Yanru Chen Communication Campaigns and National Integration in China’s Market Economy Era Reviving the National Soul Communication Campaigns and National Integration in China’s Market Economy Era Yanru Chen Communication Campaigns and National Integration in China’s Market Economy Era Reviving the National Soul 13 Yanru Chen Xiamen University Xiamen China ISBN 978-981-287-732-1 ISBN 978-981-287-733-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-733-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2015947415 Springer Singapore Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 This work is subject to copyright All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made Printed on acid-free paper Springer Science+Business Media Singapore Pte Ltd is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction 1.2 In Search of China’s National Soul: Is the Nation Falling Apart? 1.2.1 Ideological Schism—Is There an Identity Crisis? 1.2.2 Party-State-Nation: Consequences of Structural Differentiation 11 1.2.3 Historical Discontinuity—A Spiritual Vacuum 13 1.2.4 Substantive Conflicts—Does the Nation Seem Fair to All? 16 1.3 Reaching the Soul of the Nation: Empirical Justification for Study 17 References 19 Theoretical Foundations of the Study 21 2.1 Literature Review 21 2.1.1 Communication in National Development 21 2.1.2 Mass Mobilisation and National Integration: The Role of Communications 24 2.1.3 Mass Campaigns—an Old Topic, a New Perspective 28 2.2 Theoretical Horizons of the Study 30 2.2.1 An Overview of Prospect 30 2.2.2 Further Elaboration on Theoretical Significance of the Study 33 References 37 Empirical Approaches to the Study 39 3.1 Again, What Is This Study? 39 3.2 Approach to the Analysis 40 3.2.1 Why These Specific Cases? 40 v vi Contents 3.2.2 Main Sources of Data 42 3.2.3 Basic Analytical Procedures 43 3.3 Possible Outcomes 44 References 44 A Nation in Action: Communication and China’s Bid for Year 2000 Olympics 45 4.1 Introduction: A Moment of Experience of the Nation 45 4.2 Analysis: From the Bid to a Collective Experience of the Nation 46 4.2.1 Nationalising a Wish for the Bid: The Media as Articulator 47 4.2.2 Declaring—Displaying National Will: The Media as Facilitator 52 4.2.3 Demonstrating National Work: The Media as an Integrating Interpreter 58 4.2.4 Final Presentation of Wish—Will—Work: The Nation Experienced as One 65 4.2.5 Re-affirming National Strength and Redefining National Mission 72 4.3 Conclusion 77 References 79 Beyond the Planned Campaign: Construction of the “Nation” in the Bid for Olympics 83 5.1 Awareness—Activation–Action: Constructing a “Nation” 83 5.1.1 Spreading Awareness, Stimulating Participation—The Bid Links the Nation 84 5.1.2 Activating Awareness of the Bid: Relating the Individual to the Nation 86 5.1.3 Action in Support of the Bid: Mass Participation in the Nation 88 5.1.4 Aligning All the Chinese: Projecting All-inclusiveness of the Nation 94 5.2 “The Whole China Is Mobilised”—Featured in Foreign Eyes 97 5.2.1 IOC’s Appreciation of Beijing’s Bid Report 97 5.2.2 IOC Members’ Quoted Impression of Beijing/China 97 5.2.3 Reporting on the Other Bidding Cities: Beijing Is Strong! 98 5.2.4 International Expressions of Support—Integrated into National Strength 100 5.2.5 Covering Objections to Beijing: National Will Re-affirmed 101 Contents vii 5.3 Conclusions 102 5.3.1 Defining the Nation: The Bid as a Process of National Integration 102 5.3.2 Idealism—Pragmatism–Idealism: Metamorphosis of Promotional Thrust in Relation to the Nation 103 5.3.3 The Media’s Integrating Framework for Reporting and Interpretation 104 References 105 In Memory of Mao: Re-making a Nation Maker 109 6.1 Introduction 109 6.1.1 The Emergence of Mao Craze in the 1990s 110 6.2 The Commemoration: Integrating Straying Sentiments Under One Head 112 6.2.1 Re-placing Mao’s Ideologies—Official Line: Continuity from Mao to Deng 113 6.2.2 Re-interpreting Mao’s Ideologies—Academic Line Integrated with Party Line 119 6.2.3 Re-enacting Mao’s Personal Image: Mao and His People as One 121 6.2.4 Mass Participation 126 6.3 Conclusions: Integrating Mao into Post-Mao China 127 6.3.1 A Non-campaign Campaign: Notes on the Process 127 6.3.2 Levels of Integration Manifest in the Process 127 6.3.3 The Campaign and the Identity—Strength—Mission of the Nation 129 References 130 Revealing the National Soul: 50th Anniversary of Victory Over Japanese Invasion 133 7.1 Introduction: A Fully Planned Case 133 7.2 The Analysis: History as Resources for National Integration 135 7.3 Re-enactment of History: A Portrait of Collective Resistance 137 7.3.1 Telling the Story: And Telling You How to Read It 137 7.3.2 Dramatising History 140 7.3.3 Displaying History 141 7.4 Interpretation of History: How to Place the Actors in the Portrait 143 7.5 Abstraction of Patriotic Theme from History: Interaction Between the People and the “Nation” 146 7.6 Direction for the Campaign: Towards a Guided Conception of the Nation 148 7.6.1 Official Directives 148 7.6.2 Media Editorials as Directives for Education 152 viii Contents 7.7 Sublimation: The Moments Glorified—Reaching the Soul of the Nation 154 7.8 Immortalisation: Preserving References to the National Soul 156 7.8.1 Mass Participation in Creating National Memory 156 7.8.2 Cast in Stone: Physical Concentration of National Memory 158 7.8.3 Into Personal Memory: Knowledge Contests 158 7.9 Conclusions 159 References 162 8 Conclusions 165 8.1 Changing Environment of Campaigns 165 8.2 Comparative Analysis of Mechanisms of Campaigns 169 8.2.1 National Time and National Space: Grounded Concepts 171 8.3 Campaigns and the Construction of “Nation” 173 8.4 National Integration—Concertedness; Continuity; Compatibility 176 8.5 Role of the Media in the Campaigns 179 8.6 “Communications and National Integration” Revisited 182 References 189 Revelations from Recent Campaigns 191 9.1 A Campaign that Started After Its Conclusion: Bid for Year 2008 Olympics 192 9.1.1 The Bidding Campaign Became a Celebration Campaign 194 9.1.2 Comparing the Bid for Year 2000 Olympics and Bid for Year 2008 Olympics 200 9.2 Demonstrating National Strength: 50th Anniversary of the PRC 203 9.3 Strengthening the Party: Celebrating CCP’s 80th Anniversary 205 9.4 Calls for National Unity and Stability: Three Campaigns Against Negative Forces (1999–) 209 9.4.1 Harnessing National Emotions: Campaign Against U.S Hegemony 210 9.4.2 Promoting National Integration: Campaign Against “Two Nations Theory” 213 9.4.3 Uniting All Against One Evil: Campaign Against Falun Gong Cult 215 9.5 All People of One Heart: Campaign Against the Flood in 1998 219 9.6 Revelations on Propaganda Techniques from the Campaigns 225 9.7 Concluding Remarks 229 References 232 Bibliography 235 List of Tables Table 4.1 Table 4.2 Table 4.3 Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 5.3 Table 5.4 Table 6.1 Table 7.1 Table 7.2 Table 8.1 People’s Daily special forum on Olympics 51 Cable messages of support from mass organisations 71 Chinese State Leaders’ direct messages in support of Beijing 79 Reports of support for Beijing’s bid from Hong Kong Chinese 95 Reports of support from Chinese in regions other than Hong Kong 95 Media reports on IOC members’ visits to Beijing 99 Themes of media reports on other bidding cities 100 Official forums commemorating Mao 115 Theoretical abstractions of patriotism 147 Directives for patriotic education from leaders and experts 149 A summary comparison of three campaigns 173 ix Chapter Introduction To any nation in the world, patriotism is a banner that never fades; to any era in history, patriotism is a theme that never vanishes; to any people, patriotism is a torch that never fails to bring their hearts together …Patriotism is the spiritual propeller for building a strong, socialist China Yin Yungong, “Patriotism”, in Guangming Daily, January 1993 1.1 Introduction This study is the outcome of long-term systematic observation of China’s national events, combined with reflections on the possible effect (or lack of it) of such events which might create a spiritual bond holding the nation together for the purpose of development Specifically, the chunk of this study consists of analyses of three national campaigns: bid for year 2000 Olympics, commemoration of Chairman Mao’s 100th anniversary, and celebration of the 50th anniversary of China’s victory over Japanese invasion The main concern is whether and how these campaigns figured in the process of spiritually integrating the nation, as well as the role of the media in the processes In the larger social context, impetuous forces of a market economy have been pulling at individuals and institutions and tearing at the social and cultural fabric in all directions besides that of striving for the national good (Watson 1992) Politically, this trend has not been explicitly acknowledged by the national leaders, who albeit revealed their concern with the challenge in their public emphasis on the urge to forge a stronger cohesive force and cultivate “socialist” and “traditional Chinese” virtues which value collectivism above pursuit of individual interests Former Premier Li Peng’s Report on Government Work (Li 1993) included such evidence © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016 Y Chen, Communication Campaigns and National Integration in China’s Market Economy Era, DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-733-8_1 224 9 Revelations from Recent Campaigns By now, as the battle against flood drew near its conclusion, an originally unprecedented disaster had been turned into an occasion for promoting human triumph over natural circumstances What might have been lamentations over losses had been turned into paeans of praise of the Party, the state, the military, and the people—in short, all the functional