Chinese language media remain influential among overseas Chinese people because even for those who have already become naturalized citizens of another country, Chinese is the most popular language. Europe Express is a Chinese language newspaper based in Italy. Its front page shows that it is a partner of the People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper. On March 3, 2008, Europe Express published an article entitled "In Order to Build a Harmonious Society for Overseas Chinese People, the Function of Overseas Chinese Media as a Watchdog is Very Important." It was republished by China News Service — the second largest official Chinese Communist Party news agency after Xinhua. Below is the translation of the republished article (excerpts) by China News Service. [2]
Chinese Newspaper: In Order to Build a Harmonious Society for Overseas Chinese People, the Function of Overseas Chinese Language Media as a Watchdog is Very Important.
The reform and opening up policy has rapidly improved China’s international standing, and innumerable overseas Chinese people have benefited from it. Consular protection and consular services have become part of the Chinese government’s national policy. The Chinese government never stops emphasizing the issue of consular protection. While emphasizing the need to build a harmonious socialist society, building a harmonious society among overseas Chinese people has been considered strategically as the most important policy in the new era. An article in Europe Express in Italy stated: For building a harmonious society for overseas Chinese people, the function of overseas Chinese language media as a watchdog is very important.
As stated in the article, from the 1980s of the last century, the trend of Chinese emigration has reached the entire world, and several million Chinese people have migrated overseas. As the number of overseas Chinese people as new immigrants increases, and the unique overseas Chinese cultural tastes evolve, there has come an upsurge of overseas Chinese media. Although the foundation, audience and positioning of the Chinese media in each country are quite different, most of them proclaim the principles of being patriotic, promoting Chinese culture and China, strengthening communication and social development. Their function lies in assisting overseas Chinese to better integrate into the mainstream society in economics, politics, and culture; providing services for employment, studying, social networking, etc.; defending overseas Chinese legal rights; creating better living conditions for the Chinese community; promoting solidarity and patriotic sentiment amongst local Chinese people; and advocating friendly communication and interaction between the countries of their residence and motherland.
[…] {mospagebreak}
Now, the overseas Chinese media have the same ideological guidelines and the same angle of reporting that is consistent with the mainstream media in Mainland China. Based on the needs of the local Chinese community, it provides information about the country of residence and helps overseas Chinese to integrate into the mainstream society; and the Chinese media also provide information about China and help overseas Chinese people to nurture their ties with the motherland emotionally. The overseas Chinese media truly take on the responsibility for helping China to understand the world and the world to understand China. It may be called the overseas extension of the mainland Chinese media.
The article indicates that the Chinese media’s development not only depends on the strength of the overseas Chinese, but also depends on the great power of the motherland. When the motherland is formidable with high international standing, Chinese civilization will be respected. When Sinology and the Chinese language gains global popularity, the Chinese language media will be prosperous too.
[…]
to construct a harmonious society, the function of the overseas Chinese language media as a watchdog is very important. While the Chinese government encourages the mainstream media in China to play the role of a watchdog, it should also emphasize the overseas Chinese media as a watchdog. The policies should safeguard the right of overseas Chinese media as watchdog, facilitate overseas media and reporters to play a better role of a watchdog so that they can truthfully report on overseas Chinese, and promote the harmonious development of Chinese communities.
Endnotes:
[1] The construction of a Harmonious Society (和谐社会) is the current and dominant socio-economic goal to be achieved using Hu Jintao’s signature ideology of the Scientific Development Concept. It serves as the ultimate goal for the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). First proposed by the Chinese government under the Hu-Wen Administration during the 2005 National People’s Congress, the idea deviates from the focus of economic growth to overall societal balance. Independent observers believe the initiation of the Harmonious Society policy is the regime’s response to ever escalating domestic instability due to the CCP’s governance crisis. The CCP’s concept of “harmonious society” or “social stability”, meaning that dissident voices or social unrest are to be suppressed, is different from the use of the concepts in Western societies.
[2] Source: China News Service, March 3, 2008
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/hr/ozhrxw/news/2008/03-03/1179729.shtml