A ghost in China’s propaganda machine

UPDATE: I translated this after it was suggested on the Chinese Content Wiki by Mo Ming. It is visible via Google in at least a couple of different locations: here and here. RFA Unplugged has translated it for interest only, and RFA has no way to verify whether it is an accurate report of a real meeting, or, as the government loves to say, a fabrication. It is offered in the spirit of a look what is being talked about in Chinese cyberspace. You can read previous RFA stories in English involving the propaganda department here and here:

SARFT Propaganda department meeting record (First quarter of 2007)

Tags: Propaganda SARFT Publishing Publishing_companies News

Time: Friday morning, Jan. 12, 2007

Place: Meeting room, 2/F, SARFT Building

Chair: Wang Danyan, deputy department chief of the propaganda department

1. In the run-up to the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, mainstream channels and stations must supply in advance their plans for primetime coverage. Recently, the head of the Party’s Central Propaganda Department, Liu Yunshan has ordered CCTV to ensure that news programs, features and arts programs give special emphasis to the achievements of the 16^th Party Congress in the run-up to the parliamentary meetings. At the same time as maintaining a correct propaganda direction, it requires CCTV to ensure that arts and cultural programs take up the main theme, promoting the glory of the cultural task. There should be a fully planned package which includes appropriate historical materials, prepared in a way that will entertain and delight the public as well as unfolding education on Chinese contemporary history and Party history. Plans for primetime reports must be submitted one month in advance for inspection.
2. Warning about the trend of “running the red light” among the publishing industry

At a recent informational meeting on the special topic of publishing work, Li Dongsheng, deputy director of the Central Propaganda Department, strongly criticized the emergence of a new trend in some quarters of the publishing industry of “running the red light”. Eight key companies singled out for criticism were:

1. The Shanghai Art and Literature Publishing Co.: Dark Mulberry, one old cadre wrote to say that the book called into question the revolutionary struggle, and made one wonder what it was all for.
2. The Hainan Publishing Co. : I Oppose the Motion: Stories of NPC delegates
3. Hunan Art and Literature Publishing Co.: The Careers of Eight Peking Opera Performers by Zhang Yihe
4. China Radio and Television Publishing Co.: The Family History of an Ordinary Chinese
5. Dang An Publishing Co.: My Career on a People’s Daily Supplement
6. Friendship Publishing Co.: Books of the Decade
7. China Three Gorges Publishing Co.: Following Feelings Calligraphy Collection
8. Gansu Art and Literature Publishing Co.: For selling off ISBN numbers, at 5,000 yuan each. This company’s boss also mentioned Hu Fayun’s Ruyan@sars.com and Media. The latter is revelations from a journalist about the secrets of the news industry.

The above-named matters are all serious political mistakes; they have already crashed the ‘red light’. The State Administration for News and Publishing will take measures against them.

1. Upcoming matters to watch out for in propaganda content

At the informational meeting on the publishing industry, deputy department chief Li Dongsheng together with the head of the news and publishing department, Wu Shulin, made a speech. The leaders of the SARFT who attended sorted out the points they made into the following key points:

1. We must take up the main theme and create the atmosphere ahead of the 17^th Party Congress, and sing the praises of socialism. It is important to note that there are some unhealthy tendencies emerging related to contemporary history at some of the book fairs, and that these need careful investigation.
2. In books on military affairs we must be careful not to reveal too much about weapons and equipment so as to avoid giving fuel to the “China threat” theories in the West.
3. When dealing with momentous historic event, all reports much adhere strictly to the spirit of Document No. 29.
4. We must uphold the message of reform and opening up, without wavering. We must not advance the view that private property is a foregone conclusion.
5. We must water down anti-rightists material. We can’t say this in principle, but we must uphold the principle that the anti-rightist movements were necessary, but became seriously widespread. In a related topic, we must be prudent about how we refer to the independent spirit of Chinese intellectuals.
6. Warning against the growing incorrect trend of denying the great achievements of the Cultural Revolution and of the Party and Mao Zedong.
7. We must prevent the exposure of the judicial system in the name of ‘civil rights’
8. We must prevent journalistic scoops and exposes posing as public opinion research
9. We must prevent breaches of discipline where hot topics get blown up out of proportion, and encourage the number of stories which promote social stability, instead of inciting social contradictions.
10. We must remain politically clear-headed and stem the tide of Western propaganda. Recently it has been revealed that there is a problem with praising Western political systems.
11. Foreign-related propaganda needs to take note: It is forbidden to take it upon oneself to criticize the internal affairs of another country without authorization or to make mistakes stemming from the misuse of maps; cooperation on natural resources is something that we do but we don’t talk about; don’t amplify any issue relating to [the Korean kingdom of] Koryo; nor to the Nanjing Massacre, nor to the Lugouqiao incident [beginning of the Sino-Japanese war]. Our propaganda service must reflect the real situation and not impinge in any way upon the bigger picture of Sino-Japanese relations.
12. We must not take a Western view or standpoint, comment, speculate or call into question any major national project.
13. We must not make too much of the lifestyles of the super-rich.
14. Legal reports must not make a meal of sex crime stories, and women’s topics should not make too much of polygamy.
15. Reports pertaining to the Year of the Pig should take into account the minority nationalities, and in principle the character “Pig” should not be seen very often.
16. We should be of the same view as the Party central leadership at all times and maintain propaganda discipline for the happiness of the people. There are no forbidden areas in science and technology, there should be creative freedom, while publishers and broadcasters should be disciplined and Party members should be politically aware.
17. Anti-corruption stories should be reported from a positive angle; the reporting of corruption cases should not be used as an excuse to report on the keeping of mistresses and decadent lifestyles.
18. Cartoons from overseas are forbidden without authorization. We have too many now, and it is part of a growing westernization everywhere.
19. Reporting on the 90^th anniversary of the October Revolution should be strictly controlled; the breaking up of the Soviet Union should not be overstated.
20. We should not propagandize the independence of the universities. This will prevent a wrongful reinstatement of celebrations of the 30^th anniversary of the college entrance exam. We should suppress across the board any thoughts of reform in the education system.

(Director Wang emphasised that the above points are purely intended as a record of the meeting and that their circulation should be limited.)

4. CCTV was criticized for wrongly publishing an article on business tax on Dec. 22, 2006 in its “Riches Under Heaven” column in its Voice of Economics program which talked about an article in the Securities Daily having to do with the unification of the tax systems for Chinese and foreign enterprises under the “Business Tax Law”. SARFT emphasized that the lesson to be learned that questions pertaining to the overall propaganda line should be aired on one outlet only, so that reports from higher levels of government may bring the truth to people.

