since Chinese Communist Party membership is in the news we should read the oath to join: "我志愿加入中国共产党，拥护党的纲领，遵守党的章程，履行党员义务，执行党的决定，严守党的纪律，保守党的秘密，对党忠诚，积极工作，为共产主义奋斗终身，随时准备为党和人民牺牲一切，永不叛党。 " 1/

"It is my will to join the Communist Party of China, uphold the Party's program, observe the provisions of the Party Constitution, fulfill a Party member's duties, carry out the Party's decisions, strictly observe Party discipline, guard Party secrets, be loyal to the Party, 2/

work hard, fight for communism throughout my life, be ready at all times to sacrifice my all for the Party and the people, and never betray the Party." Yes I know they are just words, trust me I know. I first learned that in 1992 when I was working as a translator at the 3/

Chinese Literature Press. Party members had to have study sessions every couple of weeks, they just played cards, slept, read the paper. So you would look at that and say "no 1 believes, they r just going through the motions" And yet here we are 29 years later, in Xi's New Era 4/

I'm not saying all Party members are bad, know plenty from my 13+ years in Beijing who I like a lot. My point is that behind the individual is a system that has been vastly strengthened under Xi, by design,& so we can't just dismiss it as like a normal foreign political Party 5/

But to reiterate what I said earlier, a blanket US visa ban on CCP members and their family members is stupid, incendiary and not constructive on any level.