President Xi Jinping’s “Chinese dream [1]“, a propaganda campaign reinforcing that the Communist Party is the path to economic prosperity and well-being, has been promoted in state-run media [2] and by the government since Xi mentioned it upon taking power in November 2012.
Now this campaign, a twist on the so-called American dream, has become the topic of research with funding of 200,000 yuan (32,403 US dollars) from China’s Xiamen University in Fujian province.
On July 8, 2013, Xiamen University’s website announced that “comparative research study project into the systematic structure and operational levels of the Chinese Dream” has won money from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and will be conducted by professor Hong Yongmiao, dean of Xiamen’s School of Economics. The project is seen as an effort to provide academic support for self-confidence in the Chinese system.
The news about the China Dream research project on Xiamen University's website
The news has triggered criticism on China’s most popular microblogging site Sina Weibo. Many think it's a waste of money and urged the government to get real.
Veteran media personality Yang Jinlin wrote [3] [zh] sarcastically:
佛洛依德精神分析法，足以解梦！
Freudian psycho analysis is enough to decode the dream.
“Sanzhang Liukuan [4]”[zh] urged the government to get real:
中国梦不是拿理论来忽悠屁民，而是要给公民一条活路.
The Chinese dream is not to use the theory to fool around, but to give citizens a means of survival.
Cai Chengping from Sina Caijing criticized [5] [zh] the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences:
中国科研费投入不少却做不出东西来的原因在此。
China has put in a lot of investment in scientific research, without many important results. This is why.
Professor from California University “Jiefu” pointed out [6] the key to realizing the Chinese dream:
教授博士生们速速投入中国梦论题，以自己的研究阐释：实现真正美好和可持续的中国梦的唯一正路是宪法赋予公民的权利落实，人权和自由为目标的的民主法治！
Hope the professors step up, and use their research theory to prove that to realize the truly beautiful and sustainable Chinese dream, the only way is to realize citizens’ rights through rule of law and constitution and build a free and democratic society.