, evidently looking to buy large quantities. Meanwhile, the loud voices of cooperative staff echoed through the streets.

"What are you doing? Stop pushing, xxxx, I don't understand what you're saying."

"If it gets any more crowded, we'll close the door."

"We have everything, we have everything, there's no shortage, please stop crowding."

"30 cents a pound, four pounds is 1.2 yuan. What's the point of giving me 1 yuan? Whether you want to buy it or not, if you do, it's 1.2 yuan. There's no rounding off here. If you don't want to buy, get out of the way."

The noise was so loud that it could be heard throughout the entire street, or rather, the entire street was filled with this situation. There were supply and marketing cooperative staff maintaining order, while people in the queue were also cursing those who cut in line. It looked like chaos. However, despite the chaos, people could still make purchases as normal, as everyone was obviously used to this situation.

"Deputy Director Lu, people from the Northeast are like this, they speak loudly. And there are too many people here, so you can't hear what they are saying even if they speak louder."

The delegation to Liaoning was led by Lu Yuwen, former Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council and current Deputy Director of the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls. Lu was accompanied to Liaoning by Ma Hong, Secretary-General of the Central Bureau of Letters and Calls.

Their first target was the establishment and operation of the Liaoning Bureau of Letters and Calls. The Bureau was, after all, a new institution, and presented a host of problems—even more than initially imagined.