Imaging China through the Olympics: Government Publicity and Journalism Hui Li (Bachelor of Arts in English Literature) (Bachelor of Arts in International Journalism) Creative Industries Research & Application Centre Queensland University of Technology Submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy 2005 Key Words China --- propaganda --- journalism --- government publicity --- image construction --- Beijing Olympics --- myth --- discourse --- national identity --- ideology --- rhetoric. Abstract Chinese propaganda nowadays is focused on producing soft-sell messages for international consumption instead of hard-core propaganda of agitation. It puts emphasis on “image design” as Jiang Zemin coined it, rather than on the propagation of Communist ideals. This shift from the past is brought about by the government’s new publicity strategy masterminded by Deng Xiaoping. Under this strategy Chinese media have been enlisted in the ideological construction of national images. Image construction for the nation-state has become a mission for the Chinese government and its news media in terms of international communication. This shift is symbolic of the rapid changes taking place in China. I draw upon Andrew Wernick’s notion of “promotional culture” (1991) to describe these changes, and in particular, their impact on government publicity, domestic reporting, and international journalism in China. I argue that a form of “promotional culture” has made a positive impact on government publicity but not as much on international journalism in China. The shift of focus in propaganda is more of a government initiative than a spontaneous pursuit of international journalism in China. The latter still practices government scripts rather than being creative in form and diversified in content as is domestic reporting. This thesis examines government publicity materials and news media reports concerning Beijing’s Olympic campaign to reveal this extension of promotional culture to government publicity and its implications for Chinese journalism. Table of Contents Introduction: Image, Government Publicity, and Journalism ………..1-20 Part One: The Construction Chapter One: The Construction of Image – The Chinese Story…………..22-60 Chapter Two: The Games – The Site for Image Construction…………….61-84 Part Two: The Deconstruction Chapter Three: The Chinese Imaging – The Moral Ground…………….....86-116 Chapter Four: The Foreign Imaging – The Moral Ground……………...117-150 Chapter Five: The Chinese Imaging– Preparing the Ground…………...151-186 Chapter Six: The Foreign Imaging – Preparing the Ground…………...187-214 Part Three: The Reconstruction Chapter Seven: The Meaning – The Discussion ………………………..216-245 Conclusions: Image Design and Chinese Propaganda……………..246-253 Appendix ……………………………………………………………….254-260 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………261-269 Tables Table One: Chinese Imaging on Human Rights Table Two: Chinese Imaging on Logistics Table Three: Foreign Imaging on Human Rights Table Four: Foreign Imaging on Logistics Supplementary Material List of Interviewees……………………………………….254 China’s Foreign Propaganda Institutions…………………255-257 International Newspapers under Study…………………...258-259 The Emblem of Beijing’s Bid…………………………….260 Abbreviations BOBICO (Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bid Committee); BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad); CCP (the Chinese Communist Party); IOC (International Olympic Committee); PRC (People’s Republic of China). Statement of Original Authorship The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree or diploma at any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Signature: Date: Acknowledgements My first and foremost heartfelt thanks go to Prof. John Hartley. It has been a delightful and unforgettable experience to work under the spell of his stimulating intellectual wit and charisma. My heartfelt thanks also go to Dr. Michael Keane, who has been so generous with his time and knowledge of China. As a China expert, he has provided insightful comments and valuable advice for the writing up of the thesis. I should also thank Dr. Christina Spurgeon for her valuable comments and practical advice. I would also like to thank the following people for their help at the various stages of the project: Brad Haseman for his administrative assistance and his pat on the back; Patsy McCarthy and Caroline Hatcher for their idea of the rhetorical reconstruction of the Australian identity through the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games; Ellen Thompson, the liaison librarian, for assistance with the use of databases; Dr. Lee Duffield for his tips and advice on access to media information; Tania Lim for her help in looking for information about The Straits Times; and Joshua Green for technical help with the use of powerpoint, the formatting of bibliography, the scanning of research materials, and the troubleshooting of laptop problems. Last but not the least, I would like to express special thanks to Jiannu Bao, my fellow PhD candidate and former colleague in China. She brought me to Australia to start this new adventure, and her friendship and support have made the adventure a fulfilling one. Introduction Image, Government Publicity, and Journalism This is a study of Chinese propaganda. Increasingly, propaganda is shifting away from exporting Communist ideology and is focusing on the construction and promotion of an image of China as a rapidly developing country eager to integrate its economic modernization into the global economy. This research is about how the nation-state is remaking its image. The changes are brought about by a publicity strategy - initially instigated by the late Deng Xiaoping during the 1980s and early 1990s and further refined by his successor Jiang Zemin. Driven by a modernization agenda that relies heavily on foreign investment and technology, the Chinese government has actively engaged in promoting a good image of China to the outside world. The publicity strategy is dispensing with the older model of agitation propaganda. It aims at producing soft-sell messages for international consumption. In the words of Jiang Zemin it puts emphasis on “image design”, rather than on the propagation of Communist ideals. With this strategy, the Chinese media, particularly those charged with making propaganda for foreign audiences, are enlisted in the re- construction and ‘selling’ of the national image. Image construction on behalf of the nation-state has become a mission for the Chinese government and its news media. This shift from hard propaganda to soft sell is symbolic of the rapid changes taking place in China. As economic reform deepens, notably integration into the global economy, the government’s publicity machine takes note and learns new ways of conducting propaganda work (xuanchuan gongzuo). Although national image has been examined in fields such as advertising, public relations, media studies, international relations, cinema studies, literature, and popular culture, there are few major studies of China’s image cultivation strategies. In this study I seek to redress this imbalance. I examine the function of image making and 1 Chinese propaganda. And I explore the ideological connotations of this image construction. The investigation of how national images are made leads to a consideration of the‘re-construction’ of Chinese national identity. National identity is informed by construction of identity on a regional level, in the case study examined here, Beijing. My major argument is that “promotional culture” (Wernick 1991) is now widespread. Its impact is felt in government publicity but is largely absent within the field of Chinese international journalism. International journalism in China (formerly called foreign propaganda), is an important part of the Chinese propaganda apparatus. International journalism started with broadcasting news in English from a small radio transmitter by Mao Zedong’s communist propagandists during the armed struggles of the 1930s and 1940s. The main purpose of this initial form of foreign propaganda was to get the communists’ voice heard so as to gain sympathy and support from the outside world. Since the establishment of the PRC in 1949, foreign propaganda has become totally separated from domestic reporting ideologically and institutionally. The ideology of foreign propaganda directly reflects China’s foreign policies while that of domestic propaganda is information management. The term neiwai youbie (literally “inside and outside should be differentiated”) describes the distinction between foreign and domestic propaganda works. As an instruction from the Party and the government to foreign propaganda practitioners, this catchphrase has dual functions. First, it functions as a discipline -- a rule of procedure that seeks to prevent media from leaking political sensitive information to outside China. It also reminds foreign propaganda workers of the need to constantly update their knowledge of China’s foreign policies and to improve their skills so as to make propaganda messages more acceptable to foreign audiences. Because of this distinction between the “inside” and the “outside”, foreign propaganda has been historically under the Party and the government’s tight control. Foreign propaganda workers are 2 handpicked by the Party and become a small elite group in the Party’s hierarchy of power with access