How loyal are you? Communist quiz: VR edition

A township in eastern China claims to be the first in the country to use virtual reality (VR) technology to reinforce cadres’ allegiance to the Communist Party.

The 35,000-strong township of Qingyang in Zouping county, Shandong province, has spent $110,000 setting up a VR room at the party’s education service center, local newspaper Binzhou Daily reported.

Township party secretary Duan Shuguo said participants first watch a documentary about communist heroes before putting on headsets to answer a series of questions on a wide range of content, from party theory and conduct to discipline.

After the VR session is complete, quiz-takers are scored and are given the chance to talk face-to-face with party experts.

Loyalty lessons

Duan said the room was completed in April and the local government worked with a production studio and video streaming company to produce the virtual reality scenarios.

Wen Daqing, also from Qingyang’s party branch, said noise was minimized in the room to ensure test-takers had “a peaceful mind.”

“The questions were carefully designed based on the psychological standards. It would be a problem if a party member took too long or not enough time to finish all the questions,” Wen said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is working to restore allegiance to Communist Party values, to firm up his leadership inside the party and present a united front to the outside world.

Speaking last Friday ahead of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx, Xi encouraged party members to adhere to the values of the founder of Communism.