China's propaganda system

Résumé du document

Propaganda was the most obvious mechanism used by Mao and the Communist Party to transform Chinese society after the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. For decades, propaganda had been a part of everyday-life in china. It exists in various forms such as songs, paintings, posters and films. The role played by official propaganda in China, has declined considerably since the Maoist era, but remains an important part of Chinese political and cultural life. The Chinese Communists learned much from their study of the Soviet Union, the Nazis and other totalitarian states about propaganda methods. However it also drew on the experiences of imperial and Nationalist Chinese governments.

Extraits

[...] Propaganda was used to encourage growth of the industrial production. - 1955: the Asian-African conference of Bandung. Illustration of the unity of the Third World against the West. - 1957-1961: The great leap forward. Time of a new plan to relaunch the Chinese agriculture (the posters show the abundance of crops) and rupture with the soviets: the soviets disappear from posters and now Mao's thought is pointed up, instead of the imitation of the soviet model. - mid-60s: Zhou En Lai's visit in Africa. [...]

[...] After the death of Mao, posters campaigns became less frequent but were still used. Today Given the technological modernisation, the globalization, liberalization of art and even education in China in recent years, propaganda work has become more and more difficult. Propaganda's campaigns have lost some of their influence as people become more educated and informed. One of the most evident failures of propaganda system was during the SARS crisis in 2003 (Two thousands o three). Authorities are now trying to control internet and media in general, but set up less propaganda campaigns. [...]

[...] It is important to note that propaganda does not carry negative connotations for the government: it is seen as a legitimate tool for transforming and building the kind of society sought by the party, a “socialist spiritual civilization” or more recently, a “harmonious society”. Propaganda is used to “educate” the masses. Posters campaigns was the favoured vector of propaganda: it was cheap and easy to disseminate all over the country. Moreover, it was the most efficient tool in a country were most of inhabitants are illiterates. It was also the only communication medium speaking to everybody. The most intense campaigns took place during the late 60s, when the cult of personality was pre-eminent. [...]

[...] The four principal missions of external propaganda are: 1. To tell China's history to the world and promote Chinese culture abroad to counter “hostile foreign propaganda” 3. to promote unification with Taiwan 4. To propagate China's foreign policy. An example: the visit of the American ping-pong team in 1972 which permit to develop“ping pong diplomacy” A variety of means are used, such as newspapers' foreign editions, television, or the Xinhua News Agency, but also exhibitions, festivals, advertising campaign, editorials in newspapers That's more communication than propaganda, because foreign media are not controlled by the Chinese state and it's more cultural than political. [...]