Safeguard National Security and Social Stability* 

April 25, 2014 

At a time when we are confronted with new situations and challenges, successfully safeguarding national security and social stability is particularly important for furthering the reform, achieving the Two Centenary Goals and realizing the Chinese Dream of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. All regions and government agencies should perform their functions and duties, assume their responsibilities, fully cooperate with each other, and work together to maintain national security and social stability. 

Since the reform and opening-up policy was adopted in 1978 our Party has paid close attention to correctly balancing reform, development and stability, and made safeguarding national security and social stability a basic task of the Party and the central government. We have maintained overall social stability in China, thereby providing a favorable environment for reform, opening up and socialist modernization. "One should be mindful of possible danger in times of peace, downfall in times of survival, and chaos in times of stability."¹

However, we should be aware that in our efforts to safeguard national security and social stability in these new circumstances we are confronted with increasing threats and challenges. And, more importantly, these threats and challenges are interlocked and can be mutually activated. We must remain clear-minded, stay true to our principles, effectively avert, manage and respond to risks to our national security, and take up, cope with and resolve challenges to our social stability. 

All regions and government agencies should implement China's holistic view of national security, and acquire an accurate understanding of the new characteristics and trends of our national security. We should attach equal importance to external and internal security, homeland security and the people's security, traditional and non-traditional security, development and security, our own security and the common security of the world, and carry out to the full all our work related to national security. We should promote national security education among all the Chinese people and enhance their awareness in this regard. 

Countering terrorism has a direct bearing on national security, the people's immediate interests, and reform, development and stability. The battle against terrorism safeguards national unity, social stability and the people's wellbeing. We must take decisive measures in deterring terrorism and keep up the pressure to thwart terrorism. We should work out a sound anti-terrorism work pattern, improve our anti-terrorism work system and build up our anti-terrorism strength. We should enlist both professional forces and the public in the fight against terrorism, get the general public to carry out different forms of activities against terrorism, build an impregnable anti-terrorism network, and ensure that terrorists are hunted down like rats. We should also let patriotic religious personages play a role, enhance positive guidance for religious believers, meet the latter's normal religious needs, and effectively resist the infiltration of religious extremism. 

Terrorism denies basic human rights, tramples on humanitarian justice and challenges the shared norms of human civilization. It is not an issue of ethnicity, nor an issue of religion. Terrorists are the common enemy of people of all ethnic groups. We should firmly trust and rely on the officials and the general public of all ethnic groups, and unite with them in safeguarding ethnic unity and social stability. 

We should increase our efforts to combat separatist activities in the new circumstances, promote ethnic unity, ensure that all ethnic groups work together for common prosperity and development, enhance publicity for and education in ethnic unity, consolidate the theoretical foundation of ethnic unity, and maximize our efforts to unite with the people of all ethnic groups. We should enhance the building of community-level Party organizations and governments, and carry out educational work thoroughly and meticulously among the people. We should acquire a correct understanding of the Party's policies regarding ethnic and religious affairs, promptly and properly resolve all conflicts and disputes undermining ethnic unity, and contain and crack down on separatist, infiltration and sabotage activities by domestic or foreign hostile forces on the pretext of ethnic issues. 

To safeguard national security we must maintain social harmony and stability, prevent and resolve social conflicts, and improve our institutions, mechanisms, policies and practical endeavors to make this happen. We should make China's development more comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable, work harder to ensure and improve the people's wellbeing, and tackle social conflicts at the source. We should make promoting social fairness, justice and the people's wellbeing our ultimate goal, and increase our efforts in balancing the interests of all sectors, so that all the people can increasingly share in the fruits of development in a fairer way. We should implement and improve the institutions and mechanisms for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the people, and the mechanism for assessing potential risks, so as to reduce and prevent conflicts of interest. We should comprehensively promote law-based governance, and better safeguard the people's lawful rights and interests. We should encourage all the people to resolve all social conflicts through legal procedures and by legal means, and ensure that people do things in accordance with the law, examine the law provisions in case of conflict, and use laws to solve problems and conflicts. 

* Main points of the speech at the 14th group study session of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee which Xi presided over. 

Notes 

¹ The Book of Changes (Yi Jing).

(Not to be republished for any commercial or other purposes.)