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Chinese government propaganda
Chinese Propaganda
The Chinese government controls all the media within its borders and is very effective at controlling the minds and emotions of its citizens with clever propaganda. Television and newspapers are all controlled and censored by the state.
When I arrived in China for my work in 2010 I noticed a good number of war movies involving Japan and China were being shown on China TV. Always the Japanese soldiers are depicted as heinous villains who would enjoy cutting off the head of a little Chinese boy or rape some young teenage Chinese girl with glee. Nearly three years later I find the number of these types of movies have not diminished. They have served their purpose well to insure most Chinese people hate Japanese people.
Whenever I ask my Chinese friends how they feel about the Japanese nearly all will say they hate the Japanese. I have seen some men get red in the face with emotions of pure hatred and listened to them yell out loud, “I haaaaate the Japanese!”
Recently I have noticed a new trend in propaganda as the Chinese government targets the Americans to receive the hate of their people. A few months ago China TV carried several reports and commentaries about an American molesting a Chinese woman. They had video of him groping her and pushing her to the ground which they played over and over. The commentary was always very negative toward the man and indeed this man deserved such commentary. But the commentaries always went further using the logical fallacy of universally generalizing on an individual saying that Chinese must beware of all foreign people.
In fact after this incident police began targeting places where foreign people socialize demanding proper paperwork from them. If the paperwork was in order there was no problem but if not, then the foreign people were in trouble and deported. I never used to carry my VISA with me but now in fear of the police I always carry it on my person when I leave my apartment.
Also there are now movies shown on TV that depict Americans as being very evil people who hate Chinese people. The other night I saw a movie on TV about Chinese laborers building the railroads in America in the 1800s. In this movie the American bosses abused and killed and tortured the Chinese workers terribly calling them all sorts of horrible names. These American bosses were depicted as savage brutes who would rather shoot a Chinese man than swat a fly.
The next night I went to a local Pizza Hut for dinner. I was the only American person in the restaurant. I ordered a pizza for dinner. I waited and waited for my order. Other Chinese patrons came and ordered and ate and went and I waited. After more than 90 minutes of waiting I realized they were not going to serve me as I was American. I put money on my table to pay for the pizza that was never given to me and left.
That night after making a tuna salad sandwich at home I turned on the China TV to see another movie about Chinese soldiers working under an American Commander in WWII. At that time China and America were allies. But in the movie the American commander and his American soldiers were again depicted as evil men who treated the Chinese soldiers like animals calling them horrible names and abusing them terribly.
Why is the Chinese government now targeting America with negative propaganda? There are some tiny islands called the Diaoyu Islands which both China and Japan claim as their territory. There have been many harsh words recently in the Chinese media about the Japanese government purchasing these islands from a Japanese man. China has sent several patrol boats to the islands and say they will defend their territory. The Chinese propaganda machine so enraged people over the Japanese false claim to these disputed islands that there were riots in the streets of Beijing protesting against the Japanese.
Japanese businesses were targeted with looting and windows broken. In their frenzy some people even attacked some Chinese person driving a Japanese model car, smashing the car with clubs and stones and beating the driver.
Military leaders come on talk shows on China TV describing Japanese offenses in the past and how they will not tolerate the Japanese claim to the Diaoyu Islands. Of course they also talk about how America and Japan are allies and according to treaty America will help Japan defend its territories. Thus America is linked with Japan in this heated dispute. Thus the Chinese government propaganda machine now targets not only Japan but also America.
The Chinese government controls all the media within its borders and is very effective at controlling the minds and emotions of its citizens with clever propaganda. Television and newspapers are all controlled and censored by the state.
When I arrived in China for my work in 2010 I noticed a good number of war movies involving Japan and China were being shown on China TV. Always the Japanese soldiers are depicted as heinous villains who would enjoy cutting off the head of a little Chinese boy or rape some young teenage Chinese girl with glee. Nearly three years later I find the number of these types of movies have not diminished. They have served their purpose well to insure most Chinese people hate Japanese people.
Whenever I ask my Chinese friends how they feel about the Japanese nearly all will say they hate the Japanese. I have seen some men get red in the face with emotions of pure hatred and listened to them yell out loud, “I haaaaate the Japanese!”
Recently I have noticed a new trend in propaganda as the Chinese government targets the Americans to receive the hate of their people. A few months ago China TV carried several reports and commentaries about an American molesting a Chinese woman. They had video of him groping her and pushing her to the ground which they played over and over. The commentary was always very negative toward the man and indeed this man deserved such commentary. But the commentaries always went further using the logical fallacy of universally generalizing on an individual saying that Chinese must beware of all foreign people.
In fact after this incident police began targeting places where foreign people socialize demanding proper paperwork from them. If the paperwork was in order there was no problem but if not, then the foreign people were in trouble and deported. I never used to carry my VISA with me but now in fear of the police I always carry it on my person when I leave my apartment.
Also there are now movies shown on TV that depict Americans as being very evil people who hate Chinese people. The other night I saw a movie on TV about Chinese laborers building the railroads in America in the 1800s. In this movie the American bosses abused and killed and tortured the Chinese workers terribly calling them all sorts of horrible names. These American bosses were depicted as savage brutes who would rather shoot a Chinese man than swat a fly.
The next night I went to a local Pizza Hut for dinner. I was the only American person in the restaurant. I ordered a pizza for dinner. I waited and waited for my order. Other Chinese patrons came and ordered and ate and went and I waited. After more than 90 minutes of waiting I realized they were not going to serve me as I was American. I put money on my table to pay for the pizza that was never given to me and left.
That night after making a tuna salad sandwich at home I turned on the China TV to see another movie about Chinese soldiers working under an American Commander in WWII. At that time China and America were allies. But in the movie the American commander and his American soldiers were again depicted as evil men who treated the Chinese soldiers like animals calling them horrible names and abusing them terribly.
Why is the Chinese government now targeting America with negative propaganda? There are some tiny islands called the Diaoyu Islands which both China and Japan claim as their territory. There have been many harsh words recently in the Chinese media about the Japanese government purchasing these islands from a Japanese man. China has sent several patrol boats to the islands and say they will defend their territory. The Chinese propaganda machine so enraged people over the Japanese false claim to these disputed islands that there were riots in the streets of Beijing protesting against the Japanese.
Japanese businesses were targeted with looting and windows broken. In their frenzy some people even attacked some Chinese person driving a Japanese model car, smashing the car with clubs and stones and beating the driver.
Military leaders come on talk shows on China TV describing Japanese offenses in the past and how they will not tolerate the Japanese claim to the Diaoyu Islands. Of course they also talk about how America and Japan are allies and according to treaty America will help Japan defend its territories. Thus America is linked with Japan in this heated dispute. Thus the Chinese government propaganda machine now targets not only Japan but also America.
- TAGS:
- propaganda,
- chinese
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