China's Leader Wants Renewed Propaganda

As Summer Olympics Approach, Hu Jintao Call For Better Control Of Information

(AP)  Chinese President Hu Jintao has told officials to breathe new life into propaganda efforts, putting renewed emphasis on a key pillar of Communist rule ahead of this summer's Beijing Olympic Games.

Hu's remarks at a major party gathering reflected the government's traditional focus on controlling information and guiding public opinion, yet also indicated concern that those efforts were losing their edge in the face of the Internet and other independent sources of information and entertainment.

Officials should "perform well the task of outward propaganda, further exhibit and raise up the nation's good image," Hu said.

Reports on his remarks Tuesday to party leaders and propaganda officials dominated the front page of the party's flagship People's Daily and other official newspapers Wednesday.

The reports did not indicate any direct mention of the Olympics by Hu. However, they said he called for boosting China's "cultural soft power," a reference to influence in culture, sports and other spheres outside traditional military might and hard-nosed diplomacy.

China has only lately embraced the concept of "soft power," although propaganda has been a central tenet of Communist rule even before the party seized control in a 1949 revolution.

Directing those efforts is the Propaganda Department, which sits under the direct control of the party's powerful Central Committee. The body outranks all government ministries and the Cabinet's State Council Information Office, which is chiefly responsible for propaganda directed at foreign audiences.

As the voice of party rule, the department is headed by a party hard-liner and exercises broad control over print media, film, television and the Internet.

In an apparent attempt to appear more progressive, the department's English name was changed a decade ago to the Publicity Department, although its name in Chinese remains unchanged.

The department has wide-ranging powers to punish outlets, writers, filmmakers and journalists that defy its guidelines, both written and implied, although the process of censorship is highly opaque.

Organizers of the Beijing Olympics inaugurated a media center early on and hired international public relations firm Hill & Knowlton to advise on publicity and media relations for the Games, which get under way in August.

Those efforts are especially important given human rights groups' attempts to use the games to publicize their criticisms of Chinese policies on everything from religious freedoms to the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

In the reports on his remarks, Hu also emphasized the importance of propaganda in maintaining stability in a society increasingly riven by disparities between rich and poor, ethnic divisions, and challenges to the party's once unquestioned authority.

Officials, he said, must "advance the building of the body of socialist core value and further boost unity and harmony between all ethnic groups."

[antoniof123]

Oh I am so surprised at this.

[afmca]

The only trouble with this Chinese propaganda effort is that once you have let thousands of athletes, the press, and citizens from throughout the world into your country you have effectively lost control. They will interact with the Chinese people if only to be seen walking down the street healthy, wealthy, and happy. The opposite is true. Eventually the athletes, press, and spectators will leave and the opinions they have formed will not be subject to censor. Maybe the Chinese leaders should have thought this out more before agreeing to host the Olympics ... but it is too late now.

[harp1963]

Isn''t it nice to know that our political leaders here in the (un)United States gave preferred nation status or free trade to a country like China that publically puts so much emphasis on brainwashing there people with lies. I guess it takes one to know one. And maybe we''re dumber than the Chinese, we have the opportunity to read and discover what the truth may be, but we choose to believe the lies over and over again.

[missingamerica]

..we have the opportunity to read and discover what the truth may be, but we choose to believe the lies over and over again.

Posted by harp1963 at 12:57 PM : Jan 23, 2008

I don''t know about everybody else, but I see no difference between the Chinese propaganda machine and the Bush propaganda machine.

They''re both centered on keeping a select group of people in power and wealthy.

[moleman--2008]

The Olympics are going to be the Chinese people''s best opportunity to break the shackles of their oppressive government since Tianamen Square--even better as the eyes of the world and all those athletes are going to be there. What is the government going to do, roll the tanks through the Athlete''s Village? No amount of propaganda is going to stop the second revolution. This is going to be one heckuva show folks....

[micma-2009]

Nice. We owe China over a trillion dollars. They have been financing our deficits since Bu$h took office.

[easeup-2009]

zemoleman

That is an excellent point. I am in the metals business & I talk to a stamping buyer who travels 2-3 times a year to China to source metal stampings. He has seen the absolute worst working conditions--no heat, no A/C, even no LIGHT. They travel into the countryside & pick up peasants to work in the factories--working 16 hours/day & giving them rice & a cot. Then, amazingly, 10 minutes later he would see a young Chinese guy rolling down the street in an Escalade with a Yankee hat on--rap music cranked.

Think of China as the U.S. in the early 1900''s. Sooner or later the workers will fight for & get a living wage & there will be a sudden demand for U.S. goods (of course the Yuan would have to be fairly valuated before this can happen).

[rushman71]

Kind of funny reading a couple of these posts. Comparing Chinese Communism to American Capitalism is preposterous. Comparing total and complete dictatorship with the right to choose, to speak, to vote, to believe, etc., is ludicrous. Comparing the selected leaders of China with the elected leaders of the US who govern and lead within our society shows lack of understanding and acceptance. At least here in the US you do have the right towards "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." In China, that is non-existant.

[easeup-2009]

It''s kinda funny reading posts by people that think China is a closed state like North Korea, especially given the trade between the U.S. & China & China''s entry into U.S. markets.

Sounds like they get their information from junior high textbooks or old movies.

[micma-2009]

Nice. We owe China trillions of dollars thanks to Bu$h and the Republicons.

[easeup-2009]

Bier holt Gl|ck

[rowdytexan2]

God bless the US and the internet where all truth prevails...(snort!)


There lies the sleeping Giant...just pray he stays sleepy.

[silent_maj]

"Nice. We owe China trillions of dollars thanks to Bu$h and the Republicons"

NO - Thanks to to all you idiots who buy stuff from China is more like it! Buy Chingo but American!

[joyous88]

silent_maj;

you are crazy - go to your favorite Wal-Mart and find somehing that is not from china!

[runningralph]

ibsteve2u,
You can''t see the difference between the Bush propaganda machine and the Chicom propaganda machine. So I will try to explain it in a way you may be able to understand. Chicoms have more control over what is said over the air or in print. The Bush machine can only control what they say themselves. The Chicoms control everything that is aired or printed and will come down hard on dissidents. Does that help you see the difference?

[alphaa10-2009]

Another reminder about values-- the "Genocide Olympics" is hosted by the world''s richest, oil-hungry communist dictatorship.

And Beijing demands even our olympics genuflect to Chinese ambitions and the power of oil in the 21st century.

In shameful detail, China continues to arm Sudan to wage genocide against innocent people in Darfur-- all to obtain oil rights in Sudan. China roughly casts aside humanitarian protest for protection of refugees, just as it did during its invasion of Tibet.

Yes, by no means is the world free of the Ugly American syndrome-- specifically "democracy" forced at bayonet-point by Bush for Iraqi oil. But now the Ugly American is joined by an equally Ugly Chinese.

[feelfree1]

Re: "China''s Leader Wants Renewed Propaganda"

Why don''t they just outsource this service to the Bush regime?

The Regime already has a substantial propaganda network in place, and the Chinese have a huge pile of increasingly worthless dollars burning a hole in their pockets.

[joyous88]

Bush could teach them a few things about propaganda,

orange alert, run for your lives.

[re_evolve]

For 1 month after the Olympics I won''t buy anything from the sponsors. Sc***em

[inventagod]

Karl Rove - Paging Karl Rove....