Chapter VII

A Diverse Media Landscape

Apart from freedom of relgion, also freedom of speech and press freedom are important ‘hu-
man rights’. In line with the ‘Yan’an Talles’, the Chinese Communist Party has controlled all
media since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, and also today, the Chinese
Communist Party Controls all media through government institutes such as the Ministiy of
Propaganda, the Leading Group for Propaganda and Education, the Leading Group for Home­
land Propaganda, and through its control over the two official news agencies: the press
agencies ‘New China’ (Xinhua she ) and ‘Chinese Press Agency’ (Zhongguo Xinwen
she The press agency ‘New China’ was established on August 1, 1937 in Yan’an
iÜEiè: as the successor to ‘Red China News’ (Hongse zhonghua tongximshe
that had been established in 1931. In 1949, the press agency ‘New China’ became the official
news agency of the People’s Republic of China. lts headquarters are in Beijing, and there are
branches of ‘New China’ in all provinces. While the press agency ‘New China’ basically
Controls the national media (including radio and television), ‘Chinese Press Agency’, es­
tablished in 1952, is the office through which the PRC transmits Chinese news to foreign
countries. The headquarters of ‘Chinese Press Agency’ are in Beijing, with branches in Guang-
dong, Fujian, Shanghai, Hong Kong, the United States, Japan, France, and Australia.
Each day, more than 310,000,000 newspapers and magazines are distributed. The Chi­
nese newspapers are grouped in 40 media groups. The most important newspapers are «Renmin
ribao» A1T; I I j:li , established in 1946, and the mouthpiece of the Central Committee of the
Chinese Communist Party; «Gnangming ribao» 0 IS., established in 1949 as the organ of
the Central Committee of the China Democratie League {Zhongguo minzhu tongmeng 'j1 |TI A
ff fll ) and, since 1952, the organ of the combined eight democratie parties (see Chapter V);
the «Gongren ribao» IC A 0 ff , established in 1949 and the organ of the All-China Federation
of Unions’ {Zhonghua quanguo liangonghui A ; see Chapter V); the «Zhongguo

nongmin bao» A H AKiflf , established in 1980; and the «Zhongguo qingnian bao» A HWA
ff , established in 1951, the newspaper of the Communist Youth League {Zhongguo
gongchandang qingniantuan ASAAfASfAX i see Chapter V).

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 Chinese television is controlled by the Chinese Central Television (CCTV) that, in its
turn, is subject to the Ministry of Propaganda. A Vice-Minister of this Ministry is director of
CCTV. Also the leadership of local television stations is appointed by the government.
With the ‘open door policies’ of the end of the 1970s, freedom of press ameliorated.
The number of publications, television and radio stations grew spectacularly. While there were
only 42 newspapers in China in 1968, there are about 2,200 newspapers and more than 8,000
magazines at present. China has 25,000 publishing houses, 1,000 television stations, and more
than 3,000 radio stations. Media channels in China have to balance between strict state control,
and the demands of the market.
As stated earlier, economie development has created social inequality. This social in-
equality has, in its tum, invoked criticism of the government. This partly explains why recent
years are characterized by an ever stricter censorship, especially since the so-called ‘Orange
Revolutions’, the Sunflower Movement in Taiwan, and the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong.
According to the “2015 Press Freedom Index” that investigates press freedom in 180
countries worldwide, China was on place number 176 (the top five countries for press freedom
in 2015 were Finland, Norway, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Sweden; Belgium was on place
15; the United States were on place 49; Russia was on place 152); Taiwan was on place 51, and
Hong Kong was on place 70. The People’s Republic of China was followed by Syria (place
177), Turkmenistan (place 178), North Korea (place 179), and Eritrea (place 180). Also in 2016
and 2017, China remained on place 176; Taiwan climbed to place 45; Hong Kong climbed to
place 69 in 2016, but feil back to place 73 in 2017. Since 2019, China’s (including Hong
Kong’s) position further deteriorated. According to the 2023 survey, Norway stands on position
1 for press freedom, Ireland on position 2, Denmark on position 3, Sweden on position 4, and
Finland on position 5. The Netherlands are in 6th place, Belgium in place 31, Taiwan in place
35, Russia in place 164, the PRC in place 179, only followed by North Korea in place 180.
A Survey done by ‘Freedom House’, an American non-profit organization, on internet
freedom in 70 countries that account for 89 percent of the world’s internet users, revealed that,
for the period May 2021—May 2022, the PRC ranks nr.70 (behind Iran and Myanmar), while
Taiwan ranks among the top 5 countries for internet freedom (aiong with, in order, Iceland,
Estonia, Costa Rica, Canada, Taiwan tied in with the united Kingdom).
China’s most liberal newspapers - «Southern Weekend», «Southern Metropolis» and
«Southern Daily» - are increasingly censured. In 2015, Alibaba, China’s largest internet
provider, has bought the most important English language newspaper of Hong Kong: the
«South China Morning Post». Also the disappearance of Lee Bo, a Hong Kong book seller and

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publisher, on 30 December 2015 has been typefied as ‘alarming’ by the world community. Lee
Bo is known as publisher and seller of publications about intrigues, corruption, and sex
scandals within the CCP. The fact that Lee Bo is a British Citizen residing in Hong Kong has
also raised questions as to the maintenance of the 1984 ‘Joint Declaration’ that stipulates the
‘One Country, Two Systems’ policy. Also the ‘Hong Kong Basic Law’ (see Chapter V) guaran-
tees freedom of speech and juridical independence. This incident has also raised alarm in Tai­
wan. The suspicion is that the disappearance of Lee Bo is the work of lower functionaries and
has no agreement of the higher echelons of the CCP.
In the beginning of 2015, a hst was published with seven topics about which it is not
allowed to speak in schools: universal values, freedom of press, civil rights, independent justice,
oligarchie capitalism, civil society, and historical mistakes of the CCP. A Party guideline issued
on 12 October 2015 States that it is not allowed for Party members to voice negative comments
or irresponsible remarks on CCP policies. In December 2015, Zhao Shaolin , party
secretary of Jiangsu, was arrested because of his criticism on government policies. Also party
leaders in Hebei and Guangxi were arrested for having criticized the Party. Lawyers who have
taken on civil cases have been arrested.
Also the historical difficult relation between the Party and the People’s Liberation Army
influences freedom of press. This is evident from the so-called ‘public opinion struggle’ (yulun
douzheng ) or ‘positive propaganda, public opinion struggle’ (zhengmian xuanchuan,
yulun douzheng that flared up in 2013. In the aftermath of the speech
President Xi Jinping gave on 19 August 2013 on ideology, a speech characterized by a rather
mild tone, this speech was interpreted by the Central Political Office of the PLA of 21 August
2013 as an appeal for ‘positive propaganda’. This Office was followed in its interpretation by
the «Zhongguo qingnian bao» rf:1 , the newspaper of the Communist Youth League of
30 August 2013. It may not come as a surprise that the latter newspaper interpreted the ‘public
opinion struggle’ as, essentially, a struggly against new social media.

Bibliography:
- Scotton, J. F. and Hachten, W. (eds.). New Media for a New China. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell,
2010,
- Tsai W. and Kao P. “Secret Codes of Political Propaganda: The Unknown System of Writing Teams”,
The China Quarterly 214, 2013, pp.394-410.

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