广电总局宣传管理司新闻通气会纪要（2007年第1期）
标签： 宣传 广电总局 出版 出版社 新闻
时间：2007年1月12日 星期五上午
地点：广电总局大楼二层会议室
主持：宣传管理司副司长 王丹彦
一、两会前，主流频道黄金时段报道计划要提前报审
近日，中宣部部长刘云山指示中央电视台，要求在今年“两会”前，新闻、专题和文艺节目的报道主题要突出展示十六大以来取得的成果；在确保宣传导向正确的同 时，要抓好文化娱乐节目，促进文化事业的繁荣，弘扬主旋律；要统筹规划，合理安排历史题材作品，以群众喜闻乐见的方式，开展中国现代史和中共党史的教育。 主流频道的黄金时间段的报道计划，要提前一个月上报审核。
二、警惕出版界“闯红灯”趋势
在近日举行的由中宣部副部长李东生主持的“出版工作专题情况通报会”上，对目前出版界出现的一些“闯红灯”问题提出严肃批评，受到点名批评的八个严重问题是：
1、上海文艺出版社：《沧桑》，一老干部写信说，看完此书会质疑我们打江山到底是为什么？
2、海南出版社：《我反对：人大代表的传奇故事》。
3、湖南文艺出版社：《八个京剧演员的生涯》，章诒和作。
4、中国广播电视出版社：《一个普通中国人的家族史》。
5、档案出版社：《我在人民日报副刊的生涯》。
6、友谊出版公司：《年代丛书》。
7、中国三峡出版社：随情书画系列。
8、甘肃文艺出版社：贱卖书号，5000元一个。
此外，在领导的发言中，还提到国际广播出版社出版的《如嫣@sars.com》(胡发云作)和《新闻界》，后者张扬记者独立良心，披露新闻界潜规则。
出席会议的领导认为，上述问题属于严重的政治错误，已经闯了禁行的“红灯”，新闻出版总署将对违规出版社作出取消出版书号等处理。
三、近期宣传内容需注意的问题
在“出版工作专题情况通报会”上，李东生副部长和新闻出版总署邬书林就当前宣传工作发表了讲话。出席会议的广电总局领导根据记录，对两位领导的讲话作了归纳整理。内容有：
1、要营造迎接十七大的氛围，唱响主旋律，歌颂社会主义好。值得注意的是，在最近的历史题材书目订货会上，出现不好的势头，要严格审查。
2、涉及军队题材要慎重，不能过分渲染武器装备，防止迎合西方的“中国威胁论”。
3、对重大历史事件、重要人物的宣传报道要严格遵守29号文的精神。
4、坚持改革开放不动摇，不能宣传肯定私有制的言论。
5、反右题材要淡化，原则上不要说。要坚持“反右是必要的，但是被严重的扩大化”的宣传口径。与此相关的，是关于公共知识分子独立精神的提法也要慎重。
6、警惕借否定文革，否定党和毛泽东同志伟大历史功绩的错误倾向。
7、防止借维权名义暴露司法内幕的倾向；
8、防止借舆论监督的名义搞新闻揭秘、暴露黑幕的倾向。
9、防止违纪片面炒作热点问题，要把维护社会稳定的文章做足，不要挑起社会矛盾。
10、不要为西方宣传推波助澜，缺乏政治上的清醒。近来的宣传暴露出有大力赞赏西方政治制度的问题。
11、涉外宣传要注意：不得擅自批评他国内政，防止地图使用错误；能源合作只做不说；与高丽有关的不要炒作；南京大屠杀、七七事变的纪念性报道，要坚持宣传服务现实原则，不要干扰中日关系大局。
12、不要站在西方立场和观点，评论、猜测、质疑国家重大工程。
13、不要过分渲染高端人群的贵族生活方式。
14、法制报道不要渲染性犯罪，女性话题不要过分关注于多角关系。
15、猪年的宣传要考虑到民族问题，原则上“猪”字少碰。
16、必须从与党中央保持一致、谋民福祉的高度去遵守宣传纪律，学术无禁区，创作有自由，出版（播出）有纪律，党员讲政治。
17、要从正面宣传反腐败典型，不能以反腐倡廉为由，渲染包二奶等庸俗生活方式。
18、不得擅自引进国外卡通片，现在引进过多，且重复，有西风烈、洋风盛的趋势。
19、十月革命90周年宣传要严格把关，不要渲染苏东解体。
20、不要宣传大学独立，防止借恢复高考30周年，全盘否定教育体制改革的思潮。
（王主任强调，以上观点仅为会议记录，在传达时要控制范围。）
四、央台错误选播涉及企业所得税问题文章受到批评
去年12月22日，中央人民广播电台《经济之声》频率的“天下财富”栏目，选播了某证券报的文章，对关系到中外企业统一税制的《企业所得税法》的评论存在 错误观点，广电总局在总结教训时强调，关于重大主题宣传的口径，一定要传达到一线节目编导，使上级的报道意图真正落到实处。