ENCOUNTER WITH SOUTHWEST CHINA PROPAGANDA OFFICIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 CHENGDU 000285

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM AND INR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/7/2017
TAGS: PGOV CH SOCI
SUBJECT: ENCOUNTER WITH SOUTHWEST CHINA PROPAGANDA OFFICIAL

CHENGDU 00000285 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General, Chengdu, China.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (C) Summary: Openly disparaging of the Communist Party's
standard propaganda manual, a young Kunming City propaganda
department official in southwest China told us of his hopes to
work his way up to a comfortable job in a state enterprise.
Among other "pearls of wisdom," the widely available propaganda
manual highlights the importance of careful management of the
internet to prevent foreign "ideological infiltration and notes
that "feeding propaganda" to foreigners should be approached
differently than internal agitprop. End summary.




2. (C) A Kunming, Yunnan Province Communist Party Committee
Propaganda Department official introduced himself to Congenoff,
whom he had noticed reading the 2003 Red Flag Press book
"Practical Manual for Party Propaganda Work" during one of our
recent trips to the city. The worker volunteered the book was
too abstract and divorced from the practicalities of everyday
propaganda work. He remarked that his ideological studies had
made him skilled in analyzing arguments to see the "naked
interests that lay underneath their ideological clothing."




3. (C) The official, in his late twenties, said he had received
a degree in computer science and then worked for Hitachi in
Japan for three years. Back in Kunming, he found the local job
market tough but eventually latched onto a position with the
Kunming City Party Committee Propaganda Department. His
eventual goal was to get a job at a state-run company. His
ideal job, he said, would be to work for the tobacco monopoly, a
very large and profitable state enterprise.



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Highlights of 2003 "Practical Manual for Party Propaganda Work"

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4. (SBU) This 2003 Red Flag Publishing House, purchased at the
Kunming Xinhua Bookstore is also widely available online. Hu
Jintao in his foreword to the book wrote "If the masses are not
guided by a scientific theory as the push forward social change,
they cannot succeed... As times change our thinking and
understanding too must move forward~ the theoretical basis of
the Party, must based on what we have inherited from the past
constantly absorb new experiences and new thinking." In the
first section of the "Propaganda Manual" Hu Jintao and others
expound on the "Three Represents" of former Party Secretary
Jiang Zemin.




5. (SBU) As the propaganda worker warned, the book, and
especially the first section, is very dull reading. The next
sections on the theory, purposes and methods of Party propaganda
work are more enlightening.



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Goals of Party Propaganda

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6. (U) The goal of Party propaganda is to mold generation after
generation of new socialist people. (p. 80)

-- Insist on positiveness in propaganda. News reporting should
hold to the positiveness principle by handling properly the
balance praise and exposing problems. In any case, reader
should be left with feelings of encouragement, trust, courage
and hope. (p. 82 - 82)

-- Party propaganda must serve the purposes of the Party
center and give guidance to the people (p. 82)

-- Propaganda should saturate society. The object of a
propaganda message needs to get the message continually and from
many different sources including books, movies, periodicals and

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the Internet. The experience of the Party shows that messages
from many sources re-enforce one another. Different people and
groups need to get the message in a way that is suitable for
them. (pp. 88 - 89)

-- The Internet has an ever greater impact on people's thinking.
People outside mainland China are always plotting ways to
infiltrate China ideologically. We need to strengthen our
management of news websites and other websites.

-- Make clear to everyone that development is the number one
task for China and the Party. Development is the key to
solving all the problems facing China today. Ideological
awareness and strength is an important dimension of China's
overall national strength. (p. 98)



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Methods of Party Propaganda

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7. (U) Preparing the masses for a change in the Party line is
an art form. The change must be subtle and gradual so as not to
upset people, always keeping in mind the capacity of the masses
to accept change. With changes in the line, propaganda
intensifies so that it penetrates everywhere. (pp. 107 - 108)



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Propagandizing Foreigners

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8. (U) Feeding propaganda to foreigners is done differently
from domestic propaganda work. The first task is learning about
your propaganda target, keeping in mind that the targets of
foreign propaganda are different from the targets of domestic
propaganda. The approach will also vary according to the
country or area of the person.

-- Take a subtler and gentler approach. Present facts and let
them draw their own conclusions. Explain what the foreigner
doesn't understand, even over simplifying if necessary. Avoid
using propaganda slogans or saying things that might cause
disagreement.

-- Make use of visitors to China to spread the propaganda
message overseas. Be sure to give the foreigners only what they
can accept. Take care that what they see and their experiences
in China will, when they return home, help to build an image of
China in the minds of the people of the world. (p. 118)

-- Other methods include arranging interviews for the friendly
foreign press, submitting articles to Xinhua and other Chinese
publications aimed at foreign audiences and attention to the
positiveness of TV programming on the closed circuit TV system
of hotels frequented by foreigners. (pp. 118 - 119)

-- Make sister city agreements with foreign cities.

-- Plan tourist group itineraries so visitors will get a
positive impression of China.

---Arrange for tour group guides and interpreters to subscribe
to foreign language Chinese magazines destined for foreign
audiences.



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Religion

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9. (U) While respecting the principle of religious freedom,
strengthen education of the masses, and of young people in
particular, in dialectical materialism. As Lenin said, religion

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and foolishness are the deepest roots of religion. Thus the
roots of religion will last for a long time to come. We have no
alternative but to implement a policy of religious freedom and
not of compulsion. Through education in socialist culture and
civilization, we will weaken the roots of religion. The role of
Party propaganda is to uphold the rights of both believers and
non-believers and not allow religion to be used to harm the
country.

-- In recent years, there has been some propaganda that does
not comply with the Party's religion policy that has offended
believers. We should not use words that offend believers. If
in doubt about whether propaganda is too sensitive, contact the
United Front Department [Tongzhanbu] for advice.

-- Religion is a particularly sensitive topic in international
affairs. We should be especially careful to correctly present
the Party's policy on religion to foreigners.

-- Religious publications should be closely controlled. Foreign
publications are not allowed. Literature and art works should
treat religions matters properly. (pp. 124 - 125)



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Nationalities

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10. (U) The top priority is to uphold the principle of unity of
all China's nationalities.

--- It is essential not to equate the reasonable demands for
autonomy under the Party's minorities policy with splittism.

-- Throughout the entire country, propaganda should stress that
the unity of the Han nationality and of the national minorities.

--- While minority people should be encouraged to learn Chinese,
minority languages should be respected and promoted. (p. 125 -
126)




11. (U) The concluding section on the art of making speeches
discusses not only Mao Zedong but also Ronald Reagan and
Lincoln's Second Inaugural. (pp. 237, 242).
BOUGHNER