China has stepped up its propaganda efforts, not only by increasing the number of central and local press spokespersons deployed, but also by raising the hierarchy of press spokespersons, hoping to grasp the power of discourse, win dominance and create a favorable public opinion environment. However, critics argue that China’s practice of using spokespersons as a propaganda platform is only empty talk to guide the direction of public opinion in the information age, where there are many channels of access to information.
More people, higher rank
China’s State Council Information Office recently announced a list of central and local press spokespersons for 2021, with 161 in central departments and 101 in localities, for a total of 262. Compared with 2020, the number of spokespersons has increased by 14.
This year’s spokesperson list, not only the number of spokespersons increased, some important departments spokesperson’s administrative level also for the first Time “upgrade”. The Ministry of Propaganda (with the State Council Information Office), for example, has added Xu Lin, vice minister of Propaganda and director of the State Council Information Office, to the list, one of the few new officials at the ministerial level. Other officials at the ministerial level in the list include Xiao Pei, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and deputy director of the State Supervision Commission, Xu Yusheng, deputy minister of the United Front Work Department (added), and Mu Hong, executive deputy director of the Central Reform Office (added).
In an interview with the Voice of America, Li Datong, former editor-in-chief of the Beijing-based China Youth Daily’s “Freezing Point” column, said it is good that China’s spokespersons have been upgraded to a higher level because the higher the level, the more they know and the better they can answer questions. But the key issue is that the role of the spokesman should be to really answer people’s questions, not as a platform for propaganda.
When people have problems and questions about many government policies, directions, etc., it is good if the spokesperson can collect real questions and give real answers every day, the higher the level, the better,” he said. The higher up the hierarchy, the better. It would be best if the Premier of the State Council and the General Secretary of the Party were to face the people’s questions every day. The problem is that the questions answered must be real questions, not made-up ones.”
The veteran media personality said Western leaders often interact with the media and answer hot-button questions at press conferences and other occasions. He said, let’s not mention that Trump had answered media concerns about the Epidemic pandemic and other aspects at several press conferences at the White House when he was the U.S. president, and even Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is considered dictatorial by the West, had answered questions of public concern for hours in a live webcast. Li Datong believes that compared with Trump and Putin, Chinese leaders are far from being close to the media and netizens.
This upgrade in the line-up of spokespersons at the State Information Office is seen as a sign that the Communist Party will tighten its control over the press. On Oct. 30 last year, at the first press conference after the CPC Central Committee established a press release system, Xu Lin pointed out that the establishment of the CPC Central Committee’s press release system is “an important institutional arrangement and institutional innovation to adhere to and strengthen the Party’s overall leadership and improve the Party’s ability to govern the country”.
Wang Chen, the current vice chairman of the Chinese National People’s Congress, once emphasized that the establishment of the party spokesman system is “conducive to grasping the right to speak and winning the dominant power in the dissemination of public opinion, and creating a favorable public opinion environment for the construction of the party and the development of the country” when he was the vice minister of the Propaganda Department and the director of the State Information Office.
Experts: Real public opinion guidance is to speak the truth
Li Datong, a veteran media person, believes that China is improving and promoting the spokesperson system, from the past “one-way” indoctrination to “two-way” interaction, which is worthy of recognition. However, he said, if the purpose of the spokesman is only to grasp the right to speak and win the dominant power, but not to face the real problems and speak the truth, then in today’s era of wide access to information, it is only empty talk to guide the direction of public opinion.
He said; “Do you think you are guiding people if they don’t speak? There is no such thing. The real guidance is to convince you. The information you provide is objective and true, and that’s how you can lead. Who will believe you when you convey information that people find to be false after comparing it with real Life! What is the one thing you can dominate? Nothing can dominate.”
China’s press spokesperson system first began in 1982. The first spokesman was Qian Qichen, then director of the Information Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and in February 1983, the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of China and the Central Leading Group for Foreign Propaganda jointly issued the “Opinions on Establishing a Press Spokesman System and Strengthening Work with Foreign Journalists.” On March 1 of the same year, Qi Huaiyuan, Director General of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was appointed as the first spokesman and held his first press conference, and on April 23, 1983, the China Journalists Association introduced the spokesmen of central departments and organizations to the Chinese and foreign media for the first time, officially announcing the establishment of the spokesman system.
