Three Stresses campaign

This article is part of
a series about
Jiang Zemin
Policies and theories
Key events
Diplomacy
Jiang Zemin's signature

The "Three Stresses" campaign (Chinese: 三讲; pinyin: sānjiǎng) was an ideological rectification campaign among Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members. The initiative was formally launched in 1998 by then-General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Jiang Zemin, and its name refers to the need to “stress study, stress politics, stress righteousness” (jiang xuexi, jiang zhengzhi, jiang zhengqi). The campaign was intended to strengthen discipline within the CCP and consolidate support for Jiang Zemin.[1] During the campaign, which spanned from late 1998 to 2000, senior staff within the government, military, party offices, universities, and state and private enterprises were required to spend several weeks engaging in political study and self-criticism sessions with the goal of improving unity and enhancing loyalty to the CCP.[2] According to a retired official cited in the New York Times, Jiang also hoped to use the campaign to "identify loyal, promising officials for future leadership positions."[3]

The initiative was only the second major party rectification campaigns launched since the death of Mao Zedong (the previous campaign having begun in 1983).[4]

  1. ^ Jia Hepeng, ‘The Three Represents Campaign: Reform the Party of Indoctrinate the Capitalists?’ Archived 2011-03-28 at the Wayback Machine, The Cato Journal (2004).
  2. ^ Erik Eckholm, Likely to Be a Best Seller in China: It's No Mystery, New York Times, 1 June 2000.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Joseph Fewsmith, “CCP Launches Campaign to Maintain the Advanced Nature of Party Members”, China Leadership Monitor, No. 13.