On June 20, the China Daily, an English-language Chinese propaganda newspaper aimed at the world outside China, announced that it was launching the “Edgar Snow Newsroom” in what it says is “an effort to give full play to the role of its senior foreign experts and international friends,” as it tries to find a modern version of the late US journalist to help whitewash the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The announcement followed a statement by Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), who in March said that “China hopes to welcome more Snows of the new era.”
Perry Link, an expert on China’s economy, was reported as pouring cold water on the idea, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and the Chinese leadership are not looking for a new Edgar Snow, but some “useful idiots.”
With crises in the Xinjiang region, Hong Kong and among China’s financial technology giants, and the West resisting its expansionism internationally, the CCP did not look at ease as it celebrated its centennial.
Wordplay of sarcastic remarks aimed at Xi circulating in China hit the nail on the head: If the disease that is admiration of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東) cannot be cured, it will be difficult to get rid of Xi and his “bad habits”; it is the “Mao disease” that has nurtured Xi’s “bad habits.”
Xi’s think tank defers to him as it tries to sidestep the real problem by employing whitewashing and busies itself with exporting propaganda, promoting the Chinese system and highlighting its innocent victims.
In doing so, they want to create an Edgar Snow clone, as Snow was used by the CCP to promote the party’s “virtuous” policies, show how close it was to the country’s farmers, and expose the corruption of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
In 1936, Snow infiltrated the CCP’s base in Yanan, Shaanxi Province, and stayed there for five months. He had long conversations with Mao, Zhu De (朱德) and other senior cadres.
The following year, Snow’s book Red Star Over China was published. It influenced the US’ view of the CCP.
In 1970, Mao used Snow to convey Beijing’s message that it wished to mend fences with the US, which led to then-US president Richard Nixon’s icebreaking trip to China.
Snow went to China at the age of 22, a romantic who knew nothing about the country, a “useful idiot” who reported everything that was told to him.
In the mysterious and revolutionary Yanan soviet, Snow was easily brainwashed and there was no way the KMT, which he had already decided was corrupt, could convince him otherwise. When his book was published, he became famous overnight.
Xi wants to imitate Mao, but the conditions are different: The outside world sees right through the CCP’s problems, and the isolation and secrecy of Snow’s day are long gone.
When Snow visited China, leftist communism was the “historical trend.” Now, communism has run out of steam, and the CCP is swimming against the tide by suppressing liberal democracy. It will not be easy for Xi to find his useful idiots.
The CCP, which once criticized Confucius, abused his “sacred” name by engaging in an infiltration campaign that established Confucius Institutes around the world, only to be forced to shutter them when the world saw through its ruse. Now the party is looking for a new Edgar Snow; it will have to look for money-hungry useful idiots.
James Wang is a media commentator.
Translated by Perry Svensson
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS