Zhou Xiaoping’s blog has been hailed by propaganda officials but widely mocked by scholars in China. Credit Andy Wong/Associated Press
Zhou Xiaoping, a rabid anti-American Chinese blogger, is being praised by Chinese officials for his blogs.
America has long used the Internet to poison Chinese civilization and manipulate public opinion to influence politics,” reads the essay posted on the website of Guangming Daily, a Communist Party-backed paper aimed at intellectuals. “Hackers are only the lowest level of this cyberwar.”
It is surprising that China’s wai xuan, or external propaganda, offices even recognize private citizens’ blogs.
Chinese President, Xi Jinping, speaking at a forum last month aimed at tightening political control of the arts, said the blogger exhibited “positive energy.”
Using ideological language reminiscent of the Cold War, Chinese officials have voiced conspiracy theories with relish, accusing foreigners, their companies, national agencies and nongovernmental organizations of plotting to weaken or overthrow the party. Chinese institutions with ties to Western entities, no matter how benign, have also come under attack. Meanwhile, state-run newspapers have taken to blaming “hostile foreign forces” for any major disturbance, whether it is ethnic violence in western China or student-led pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong.
The vilification of foreigners as enemies of China has been a staple of propaganda by the Communist Party since before its rise to power, and analysts say the leadership tends to ramp up such rhetoric when it feels under pressure at home.
- http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/12/world/asia/china-turns-up-the-rhetoric-against-the-west.html
The New York Times’ article goes on to link the anti-Western rhetoric to internal problems within China, the implication is that China is seeking to create a common enemy for its people to focus upon, the West.
Business relations between the US and China can be improved, the market currently at $350 billion could be much improved.
For now, the anti-US propaganda will continue and we will be watching and evaluating. Oh, and blogging.
Filed under: China, Information operations, Propaganda Tagged: Blogs, Zhou Xiaoping