components of the nation well integrated structurally and spiritually In this sense, the flood-fighting campaign witnessed true national integration, the process of which benefited from the propaganda carried out by the media that closely followed the Party’s instructions The coordination function of the media magnified itself during the campaign For example, shortly after the national media reported that certain types of goods were lacking in the flooded areas, responses from enterprises and individuals would arise from various sectors of the society, donating just what was most badly needed This case could have received scholarly analysis as a case of crisis management But this book pegs itself on “the role of the media and communication” in all the relevant cases, and hence it takes on a different perspective, highlighting media propaganda in the course of events, which turned out to have worked mightily in a great crisis Without the media, it would have been immensely difficult to spread around the whole country a sense of one-heartedness and lift the morale of the entire population After all, only several provinces were afflicted with the disaster, and most other people still had to go about their own business So why should all be concerned about the afflicted? The media gave the reasons by extensive reporting and organising activities such as benefit performances both on TV and in the forefront of the fight Editorialising, theorising, sublimating, glorifying, romanticising—the media succeeded in turning the flood into a grand arena in which each actor (government, Party, military and the public) unfolded remarkable stories Worthy of mention is the fact that the business enterprises and the entire commercial sector for that matter had a lot to give during the campaign and gained more in the way of publicity After all, China had already marched into its market economy era, and both individuals and institutions had cultivated a strong commercial consciousness The great Russian poet Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin once wrote, “All that’s past is endeared unto our memory” The media undoubtedly helped to engrave the summer-1998 campaign against flood on the Chinese mind as a memory of glory …And the media did not allow the glory to fade from our national memory Three years later, on August 2001, the 54th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army, a special pseudo-event occurred in memory of the battle and was duly reported by Guangming Daily on August The family members of 17 martyred soldiers were organised by the government to visit the place in Hubei Province where their loved ones had given their youthful lives for the people during the fight against flood These included the much lauded model army officer Gao Jiancheng, who had been commended by the Central Military Committee soon after he was martyred Now the report in the newspaper was intent on touching the readers “The 80-year-old mother of Gao Jiancheng approached the statue of her son and said, ‘How I miss you…it was the care and concern from the Party 9.5 All People of One Heart: Campaign Against the Flood in 1998 225 and the government that carried me through these three years.’ Gao’s widowed wife, accompanying her mother-in-law, muttered these words, ‘Don’t worry about us The superiors have been looking after our welfare, and I will devote my life and energy to cultivating our daughter into a person like you, who is useful to the nation…’ Gao’s daughter also uttered her determination that she would ‘do well in school.’…” The feature report in Guangming Daily was entitled “On Army Day, the Hero’s Mother Comes to Paizhou Bay (the place where the soldiers had been martyred)”—an eye-catching and heart-moving title, because the locale is still fresh in many people’s memories Indeed, August marked the anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army, and it was celebrated each year But the day in 1998 gave it special meaning, because some of the army martyrs died on that day while fighting the flood, as was mentioned above, and as the Chinese revolutionary tradition and ritual have it, they ought to be remembered The media report capitalised upon this opportunity to remind the public of the fight and of the martyrs, whose relatives were invariably shown as carrying on in the spirit of their loved ones, thus keeping alive their memories It was only now, three years later, that a sense of sadness and sorrow exuded itself through the media It was actually expressed by the survivors, but at least the media allowed such expression Understandably, three years ago, when the fight was at a critical juncture, tears were to be withheld People had to fight back some of their emotions in order to win the fight against that flood The flood had been cruel in claiming the lives of many And all the victims were humans capable of weeping and grieving The delayed open expression of such emotions witnessed to the well-harnessed selective power of the media, which throughout the campaign acted in tune with the greater dictates on propaganda 9.6 Revelations on Propaganda Techniques from the Campaigns All the 10 campaigns in this book inform us that the media could maximise their role with concentrated, focused, organised reporting according to the specific needs and dictates of overall propaganda during different stages of each campaign Another technique was supplementing straight news stories with large numbers of features, to give a “human face” to the events/campaigns, reflecting the Chinese ideal of balance between emotion and ration Through such organised reporting, a sense of national order could be conveyed through the media to the public regardless of the circumstances Still another technique is equally important, and that is the media could define the nature and scope of different situations according to the warrants of the greater political and social contexts Moreover, a striking revelation from the campaigns is that the media are powerful instruments for harnessing and directing mass sentiments of various kinds towards a constructive 226 9 Revelations from Recent Campaigns end Traditional literature in mass communication research tended to emphasise the cognitive functions of the media, overlooking their affective functions, which require further exploration in future cases As for the highlighting and featuring of various ceremonies during each campaign, we might term the process “solemnisation” akin to religious rituals Speaking of rituals, we identify three parallel processes during the campaigns, especially the celebration and commemoration campaigns, which have become much of fixed mechanisms—ritualisation, routinisation, and rationalisation In simpler words, future campaign organisers can follow the formula and conduct similar campaigns with expected success, granted that the external and larger context of the nation remains stable The potential risk in such practice lies in the fact that so far we often see much “procession” through campaigns, which does not really mean “progression” Like a machine that keeps running, it does not get anywhere Mere procession, though spectacular to watch and exciting to go through, does not advance the nation towards true prosperity The 10 campaigns analysed in this book can be further categorised as follows: Three celebration campaigns (planned by the government and the media) – 50th anniversary of victory against Japanese aggression – 50th anniversary of the PRC – 80th anniversary of the CCP commemoration campaign (planned by the Party) – Mao Zedong’s 100th anniversary Two bidding campaigns for Olympics (planned by the government) – bid for year 2000 Olympics (over-heated by the media) – bid for year 2008 Olympics (signification started after its conclusion) Three campaigns against negative forces – campaign against American hegemony, protesting NATO bombing of Chinese embassy (unexpected event followed up by planned propaganda) – campaign against Taiwanese leaders’ “theory of two nations” – campaign against Falun Gong cult One campaign against natural disaster – campaign against the summer-1998 flood (planned by the media and the government as a mass mobilisation campaign) Another revelation from these campaigns is that over a period that spanned nearly 10 years since 1992, the role of the media has not changed fundamentally during the campaigns, always in line with the greater demands and dictates of national interests as defined by the Party and the government This indicates relative social and political stability What remains intriguing to communication researchers is whether the Chinese people’s mentality has changed to a significant extent during this period, through which we can better assess the effects of the media One thing that makes these contemporary campaigns different from those in the 1950s–1970s is that currently there is a widening gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged classes among the Chinese population, who would respond differently to the same campaigns In the past, traditional campaigns succeeded not just 9.6 Revelations on Propaganda Techniques from the Campaigns 227 through media power; instead, organisational channels of communication were the venues through which ideological pressures could be exerted on the individual to elicit participation and make certain responses compulsory Now such venues have mostly phased out, and distances between individuals increased, leaving us with little other communicative forces between the media and the public Under such changed and still changing circumstances, assessing media effects through propaganda in communication campaigns is almost an impossible task We see the pomp, but we cannot ascertain the actual power of the campaigns on