Chinese President Hu Jintao warns of cultural warfare from West
The West is using cultural warfare to divide China, Chinese President Hu Jintao warned the Communist Party on Monday.
Chinese President Hu Jintao warns of cultural warfare from West
By Peter Simpson in Beijing
5:12PM GMT 02 Jan 2012
Mr Hu called on the 80 million-plus Party members to fight "hostile international powers" and meet the "cultural demands" of the people.
"Hostile international powers are strengthening their efforts to Westernise and divide us," Mr Hu wrote in the latest edition of Communist Party's magazine, Seeking the Truth.
"We must be aware of the seriousness and complexity of the struggles and take powerful measures to prevent and deal with them," he warned in his article.
Mr Hu was writing in the revolutionary magazine used by Chairman Mao to spread his ideology after it was launched in 1958.
"The international culture of the West is strong while we are weak," Mr Hu's article said. "Ideological and cultural fields are their [western forces'] main targets," Mr Hu wrote.
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He also said the Party must meet the "growing spiritual and cultural demands of the people".
The call to arms against the West's perceived collective cultural genocidal policy follows recent Government orders to propaganda officials to push harder China's expensive global "soft power" drive.
The Communist Party is splashing out 45 billion yuan (£4 billion) to expand its overseas media, including a United States and UK edition of the state-run and heavily censored China Daily, the state news agency Xinhua, and China Central Television's (CCTV) multilingual news and culture programming.
Overseas Confucius Institutes have also sprung up to try and win over a sceptical international audience impressed by Beijing's economic success but wary of its harsh authoritarian governance.
Mr Hu's article is also part of general Party rhetoric aimed at countering the growing influence of the internet and increasing commercialism in China all of which is leading to a more confident and louder public criticism of the government.
Spooked since the start of the Arab Spring uprisings a year ago, Beijing has been further tightening internet and media control in an attempt to "improve positive publicity" and guide public opinion.
Western-style TV programmes such as talent shows which have proved a huge hit in China have also been targeted in the crackdown.
In November, the country's media watchdog banned advertisements during television dramas.
However, Western tastes and themes, including festivals such as Christmas and Valentines' Day, are growing in popularity among the middle classes and young, And it's not just western ideology that threatens the Party's desire for strong red culture at home and abroad.
A walk down any main street in a first or second tier Chinese city reveals how China's internet-savvy youth are fast-becoming fashion conscious and are adopting the hairstyle, clothes and musical tastes of their cutting-edge peers in neighbouring South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
The West is using cultural warfare to divide China, Chinese President Hu Jintao warned the Communist Party on Monday.
Chinese President Hu Jintao warns of cultural warfare from West
By Peter Simpson in Beijing
5:12PM GMT 02 Jan 2012
Mr Hu called on the 80 million-plus Party members to fight "hostile international powers" and meet the "cultural demands" of the people.
"Hostile international powers are strengthening their efforts to Westernise and divide us," Mr Hu wrote in the latest edition of Communist Party's magazine, Seeking the Truth.
"We must be aware of the seriousness and complexity of the struggles and take powerful measures to prevent and deal with them," he warned in his article.
Mr Hu was writing in the revolutionary magazine used by Chairman Mao to spread his ideology after it was launched in 1958.
"The international culture of the West is strong while we are weak," Mr Hu's article said. "Ideological and cultural fields are their [western forces'] main targets," Mr Hu wrote.
Related Articles
He also said the Party must meet the "growing spiritual and cultural demands of the people".
The call to arms against the West's perceived collective cultural genocidal policy follows recent Government orders to propaganda officials to push harder China's expensive global "soft power" drive.
The Communist Party is splashing out 45 billion yuan (£4 billion) to expand its overseas media, including a United States and UK edition of the state-run and heavily censored China Daily, the state news agency Xinhua, and China Central Television's (CCTV) multilingual news and culture programming.
Overseas Confucius Institutes have also sprung up to try and win over a sceptical international audience impressed by Beijing's economic success but wary of its harsh authoritarian governance.
Mr Hu's article is also part of general Party rhetoric aimed at countering the growing influence of the internet and increasing commercialism in China all of which is leading to a more confident and louder public criticism of the government.
Spooked since the start of the Arab Spring uprisings a year ago, Beijing has been further tightening internet and media control in an attempt to "improve positive publicity" and guide public opinion.
Western-style TV programmes such as talent shows which have proved a huge hit in China have also been targeted in the crackdown.
In November, the country's media watchdog banned advertisements during television dramas.
However, Western tastes and themes, including festivals such as Christmas and Valentines' Day, are growing in popularity among the middle classes and young, And it's not just western ideology that threatens the Party's desire for strong red culture at home and abroad.
A walk down any main street in a first or second tier Chinese city reveals how China's internet-savvy youth are fast-becoming fashion conscious and are adopting the hairstyle, clothes and musical tastes of their cutting-edge peers in neighbouring South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
