'Xi cult' app is China's red hot hit
'Xi cult' app is China's red hot hit
Poornima WEERASEKARA AFP News 20 February 2019
The 'Study Xi' app tracks the amount of time users spend
browsing inspirational quotes and following his speeches and travels
A propaganda app that puts China's powerful President Xi
Jinping in anyone's pockets has become a hit in the country -- with a helpful
nudge from Communist Party officials.
Millions have downloaded the app, which tracks the amount
of time users spend browsing inspirational quotes from the Chinese leader and
watching short videos of his speeches and travels.
People are rewarded with points for sharing articles or
answering quizzes on Communist heroes, and one day they may be able to redeem
their scores for gifts such as pastries and tablets.
But it's not all fun and games. Some people say they felt
pressured to download it, others hope it can help their careers, and local
government officials have been heavily promoting it.
The app's name -- "Xuexi Qiangguo" or
"Study to Make China strong" -- is a pun as the Chinese word for
studying, Xuexi, can also be read as "Study Xi".
It has been downloaded nearly 44 million times on Apple
and Android devices since its launch in January, according to Beijing-based
statistics provider Qimai Technology.
"It's a perfect example of propaganda in the Xi
era... that appeals to China's large online population," said Manya
Koetse, who tracks social trends in China as editor of What's on Weibo.
"The party will go wherever the people are."
- 'Xi cult' -
Xi, who could rule indefinitely after parliament lifted
presidential term limits last year, has enjoyed a level of officially stoked
adulation unseen since Communist China's founder Mao.
The party's propaganda arm has become tech-savvy in its
battle for the country's hearts and minds, delivering its message through rap
songs, comics and stickers on popular messaging app WeChat.
Last May, it launched another free app called "Learn
about China", featuring Xi's first book along with academic papers
analysing his views.
The new app gives users access to thousands of books,
magazines, newspapers, university publications and TV serials and movies.
Users must register with their mobile phone number and
name their employer.
An employee at a state media company said she posts her
scores on her WeChat social media account because she is in line for a
promotion and hopes her bosses will see she has "the right mindset".
"It's a way to get some brownie points," she
told AFP.
One state worker said she felt under pressure to use the
app, although it was not officially mandatory for civil servants.
A doctor at a state hospital in Beijing, who only gave
her last name Xu, said she had her parents use the app to take quizzes and read
articles on her behalf.
"Our scores are valid for two years and I am not
sure whether they'll be useful (for my career) later," she added.
Li Xin, who works for a state-run oil company, said it
promotes a "Xi cult".
- Bad reviews -
Dozens of provincial and county governments across the
country have held workshops to promote the app in recent weeks, local media
reports showed.
Beijing's municipal propaganda department chief Du Feijin
told a workshop last week that the app was a "powerful starting point for
implementing the spirit of the important instructions of General Secretary
Xi", state-run newspaper Beijing News reported.
Even China's e-commerce giant Alibaba, whose founder Jack
Ma is a Communist Party member, is making a contribution: job ads on the
company's website shows it has been hiring software developers to work on the
app.
While "Study Xi" became the top app in Apple's
China app store last month, it only managed to get an average rating of 2.4
stars out of five. Ratings and reviews for the app were disabled last week.
But analytics firm App Annie has preserved nearly 500
reviews -- many with a hint of sarcasm -- submitted by Apple users in previous
weeks.
"It's totally voluntary," quipped one reviewer
who gave the app one star.
"My employer wants us to learn enough to get 35
credits every day... So we have no choice but to carry our children with one
hand and our phones with the other and chase points with no life," wrote
another.
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