the people’s spiritual world With the exception of the campaign against flood, the major national media paid relatively less attention to the participation or response of the rural population The amount of attention was certainly disproportionate to the percentage of the rural population A possibly pragmatic explanation could be that the rural people have other higher priorities such as basic survival, which were equally pressing Another reason could be the relatively low literacy rate among the rural adults, who may make poor quotes in the media, which have the penchant for publishing long and elaborate quotes from educated and/or eloquent people, who are more easily found in the cities Whatever the reason, it is only fair to suggest that the media and campaign planners make greater efforts to involve the rural population in participation Spiritual upgrading is as important as livelihood upgrading, and the two processes should parallel each other Notwithstanding shortcomings, the 10 campaigns analysed, some of which are still going on, have been by and large successful in terms of disseminating information, promoting viewpoints, and generating new political vocabulary for convenient use in future propaganda This shows historical continuity from the past A common thread ran through all these cases, binding them together This was the perpetual conflict between ideal and reality, interwoven with the media’s effort to mediate between such conflicting ends The national image projected through the media seemed to suggest that the entire nation was one in body, mind, heart, and spirit, with praises of the nation flowing spontaneously from the heart of everybody The author purposely exposed herself to regular print and broadcast news coverage by the national media for a period of years, and such persistent exposure led to the above observation The picture looks ideal, even now Common sense informs us that ideals are invariably somewhat removed from reality, or there would not have been ideals at all The very fact that the national propaganda machinery keeps running to lift the morale and upgrade the morals of the population is itself enough evidence that China’s social reality still presents certain problems There are complaints from the socially disadvantaged, including the unemployed, and there is bound to be dissatisfaction harboured by those whose vested interests have been upset by the structural reform Even those who have reaped a disproportionate amount of benefits from the reform policies may suffer from unreasonably high expectations and hence become malcontents Under such circumstances, an external enemy such as U.S hegemony or a common threat to all such as flood in China can serve the function of alleviating or temporarily obliterating dissatisfaction with reality The 228 9 Revelations from Recent Campaigns reason is simple A common danger quickly throws the people together, especially in the age of the mass media, while even the greatest common good does not necessarily cover everybody In addition, striving for a short-term, definite common goal such as fighting the flood directs people’s attention away from their personal expectations, if not ambitions “Expectation” is a key concept to the theoretical proposition that the media can mediate between ideal and reality According to Daniel Lerner, one of the scholars who had spearheaded the research in development communication, the media can raise the people’s expectation of development to an unreasonable high, which will inevitably be frustrated by reality Then social equilibrium will be upset The national psyche of such a developing country will be in question Therefore, this is a lesson that China’s government and media can learn from the experience of some other developing countries, especially considering China’s vast land and large population, which render great challenges to administration The cases show that the media have been prudent in handling this balance during the campaigns As occasions arose, the media organised coverage and commentary on comparing the material and cultural poverty of the Chinese people before the reform era with the current material abundance and cultural richness Even though the reform has yet to extend its benefits to the entire population, the comparison between the past and the present would reasonably boost people’s hope for the future without over-raising their expectations, since the present is already such an improvement over the past The conflict between ideal and reality not only concerns every individual, but also the nation as a whole The national government may offer a longer vision for the far future, while it has to deal with the current situation that falls far short of an ideal society The media alone cannot resolve such a conflict Hence, there is little surprise that Jiang Zemin’s July speech in 2001 at the celebration of CCP’s anniversary has been emphatically studied and discussed among the population, through both media and organisational channels of communication It set forth a sanguine outlook on the future prospect of China, offered an explanation for the disparity between the blueprint and the less-than-satisfactory present condition of development—through thoughtful definitions of Socialism and Communism In the words of a philosopher, such a proposition mediates between ideal and reality, especially when extensively promoted by the mass media In ordinary life, there are three ways of dealing with negative feelings over a conflict that cannot be resolved in a foreseeable time We can either transfer our attention, or divert it, or sublimate our feelings altogether Some communication campaigns, such as the celebration of success in Beijing’s bid for Olympics, could to some extent transfer people’s emotional attention to something greater than their personal pursuits that is worth the mass rejoicing However, the campaign would not last long before people must return to the harsh reality of their workaday life Hence comes the second solution, which is more applicable in mundane days, and that means the media could regularly offer a variety of contents to divert people’s attention from their pressing problems and give them a regular emotional outlet This is another way of referring to the “escapist” function of the media 9.6 Revelations on Propaganda Techniques from the Campaigns 229 From time to time, however, ordinary human beings would crave for extraordinary moments, such as the spiritual high experienced by certain religious people in the course of a worship service If we may label this experience sublimation of feelings, most campaigns offered such moments of sublimation The campaign against flood and the celebration campaigns probably staged more of such moments than did the others, primarily through the function of the media in creating climax In short, with the media around, we can always reckon their power in mediating between ideal and reality while considering the spiritual integration of a nation 9.7 Concluding Remarks It was difficult to write this book with complete academic detachment, because to varied extents the author had been emotionally involved in the campaigns while keeping their records It was even more difficult to remain value-free when making analytical statements By titling the book with the phrase “communication campaigns”, we allow the neutral word “communication” to take on a positive connotation in the Chinese context In fact, by way of word-for-word translation from Chinese into English, the context and content of this book would better justify the expression “propaganda campaigns” But the word “propaganda” has always carried an uncertain amount of negative connotation in the Western linguistic context, depending upon the situation Yet, the 10 propaganda campaigns documented and analysed in this book occurred during China’s market economy era, and should therefore be sharply distinguished from those traditional campaigns carried out during the three decades between 1949 and 1978 In one way or another, most of these recent campaigns were related to or reflect upon the greater programme of patriotic education implemented since 1993 Patriotism is a topic as old as the oldest nation in the world, if not older For, in a sense, love for one’s nation is basically an extended reference to love for oneself and one’s own surroundings for living, including land, people, and culture Therefore, the term “patriotism” is saturated with self-interests Only a person who has given up all interests in his own spiritual welfare of belonging (possibly in exchange for some other interests) will resolutely deny any and all patriotic feeling Otherwise, any and every person of any national origin is a born patriot of his motherland, because that concerns his personal welfare, not only material but also spiritual China’s media reports often record such quotes from overseas Chinese upon occasions of rejoicing over certain grand achievements China has made, “As China prospers, our status improves” That is a pragmatic connection between personal interest abroad and national prosperity at home It is analogous to the relationship between a descendant and his family or clan of power, prestige, and property, the greater being the boast of the lesser individual, to bolster his self-identity, self-esteem, and self-confidence in the sight of the secular world, just to add to his glory Without over-generalisation, we can observe with assurance that this constitutes one of the important psychological foundations of patriotism in the Chinese cultural context 230 9 Revelations from Recent Campaigns Orthodox Marxism and Leninism promoted an ideal of internationalism, that the entire human race should be one big family As time and tide relentlessly pass