Over the past decades, the system of spokespersons in China has been under constant construction and development. in September 2003, the first national spokesperson training course organized by the Information Office of the State Council of China started. Since then, the State Council Information Office and a number of provinces and cities have held several spokesperson training courses.
China started to publish the list of spokespersons in 2004, and it has been 17 years in a row since then. The number of spokespersons has also increased from 75 when it was first announced to 262 this year.
Gao Yu, a veteran Beijing-based media personality, said that the increasing size and rank of China’s spokespersons indicates that the central government is paying more and more attention to the content of spokespersons’ external speeches, which are an integral part of the CCP’s overall external propaganda.
The current spokesperson system actually goes hand in hand with the CCP’s grand foreign propaganda,” she said. It is the CCP’s way of tightening the control of public opinion and actually controlling the whole of China’s foreign opening.”
China has also, among other things, held several spokesperson forums. in 2018, the “2018 China Spokesperson Forum” hosted by the State Information Office and organized by Peking University was held at Peking University. Xu Lin, director of the State Information Office, said at the conference that press releases should become an important bridge between the party and government and the people, and an important window to showcase China’s image, and should be “the teller of China’s story and the guide of spreading the mainstream.”
The then Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said in his speech that Chinese diplomacy should not only do, but also say, not only to do beautifully, but also to say wonderfully.
Telling the Chinese story, or covering up the truth
However, observers pointed out that the aggressive performance of the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman at the press conference, which was “wolf-like”, did not “defend” China well, but attracted criticism from the outside world.
Gao Yu, a veteran media personality, said the Chinese authorities’ talk of “telling a good Chinese story” was an attempt to hide the truth of the matter with superficially pretty words.
She said, “What about telling a good Chinese story and communicating with the outside world? Look at all the stories they tell, which one is true? So I think they are asking all the provinces, cities and ministries to keep the gates of public opinion well open to the outside world, not to make mistakes, not to leak some real news. In fact, externally, all have to use Xinhua style (to Xinhua News Agency news release prevails). It’s just getting stricter and stricter.”
Some observers have pointed out that the Chinese authorities, including its spokesman, have been known to cover up the truth and spread false information for all to see. Take last year’s massive outbreak of the new coronavirus, for example. At the beginning of the outbreak in late 2019, Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang posted news of an unidentified pneumonia in Wuhan in his WeChat circle of friends. Instead of drawing the attention of the authorities to take prompt response measures, Li Wenliang was summoned to the local police station and “admonished” for his actions. The initial efforts by the Chinese authorities to cover up the human-to-human transmission of the New Coronavirus ultimately led to a global pandemic.
Observers also noted that chrysanthemums were “sold out” in Wuhan, the site of the outbreak, on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year just passed. Wuhan people have the custom of “burning incense” on the first day of the Lunar New Year to offer condolences and remembrance for friends and relatives who have died in the past year. However, Wuhan’s official media “Hubei TV” said that this is because Wuhan was closed last year due to the epidemic, people can not “burn incense” on the first day of the year, this year are out for “revenge consumption “. While the local media are reporting all kinds of so-called positive news about Wuhan’s “rebirth after the epidemic,” they do not mention the hundreds of Wuhaners who died in the epidemic.
Observers say that Chinese authorities at all levels, both central and local, often tell lies rather than the truth, and report good news rather than bad. Even at press conferences during this new coronavirus epidemic, they were evasive about the epidemic and closed-mouthed about the true death toll. The fact that chrysanthemums used to pay tribute in Wuhan were sold out of stock once again raised questions about the exact number of deaths in the Wuhan epidemic.
In addition, senior media personality Gao Yu also questioned the increase in the number of spokespersons in China, saying that this is a bloated institution that increases the burden on the people and does nothing else, and that the people “don’t believe you.
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