Uninitiated parties have always been full of well-disposed expectations toward China's reforms. The word "well-disposed" means that no matter what reforms the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announce or what the intent of these reforms are, these parties will do their utmost to look at such announcements and intent from a positive perspective and hope for a new spring. Such wishful thinking also exists toward China's "media reforms."
It is said that the plans for reforming China's newspaper industry, which are now being drafted include the central leadership in future keeping only the People's Daily, the Guangming Daily, the Economic Daily and Qiushi (Seeking Truth). All other government-level, industrial, ministerial and committee publications will be separated from their original party or government agencies, and they will have to re-register as enterprises. Foreign and private domestic capital will be allowed to invest in the broadcast media, but they will not be allowed to own more than 40 percent of the shares.
The public generally holds this draft in high regard, and even the Apple Daily in Hong Kong, which has never been averse to criticizing the CCP, also calls it "an important first step for political system reform" and "the true beginning of public monitoring."
Outside circles have in fact always overlooked the difference between "system adjustment" and "system change" when observing China's reform efforts. The CCP has always restricted its reform efforts to things such as opening up party and government, reform-ing the administrative system or improving government efficiency. All these things are mere adjustments to the sub-structure of the original system.
True reform, ie, adjustments to the system itself, lie in the relaxation of the control on newspapers, general elections and other things that the CCP always has refused.
Take the newspaper industry as an example -- its separation from party and government is in fact merely a structural adjustment within the system. The central government says that it will not interfere in media operations, but continued persistence in unified control of top-level newspaper staff such as presidents and chief editors means that its media control remains essentially unchanged.
The reason for reforming the newspaper industry is simply that party and government institutions are in charge of a large number of media, and the burden is too great. Last year, 9,029 periodicals and 2,137 newspapers were published in China, and the state was res-ponsible for all their profits and losses. The purpose of the CCP's reform of the newspaper industry is to rid itself of this millstone and ease the financial burden.
Yu Guoming (喻國明), director of the Public Opinion Research Institute at Chinese People's University, estimates that more than 3,900 periodicals and more than 930 newspapers will disappear from the market once they start operating independently.
The elimination of a millstone in the face of financial collapse -- this is the real purpose behind the "reform" of newspapers. It is totally unrelated to political reform or public monitoring. So-called reform is just the CCP metaphor for some unavoidable policy adjustments. If the party is serious about media reform and about relaxing media control, the most important standard would be to allow private newspapers. If it is unable to do this, then all talk about independent public opinion is just empty talk.
In today's China, we shouldn't talk about relaxing the control on newspapers. There is still a long way to go to even relax regulations on the freedom of speech. While the CCP rashly announces the reform of the newspaper industry, the authorities are tightening their control over freedom of speech on the Internet. People are constantly being arrested for expressing dissenting opinions on the Internet.
Beijing Xinbao, which was ordered to rectify itself for publishing an article called "Seven disgusting Chinese phenomena," thought it would be able to temporarily withstand the pressure by closing the paper and reflect on its mistakes. However, the CCP's Publicity Department ordered the paper's registration cancelled and that it be closed permanently. Would the CCP behave in such a contradictory manner if the newspaper "reforms" were meant to relax controls on public opinion?
It is one thing to truly adjust the systemic relationship between state and society and establish a democratic system. It is a different thing to adjust policies because one is forced to in order to stabilize the foundation for one's rule. There is a vast difference between the two that outside circles must understand.
Wang Dan was a student leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry