of the thought work enterprise. If the government does not dominate these systems, other
groups will. That will give these groups a strategic bastion from which to challenge the government's leadership over society.
Obviously, the mass media develop rapidly and the press gains more freedom. Today, people receive large amounts of information everyday through newspapers, broadcasts, internet and so on. A new research conducted by American researchers even states that the average amount of information one may receive everyday is 34G. Thus, in order for CCP to filter information which against its ruling status, an effective media control is supposed to be done. Several matures have been taken: an elaborate architecture of Party supervision, related legislation, stringent licensing mechanisms, handpicked personnel or control through the intimidation of journalists and restrictions on media ownership. It’s not surprised to see articles attacking CCP’s control methods, especially by foreign media industry. Nevertheless, the natural and original intention of them is to keep the nation stable in general. Although perfect control can never be achieved without question, it’s over-rigorous to say the media control in China has no redeeming feature. By contrast, CCP’s control of media functions in the mainland China. In people’s daily life, they never hear or read the expression of anti-communism through broadcasts on TV or newspapers bought from local shops. Even when people surf on the internet, the search engines that used widely in China such as Baidu, Sohu, and Sina will filter that kind of particular information. Moreover, some members within the party are employed as internet commentator to guide the public opinion on the internet. The outcome of CCP’s efforts in mainland China should be considered desirable if we compare that in Hong Kong. Due to the policy “one country, two systems” proposed by Deng, Hong Kong is the Special Administrative Region and its economy remains capitalism, which differ from that of the mainland China. The mass media has much greater freedom and the thoughts of anti-communism or anti-CCP are allowed to go public. For instance, the famous anti-communism newspaper Apple Daily (Ping guo ri bao) beats the drum for Tibet independence and national disruption. Such expressions cannot be seen in mainland China. What’s more, according to scholar Wenfang Tang , several surveys conducted in reform-era of China shows a positive result of the Party’s control over thought work: “In 1999 Six-City Survey, when asked whether the Communist-led multiparty system should be changed…the majority of people either did not care or did not want any change” (71);
“When asked which country provided the best model for China’s political reform, the highest percentage chose China’s own system” (73); “the post-Deng leaders seemed to have successfully consolidated political power at the Sixteenth Party Congress in 2002 and the Tenth National Peoples’ Congress in 2003” (59) Therefore, the above are all the reasons why I do not agree with the statement that the control of thought work had largely failed in China.
Secondly, along with the rapid growth and development of people’s material life during the economic reform, the spiritual civilization become more and more highly valued by the Chinese leadership. CCP has conducted the SSC program to reestablish public moral order and aim to train new persons who have ideals, morality, culture, and discipline. But this program has been largely questioned by many scholars. They indicate that Chinese people are suffering moral decay after Deng’s economic reform and the moral level in China will never return to that of the Mao-era. Well, one thing we cannot deny is that before the reform, people were poor but excelled in virtue; the society had better order and less scandal. However, this cannot be the criteria to negate the SSC program nowadays. Since SSC program was conducted after the Mao-era, one should make a judgment based on changes after its conduction instead of comparing the moral level between two different periods. They feel the moral level is worse than before because they have mixed up the frame of reference. Even Feng Chen himself said that “It may be unfair to say that the SSC drive has accomplished nothing. At a minimum, it has called national attention to the moral crisis. Some steps have been taken to reverse the decay” (Chen, 39) Then, is spiritual civilization in the end a step forward or backward in the reform-era? I prefer to answer this way: it’s not a backward, if instead of a forward. In general, the development of socialist spiritual civilization can be divided into two categories: cultural construction and thought construction. The former includes socialist ideals, moral and discipline while the latter involves projects such as the development of socialist cultural, technology, health protection and, education cause. Here I’d like to focus on and talk about the education since most of us received it from a child. Just like what Deng once said “education is the most fundamental cause of a nation” and “it should be received from a child” (cong wa wa zhuai qi). In my view, the education has achieved a desirable outcome for CCP. From primary schools to universities, every formal educational institution offers the required course “ideological and moral cultivation”(si xiang pin de jiao yu), which is specially designed to help Chinese new generations develop their mind and moral in a healthy way. Some people may question the word “healthy” but no matter what’s the definition for it, the fact is that most students will accept the thoughts instilled by CCP. As a child, they were told by teachers it was a great honor to join the Young Pioneers and they did admired those who wore red scarves; when they grew a litter older, they were told it was a great honor to join the Communist Youth League and they did feel so since only the students with good grades could join; and finally when they entered universities, they learned Marxism-Leninism with Chinese characteristics based on China’s own situation. And students were willing to join the Party because they realized that would be helpful for their future careers, especially those who wanted to involve in the politics in China. Although education is only one aspect of the SSC program, it is a large one with profound influences. It is the foundation of SSC program’s success. What’s more, some scholars consider the SSC program has largely failed because Chinese central party-state fails to develop an explicit and effective ruling ideology. “Obviously, socialist spiritual civilization, as defined by the CCP, cannot be built on an ideology that has blurred the distinction between socialism and capitalism” (Chen, 39) Based on such argument, let’s turn our eyes to China’s new ideology after the reform.
Last but not least, ideology plays an all-important role in ruling a country. It is the core value of the Party and provides theoretical principle for the conduction of thought work and SSC programs. Many scholars like Feng Chen concern about and question the ideology in China. Then, is ideology dead in China? The answer should be not. After the reform, CCP has developed a new ideology named ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’ which was initially proposed by Deng. Instead of giving up or copying everything from Marxism-Leninism, this ideology combines it with Chinese characters in order to suit China’s new situation. The concrete and essential meaning of this ideology is to take economic construction as the centre under the leadership of CCP while insist the
Four Cardinal Principles (Adhere to the leadership of the Communist Party of China; adhere to People's democratic dictatorship; adhere to Marxism-Leninism and Mao Thought; and adhere to the socialist road). It indicates clearly that the Party will adhere to socialism unswervingly. However, due to Deng’s appreciation of capitalist/market economy, some scholars hold the opinion that China’s new ideology and political system are quite vague and unconvincing. And it is popular to say that ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’ really means capitalism led by the CCP. Is such saying really true? Let’s see the respond made by CCP:
Following the 17th Party Congress, China issued its first-ever white paper which is
aimed at clearing up “misunderstandings” commonly held overseas about the political
system and emphasizing that China has “established its own unique political party system
and its own way to fulfill democracy, which is unique in the world”
Instead of a capitalist market economy, the economic system in China is a socialist market economy. This is a concept first proposed by Deng in order to incorporate the market into the then planned economy in China. And the political system in China is also on the premise of socialist system. To quote from Joshua Cooper Ramo, the writer of Beijing Consensus and the former of Time magazine: “The idea that Chinese are all striving for ‘the American Way of Life,’ as Richard Madsen has observed, is a dangerous misconception. They are striving to make ‘The Chinese Way of Life.’ “
The understanding of the phrase “Chinese characteristics” is crucial to understand the Party’s new ideology and political system in the reform-era. Since the reform, people’s living standard has largely improved and China’s GDP has increased much more than before. Achievements like these are all related to the new ideology and government’s open policies. On the whole, Chinese people are grateful to Deng and respect his wisdom deeply. As a survey mentioned by Wenfang Tang shows that “the pre-Cultural Revolution generations still favored Marxism-Leninism and Maoism and showed strong support of Dengism ”, and research also shows that “there is growing support not only among intellectuals but society at large for a uniquely ‘Chinese model’ of development, which rejects much of the Western liberal democratic blueprint for political reform.” Therefore, we can say that the new ideology is effective in some sense.
In conclusion, based on the above arguments and facts, I do not agree with the view that the effort of the Chinese central party-state to reassert control over ‘thought work’ and to build a ‘socialist spiritual civilization’ has largely failed. Such opinion is too pessimistic and the ideological building in fact has functioned at least in mainland China. Even if a small success is valuable and may means a lot. Although problems like widening income gap, corruption, and environmental degradation has emerged in China after the opening-up, instead of a failure, it is the price pay for wealth and strength. In recent years, the Party has committed itself to build a “socialist harmonious society” and seven major measures have been taken into practices such as narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas, and to build a conservation-minded society. The aim is to fight for a more affluent society (Xiao kang she hui) with a higher level of happiness, justice, conservation and vitality. It is not just a slogan because it matters the life of every Chinese. To be sure, the Chinese Communist Part faces numerous challenges both home and abroad. Fortunately for the Party, “research suggests that in the absence of any unforeseen external shocks---and continued absence of any viable political opposition---the CCP, far from being on the brink of collapse, is likely to remain in power for the foreseeable future” On the whole, the CCP-led China has been growing up gradually through difficulties and dangers on the road of ‘socialist with Chinese characteristics’.
WORK CITED
Secondary sources:
, , and ，China's Rise: Challenges and Opportunities
Daniel C. Lynch, Dilemmas of "Thought Work" in Fin-de-Siecle China
He Qinglian, Media Control in China,, Walking The Tightrope 11 China Rights Forum, No.4, 2004
Anne-Marie Brady, Marketing Dictatorship: Propaganda and Thought Work in Contemporary China
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loveyi555 (student)
