Economist Explains Why Global Media Promotes the CCP

In recent years, the Chinese Communist Party has been promoting several notions to describe China’s progress. The most significant ones are that there exists a growing middle class in China, that economic development will inevitably result in democracy, and that the Internet can contribute to freedom of speech.

In July 2005, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences promoted the theory that China has ten social classes. Renowned Chinese economist Ms. He Qinglian, who is the author of The Pitfall of Modernization and currently lives in exile in the United States, talked to The Epoch Times about the CCP’s promotion of social classes and about the response of international media.

Ms. He believes that the CCP and many outside groups with vested interests in China are eager to promote the two fairy tales. “The first is that economic growth will naturally bring a democratic political environment. The current situation in China proves that this is entirely a fairy tale. In my article ‘Gains and Losses of China’s Economic Reform,’ I called China’s current system ‘market economy plus dictatorship.’”

Ms. He said, “The current situation in China seems even worse than when I was there. The government beats and suppresses the disadvantaged who are fighting for their rights. Freedom of speech is diminishing. The power of government officials is dictated by private interest. The actions of the government are more under-the-table. Local officials act more like gang leaders.”

The second fairy tale is that the Internet will promote freedom of press in China. Even today, the CCP continues to arrest people for publishing articles critical of the government on the Internet. Some international technology companies originally claimed to be helping China to establish an Internet that was not controlled by the government, but tempted by material interest, they have given up their original promise. Furthermore, their technology helped the CCP establish the most comprehensive Internet monitoring and control system—the Golden Shield.

Ms. He also spoke about the role of major world media in creating these fairy tales. Many major media have long regarded the Chinese market as a vacuum, and they praise China in hopes that the Chinese government will open this huge market.

At the beginning of 2005, the French and British media were all abuzz about China. Since May, one after another, several widely circulated news magazines focused on China. The media reports give the impression that China is prosperous and full of hope. Although the Chinese government never promised any sort of government reform, the media made up one fairy tale of reform after another for the Chinese government.

For example, in the beginning of 2003, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, whose glamour as a market economy pioneer was fading, staged a new show. It claimed to be implementing government reform. A frenzy of international media reports appeared, calling it “a preview and an experiment in China’s next political system reform.” Actually, as Ms. He pointed out, it was not political reform at all, but merely an administrative reform. Ms. He tried to explain the difference between administrative and political reforms, but the media turned a deaf ear.

Shortly after the collapse of the “political reform” fairy tale, some well-known international media created the “media reform” fairy tale. On August 2, 2005, the Chinese Ministry of Culture, the General Administration of Press and Publication, and four other agencies jointly issued “Regulations on Strengthening the Control of Imports and Exports of Cultural Products.” The legislation shattered Western media’s dream of taking over the Chinese market.

The Chinese government never officially announced any intention to open up the media market, and Chinese officials in charge of publications also never said that the media should be reformed. On the contrary, they continued to stress the importance of increased control. For instance, Deputy Director of State Administration of Radio, Film and Television Xu Guangchun said in July 2003, “Several standards will never be changed. The media should be the mouthpiece of the Party. The Party should administer the personnel in media and media organizations, and the media are still responsible for guiding public opinion in the right direction.” Deputy Minister of Propaganda Li Congjun also unambiguously said, “Chinese media companies should operate according to a business model. They should also pay attention to their ideology and correctly guide the direction of the media.”

Ms. He said that she was not opposed to foreign media coming into the Chinese market. The only thing she opposes is giving up the freedom of press to meet the political needs of dictators. These media bowed to the dictators, which is something they wouldn’t do in their home countries, yet they did not gain the market in return. The reason of their failure is that they don’t understand that in the media business in China, capital only comes second. Of utmost importance is still politics.

Ms. He said that the Chinese government’s attitude to the foreign media is analogous to a story about a farmer and a donkey. To make the donkey walk faster, the farmer would wave a bunch of grass in front of the donkey’s nose. The Chinese government has played the farmer in the last few years, while the foreign media have been willing donkeys. The “grass” was the implied approval for the foreign media to enter the Chinese market. The dictatorship has shown the people of the world that the principles of freedom, democracy, and truth are only used to disguise the true desire—profit.

Chinese Leader Hu Jintao’s most recent visit to the United States was downplayed by the biggest media companies who had previously sung praises of the Chinese government. Ms. He explained that these companies were not motivated because the Chinese government just recently closed their opportunity to make money in the Chinese market.

Mr. He believes that democracy will be a reality in China, but it is not the case today. The concept of a growing middle class in China, the theory that economic development will inevitably bring about a democratic political system, and the idea that the Internet can be used to promote freedom of the press in China are all fabricated by the Chinese government and promoted to the international community and to the Chinese people across the world.