by, China’s political authority has adopted the more realistic “patriotism” in place of internationalism, which used to be one of the chief hallmarks of Marxism Patriotism is better suitable and practicable in the current Chinese situation The Chinese government and people now well understand that China’s top priority is to build its own nation and increase its global competitiveness A spirit of realism and pragmatism has prevailed over the urge to offer free aid to other developing countries as a token of internationalism that China did during the Maoist era In this sense, pragmatism is not only necessary but also good for current China’s nation-building effort As for media representation of different social groups, the following fact troubles our conscience: nearly, all of the people who were represented in the media as airing patriotic expressions were the better-off people We not see or hear much from those rural folks struggling in abject poverty or the urban unemployed who have been victimised by certain reforms Whatever happened to their heartfelt attitude toward the nation and the government’s policies? We would rather believe that they love their nation regardless of their plight, but when can we hear them speak their mind? Maybe this is an unreasonable expectation, for they are fully occupied in scrambling for a living as in the clefts of a rock On the one hand, the media are showing and even featuring the wealthy, the powerful and the prestigious who openly hail the greatness of their China, which has endowed them with everything the most ambitious could crave for On the other hand, the nameless majority, the people who till the fields, work the assembly lines and clean the streets, remain anonymous, and obscure in their daily vicissitudes of life, which are at the mercy of the government’s policies and the will and whims of other social forces The point of departure for this study was China’s national endeavour in building Socialism with Chinese characteristics, which has been bolstered by the CCP’s innovation in its parallel efforts in building both material and spiritual civilisations Of these two lines of effort, the one in which the media play a significant role is the building of spiritual civilisation And as was discussed above, the media and the state need to find a concept from among those that constitute the theoretical foundation of spiritual civilisation that would have the broadest scope of mass appeal Over time, as China advances toward a merge with the international economic community, the concept of patriotism emerged from among a host of possible choices as one that has the widest appeal to band the whole population together The operation of patriotic education in a national scope officially began in 1993, and was institutionalised through a guide for patriotic education promulgated by the central government in 1994 For China’s youthful generations, patriotism can always be blended with personal pragmatism In practice, it refers to a kind of expression of emotional identification with one’s nation when its strength and power have won wide acclaim and recognition Again, it reveals a sense of personal interest on the part of the 9.7 Concluding Remarks 231 “patriots”, who, according to media reports, tend to represent the advantaged social members who have benefited the most from China’s social change If we are to define the nation in terms of its past glory, present prosperity, and future progress, the younger people probably invariably go for the latter two dimensions Their current lifestyles that would have been considered symptomatic of “Westernisation” and “bourgeois liberalism” that were severely and intensely condemned circa 1986–1987 are now spreading rampant in the urban Chinese society “Patriotic” young people, while publicly shouting slogans extolling “China”, are privately working arduously to find a way abroad They dine at Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants and McDonald’s, wearing outfits of American brands, and go on romantic dates in the American style Those who cannot afford all this make it their dream for which they daily strive They go crazy after every detail of the private lives of their pop stars, and would hail them during a performance with as much admiration as they supposedly have for their great nation When evaluating their professors or guest lecturers, they look upon those with an American educational background with special favour and admiration, which they refuse to lavish on those educated elsewhere, in what they consider “lesser” countries What does all this tell us? Does it mean that the long-term patriotic education programme implemented through the media and schools has failed to achieve its desired effect among the main target audience? The answer is not a simple yes or no All that can be said with certainty is that the Chinese society has been changing with an unstoppable momentum during the last decade, and such social changes combined are forces of influences too formidable for formal educational channels to compete with in a “fight” to occupy the youthful minds In the process of carrying out patriotic education, the most visible activities truly manifest beyond the level of mundane national life were the 10 campaigns reviewed in this book Readers might be prompted to ask why the return of Hong Kong and Macao to China, two other grand enough occasions for mass propaganda and celebration, was not included in the analyses Plus, these two events had clear implications to patriotic education The answer is threefold First, the two events had been anticipated for more than a decade before they came to pass, and they were undoubtedly expected by all to happen, scheduled by the governments concerned Therefore, they offered few elements of surprise, which are often catalysts for a bona fide campaign through which to examine the role of communication Second, evidently, these two events had the most rigidly fixed dates and moments, and hence were of such short duration that they defied definition as campaigns Third, paradoxically, precisely because their implications to patriotism were and still are too apparent—even transparent, they not need further analysis as to how the media played a role in the process Any average observer could have easily discerned the stages of fermenting atmosphere—creating opinion climate—officially staging climax that was shared through the media Certain historic dates, anniversaries, unexpected events, as well as planned endeavours involving national interests—all these were turned into opportunities for patriotic education It is safe to state that the media took the initiative in most instances, with a ready and thorough understanding of the Party and state’s intent for propaganda 232 9 Revelations from Recent Campaigns At the end of this book, the question still looms large regarding how to assess the effects of campaign communication Remaining true to the earlier conclusions based on the three big cases analysed in detail, we know for certain that communication alone does not bring about national integration Nor can the media alone fan into flame people’s patriotic passion, which must be based on certain material foundations and which tends to be situation-specific, somewhat dependent on external stimuli Therefore, the evaluation of communication effects is a complicated and delicate issue, intertwined with the impact of greater social changes on people’s general mentality If one observes that the Chinese people love their country more enthusiastically than ever before, he should take into account the crucial facts of the immense hope for development that the nation offers the individual, whose faith in the destiny of China may have been boosted much more by hard facts in reality than by media propaganda In sum, these are not the “days that try men’s souls” in terms of patriotism There is no imminent threat from an external foe; the greatest threat may be economic (subtle) rather than military (more visible) The effect of propagandistic communication in building Socialist spiritual civilisation is to a significant extent contingent upon the accomplishments in material civilisation, i.e national economic progress The Chinese case indeed offers the scholarly community a unique and convincing case that illustrates this point: the evaluation of communication effects at the societal level should never isolate itself from the larger social context in which a myriad of material and spiritual forces are at work This is precisely a major area long neglected in the Western strand of research in communication effects The extent to which the 10 campaigns might have contributed to a nationally integrative spiritual force takes a whole different and separate study to ascertain But we can leave the study with a limited sense of accomplishment in that for every cognisant individual in China, at least some of the campaigns must have left an indelible mark on his or her mind and heart And as China carries on with its cause of modernisation, stronger spiritual national integration may gradually evolve in some form or another One of the foremost woes to guard against is a spiritual vacuum among the people In this connection, campaigns are still necessary for a long time to come References I Newspaper Articles People’s Daily (1998) 22 August 1998 People’s Daily (1998) 24 August 1998 People’s Daily (1998) 25 August 1998 References People’s Daily (1998) 26 August 1998 People’s Daily (1998) 27 August 1998 People’s Daily (1998) 29 August 1998 People’s Daily (1998) 30 August 1998 People’s Daily (1998) September 1998 233 Bibliography Akhavan-Majid, R & Ramaprasad, J (1998) Framing and ideology: A comparative analysis of U.S and 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