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On March 2, 2007, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) held a forum on “The Marxism and the Rise and Fall of the State.”  From the background and ranks of the participants, it was obviously seen that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was aware of its own crises, and was searching for all sorts of solutions.  It was agreed in the Forum, The Marxism, is still a powerful ideological weapon to open up the just cause in the new epoch, and also is the theoretical guidance and the foundation to enrich and strengthen the Chinese nation.” Below is the translation of the entire report in English of the meeting [1]:

Beijing, China – On March 2, 2007, the Department of Marxism Research of the CASS and the World Socialist and Marxist Research Center, and the Marxism Research Institute co-sponsored “The 3rd Forum of the Thinkers on Marxism and the Rise and Fall of the State.” The Forum had in-depth discussions on multiple factors and inner mechanisms, regarding the rise and fall of the state in the history and in reality; analyzed and commented on the major theoretical and practical issues, such as the democratic socialism, the Neo-Liberal point of views, the lessons of metamorphoses of the Soviet Union, the Eastern European countries, and the developmental meridian of the world’s socialist movements.

The attendants were: Li Shenming, Vice President of the CASS;
Wu Yi, Chair of the National Party Construction Research Society;
Zhang Quanjing, the past Editor-in-Chief of Qiushi magazine;
Youlin; the former Executive Vice Editor-in-Chief of the People’s Daily;
Zhang Yunsheng, the Director of the State Social Science Planning Office;
Zhang Guoza, the Secretary-General of the Air Force Political Bureau;
 Luo Yichang, Yang Ke and Wu Jie-min, the former Leaders of the CASS, etc.;
Cheng Enfu, the Director of the Marxism Research Academy and the President of the Marxism Research Institute, chaired the Forum.

The Featured Presentations at the Forum Were:

Wu Enyuan: Controversies on the TV Series, “Lessons on the Disintegration of the Soviet Communist Party;”
Zhang Shuhua: “Warning on The Failure of the Russian Capitalism;”
Zhang Shunhong: “Reflections on the Rise and Fell of a Nation;”
Yu Yongding: A Few Thoughts on the Rise of Great Powers;”
Zhou Hong: “EU’s Neo-Liberalism and the Rise and Fell of the Welfare Nations;”
Wang Liqiang: “The Socialist Public Ownership Is the Basis of China’s Rise;”
Xu Jiankang: “Viewing the Rise and Fell of the Great Powers from the World System;”
Xu Chongwen: “The Historical Processes, Experiences and Lessons of the Swedish Model;”
Zhong Zheming: “How Can Bernstein’s Views Be Used to Rectify Marx and Engels;”
Cao Changsheng: “The Scientific Socialism and Democratic Socialism Should Not Be Confused;”
Huang Ping: “The Exploration on Contemporary Social Theory of Socialism;”
Tian Chenshan: “The Logic Basis of the Mainstream Consciousness of the Western Freedom and Democracy;" and
Liu Shulin: “The Developmental Meridian of the Democratic Socialist Ideology Trend of the Contemporary China.”
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The participants had separate group discussions on issues of disintegration of the Soviet Union, the democratic socialism and whatnot. All agreed that the materialization of China’s socialist modernizations and the harmonious developments depend upon the adherence to the guiding role of Marxism on various social trends of ideas, and further perfecting the economic, political, cultural and social of the socialist systems.

With regard to the democratic socialist ideological trend, the partakers believed that the democratic and scientific socialism possess a specified ideological origin. However, the democratic socialism should not be mistakenly regarded as a scientific socialist model system. The two systems are the best combination between capitalism in the field of production and socialism in the field of distribution. In fact, there are five major differences between the theories of democratic socialism and scientific socialism, including the guiding ideologies, the natures and roles of the different political parties, the ultimate goals, the roads to revolutionize the reality, and the views of ownerships. We must adhere to the road of scientific socialism with Chinese characteristics, and comprehensively implement the concept of scientific development.

In regards to the reasons of the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the collapse of the Soviet Communist Party, the Forum participants generally thought that the inspections should be done scientifically and the multiple domestic and foreign variables be analyzed comprehensively pertaining to the rise and decline of the state, such as the science and technology, the system, the culture, the education, the military and foreign affairs. The reasons of the drastic changes of the Soviet Union and the Eastern European countries were related to the highly centralized socialist economy and the political system were not timely reformed.  Yet, they were, mainly the consequences of the prevailing ideologies of the democratic socialism and the Neo-Liberation within the ruling Party, gradually broke away from, the deviation from the ultimate betrayals of the Marxism and the basic interests of the major masses. 

In summing up the experience and lessons of world socialist movements, the Forum participants generally viewed that the birth and development of socialist system have changed the historical process of the world situation. The brilliant achievements of socialism demonstrate the strong vitality of socialism. Therefore, as a worldwide alternative and choice, socialism is not merely a simple logistic reasoning or purely a subjective wish, but also has sufficient factual basis. Marxism is still a powerful ideological weapon to open up just cause for human being in the new century, and is the theoretical guidance, base to enrich and to strengthen the Chinese Nation.

More than 150 specialists and scholars hailed from over 20 institutes and universities, including the Central Compiling and Translation Bureau of the Central Committee, the Central Party School, the Chinese People’s University, Beijing University, Qinghua University and the affiliated Research Institutes of the CASS, attended the Forum.

Endnotes:
[1] Cao Suhong, “The Marxism and the Rise and Fall of the State.” The Journal of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), March 15, 2007, http://sym2005.cass.cn/file/2007032789596.html

The following news report appeared on the website of Sichuan Daily on May 15 after the earth quake in Wenchuan area of Sichuan Province. The instructions given by Liu Yunshan shows the Party’s guidance to media covering the earthquake. [1]

Condolences and Instructions from Comrade Liu Yunshan, member of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee, member of Secretariat of the CCP Central Committee, and head of the Propaganda Department of the CCP Central Committee:

“In our province, earthquake relief work is at a critical stage. Comrade Liu Yunshan, member of the Political Bureau of the CCP Central Committee, member of Secretariat of the CCP Central Committee, and head of the Propaganda Department of the CCP Central Committee, made a phone call to Comrade Huang Xinchu, member of the Standing Committee of Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, and publicity chief of the CCP in Sichuan Committee. Comrade Yunshan expressed his cordial regards to the media workers at the front line of those reporting on the earthquake, and requested media staff to enhance their political awareness, the overall awareness of the situation, their sense of responsibility, to be highly responsible to the Party and people, to firmly grasp the correct direction of the media, to uphold reports about unity, stability, to mainly focus on positive reporting, to put great effort into reporting that the Party committee and government at all levels are paying great attention to the earthquake relief work and are making timely, effective decisions and arrangements; vigorously promote various officials’ huge efforts at earthquake relief work and their touching stories; vigorously promote the heroic acts of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) officers, soldiers, armed police, and public security police working in the front lines and not afraid of sacrifice; vigorously report the support from various places and their arrangement in effective ways; fully demonstrate the superiority of the socialist system with ‘the disaster at one direction and support from eight directions;’ sing soundly the major melody of uniting together, not afraid of hardships; work hard and provide the disaster relief work the powerful spiritual encouragement, media support, and ideological guarantee. Comrade Yunshan’s warm greetings and care has given great encouragement to all media workers who are participating in the reporting of the disaster relief work. This will surely and effectively push the media reports to play a more active role in guiding public opinion and giving spiritual support in the disaster relief work.”

Endnotes:
[1] Website of Sichuan Daily, 2008-05-15
http://sichuan.scol.com.cn/dwzw/20080515/200851504237.htm

Although in its foreign policy, the United States always treats China as its friend, the Communist Government of China never treats the US as its friend. As China has gained more international power, it has repeatedly and increasingly challenged the United States international position. Below is a translation of an article published in Globe, a magazine under the Xinhua News Agency. [1]

During the Cold War, the position of US in the world was quite similar to the earth in the theory of the ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy. According to Ptolemy, the earth is the center of the universe. All other planets as well as the sun move around the earth.

The United States also thought of itself as the earth in relation to the universe – the dominator of power, the engine of world economics, and the bastion of the “free world.” When the Cold War came to an end, this “center theory” of the United States seemed to become more evident. The world seemed to be more like Ptolemys theory than ever.

However, perhaps this view is already history.

Recently, in written media and on the Internet, there have even been articles that relate the United States to the Nazis. In the past seven or eight years, through to the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq that were both started by the US, the world has seen that Bush has successfully inherited and intensified a US-style bigotry.

Due to the strong power that United Stated has used, its soft power has been greatly damaged. At the same time, the global anti-US spirit has turned around to restrain the United States from strategically expanding. Currently, the United States is in this vicious cycle.

Therefore, although several US presidential candidates have different opinions on many other issues, on the issue of changing Americas image in the world and utilizing its soft power, their opinions are somewhat similar.

Obama proposes to withdraw the army from Iraq, McCain emphasizes funding Africa to completely cure malaria, and others suggest closing the Guantánamo Jail. The US is trying to retrieve the “moral authority” it had way back in the period of President Kennedy.

However, there are also people who do not mind the decline of the soft power of the US.

In July of 2007, the Globe interviewed Joseph Nye, the ex-Assistant Secretary of Defense, who is the one who came up with the concept of “soft power.” According to Nye, soft power includes three elements; they are culture, ideology and political values, and foreign policy.
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By looking at these three elements separately, this Harvard University Professor argued that since the War in Iraq, the aspect of US soft power that has declined was foreign policy, not culture or political values. Compared with culture or value, which can only change over the long term, foreign policy can change relatively rapidly.

He also gave the following example. In the 1970s, the War in Vietnam caused a decline in support for the United States government. However, within 10 years, the USs soft power very much recovered.

He then changed the subject. He said that United States is the world leader for exporting movies, the news reported by US media affects the entire world, and the universities in the United States attract the largest number of international students in the world. “Individualism and freedom are attractive to many people,” he said.

There is no doubt that Joseph Nye is implying something – as long as the next United States president adjusts its foreign policy, the soft power of the United States can still be recovered.

However there are people who do not agree. The next US president will not be able to do much with foreign policy. United States army will stay in Iraq, continue to support Israel, intervene in the conflict between Palestine and Israel, and continue to constrain the even tougher Russia and fast developing China.

Even if Washington DCs foreign policy could be more restrained, in the aspect of culture, the “Father of soft power” is obviously missing a premise in his reasoning. The “Angel” from Hollywood no longer has blond hair and green eyes, and the devils no longer only have non-westerners characteristics. At the same time, today in China there is a famous saying, “dont be too CNN.” [2]

The United States once named freedom and democracy as “a gift to humans,” and spread them everywhere in the world. However, perhaps there are more hidden reasons for the fact that Joseph Nye will not admit that the USs ideology and political images have declined.

In 2007, after interviewing this American scholar, a Globe reporter heard the following viewpoint from a foreign policy expert: What is the United States most afraid of? It is “Capitalistic Dictatorship.”

In fact, by the so called, “Capitalistic Dictatorship,” the United States is mostly referring to Russia.

Since Putin became the President of Russia, he strengthened state power, ended the chaotic situation due to radical changes in society, and accelerated the recovery of Russias economy.
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However, there is something that people do not pay much attention to. The mainstream media of the United States frequently associate Moscow with “anti-democracy” and “retrogression.” However, as to the fact that Russia is successfully getting stronger and stronger, the United States media have hidden their voices altogether.

Russia is building its own political system. While it is very much welcomed by the Russian people, it is against many American and European values.

To the western world, admitting the success of the Russian model is very hard, though this model will be kept and developed for many years into the future.

Now it is not too hard to understand that Joseph Nye is perhaps intentionally avoiding an equation such as the following: “Non-western-democracy + Success = Collapse of the USs Soft Power.” Subconsciously, this kind of ignorance still assumes that the United States is the only lighthouse in the world for the correct values, and others values are all heretical ideas.

In 2005, the Pew Center conducted a survey of people in 16 different countries. The survey asked, “If you could choose one place that you could happily live for your entire life, where would you choose?” Only people from one country had a majority vote for the United States.

Todays world has been getting closer to the theory of Copernicus. The earth is no longer the center of the Universe. Although the attractive force of the earth is still very strong, it is not strong enough to pull other celestial bodies moving around it.

Copernicus was accused because his “heretical ideas” challenged the Roman Catholic Church, but he cried, “Open your eyes and face reality.”

Endnotes:
[1] Globe Magazine, May 9, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/globe/2008-05/09/content_8134027.htm
[2] After CNN commentator Jack Caffertys “goons and thugs” remarks on China, global Chinese launched furious protests against CNN. Ever since the word “CNN” has become a negative adjective among Chinese people to refer to someone despicable.

Outlook Weekly published an article on April 21, 2008, titled, “On the Rights to Speak and Soft Power.” It was targeting for Western media’s criticism of the Chinese Communist regime on Tibetan issues. “With regard to the international public opinions, we have not seen a fundamental change in the (disadvantageous) status, characterized by the strong Western media and the weak propaganda from our side. The propaganda battle initiated by the Western media towards China is to show off the Western society’s propaganda domination,” the article stated, “We must be fully aware of the special strategic importance of building up soft power in our country.” It also said: “The CCP’s 17th National Congress placed the improvement of our soft power at the level of having national strategic importance.”

The following is the translation for this article. [1]

Centering surround the so-called “Tibetan issues,” and the Olympic Torch Relay, some Western media’s distorting ways, and certain Western politicians’ incitement, have become a familiar scene to the public. The self-proclaimed objective- and impartial-Western media with their ulterior motives, all along spread false propaganda; as a result, some of the everyday people who do not know the truth, or who knows nothing about China and those who even cannot tell where Tibet is located, taking the stance as “ The saviors,” by telling lies. It truly is a tragedy in a civilized society.

We will certainly choose to present facts to validate our argument, and fight back strongly on fair grounds, when dealing with important issues that concerns with national interests. However, the fact that this round of irresponsible defamation of China is able to have impact in Western society has its own internal factor. For example, a German politician wrote an article recently, claiming that the Western world is prepared to launch a spiritual-cold war against the emerging China.

We have, therefore, come to see that with regard to the international public opinions and we have not seen a fundamental change in the (disadvantageous) status characterized by the strong Western media and the weak propaganda from our side. The propaganda battle initiated by the Western media towards China is to show off the Western society’s propaganda supremacy.

Confronted by such a “soft power battle,” how do we improve our own propaganda authority? How do we strengthen the expressions and promulgations of China’s values? It is an urgent task that we are facing in shaping our national soft power.

We must be fully aware of the special strategic importance of formatting the soft power in our country. Soft power, as an important component in the composite national power, refers to a country’s ability to attract people by its system and the inspiration power of its cultural value, as well as the image of its citizens, a kind of intangible influential power. It has a deep impact on people’s viewpoints on international relations. As some experts pointed out, soft power must be placed at a strategic level to achieve any meaningful results.
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“Generally, we do not simply establish and make use of soft power in a hurry when specific problems suddenly arise. The function of soft power is to prevent problems; that is, to dissolve problems before they ever arise.” For this reason, the Party’s 17th National Congress placed the improvement of soft power at the national strategic level.

We must pay more attention to aiming at the specific goals and improve the efficacy in the formation of soft power. Between the nations and between the people, how we make our values more acceptable to others is the key aspect and important manifestation to the soft power formation. First, in terms of the targets to be influenced by our soft power, they are not restricted to relationship between nations; they are also manifested in how to influence non-governmental organizations and citizens. Therefore, we must remember this new “microscopic sub-market” in the construction of soft power. Secondly, we must familiarize ourselves with the internationally recognized “game rules,” and make use of the language style that is easy to understand and accepted by the international communities.

It is especially worth noting that in the age of Internet, all countries attach great importance to the powerful information network to promote their values and viewpoints. Internet breaks through the limit of time and space, and has become an important way to improve one’s influence in the international society. Under such an open circumstance, we must grab the first opportunity to spread our own propaganda and control the public opinions. It is essential for us to do so to avoid crises; moreover, it is an active conduct to improve our soft power.

Endnotes:
[1] Outlook Weekly, April 21, 2008
http://news.sohu.com/20080421/n256426853.shtml

Editor’s Note: Published in New York, “Beijing Spring” is a Chinese monthly magazine founded in June, 1993. Its goal is to promote human rights, democracy and social justice in China. In September 2006, Mr. Lu Gengsong wrote an article titled “China’s Armed Police and Nationalization of the Police Force,” which gives a detailed analysis of China’s police system. Mr. Lu, a member of China’s Democratic Party in Zhejiang Province, has written a number of articles to examine China’s political system as a freelance writer. In August 2007, Public Security Bureau in Hangzhou City (capital city of Zhejiang Province) arrested him. In January 2008, local procuratorial authorities accused him of “inciting the subversion of state power.” The following is the translation of Mr. Lu’s article “China’s Armed Police and Nationalization of the Police Force.”

The PAP – Goons to Suppress the Chinese People

One of the grass root cadre complained that the usual PAP practice was to “nurture an army for a thousand days and use it for a thousand days.” In other words, the PAP forces never get the chance to take a rest, with extremely painful duties. Jiang Zemin expanded the PAP forces, which was called euphemistically “to escort for the economic construction”, for the real reason to help the rich plunder the poor. The so-called “economic reform” made a tiny well-connected minority group rich while produced massive poverty for the majority of Chinese people and gigantic social inequality, which led to the increasingly intense and controversial social issues. Due to the fact that the PAP forces are also under the leadership of local CCP Committees and local governments, in order to protect the interests of the minority rich or for the protection of one’s political achievements, under the slogan of “stability trumps everything else”, the local CCP/government authorities would frequently order the PAP forces to suppress protests of the majority poor. For that, Jiang Zemin converted 14 PLA B-type divisions to be part of the PAP as its mobile divisions under the pretense of disarmament. So far, the PAP Security Troops has 32 corps and more than 60 divisions, plus the 14 mobile divisions, thus with a total close to 80 divisions, which is the biggest threat to the democracy and human rights fighters in China. On the other hand, because the PAP forces are the closest to the people, plus the majority of the rank and file of the PAP forces came from peasant families of rural areas, thus they are also forces that are most easily won-over by the people’s side. The PAP mobile force is composed of 14 divisions: the PAP Unit #8610 (the 117th Division) based in Panjing, Liaoning Province; the PAP Unit #8620 (the120th Division) based in Xingcheng, fLiaoning Province; the PAP Unit #8630 (the 81st Division) based in Tianjin; the PAP Unit #8640 (the 114th Division) in Baoding, Hebei Province; the PAP Unit #8650 (the 187th Division) in Yuci, Shanxi Province; the PAP Unit #8660 (the 7th Division) in Ili, Xinjiang Autonomous Region; the PAP Unit #8670 (the 63th Division) in Pingliang, Gansu Province; the PAP Unit #8680  (the 128th Division) in Gongyi, Henan Province; the PAP Unit #8690 (the 2nd Division) in Yixing, Jiangsu Province; the PAP Unit #8710 (the 93rd Division) in Putian, Fujian Province; the PAP Unit #8720 (the 181st Division) in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province; the PAP Unit #8730 (the 126th Division) in Leiyang, Hunan Province and in Huadou, Guangzhou Province; the PAP Unit #8740 (the 38th Division) in Nanchong, Sichuan Province; the PAP Unit #8750 (the 41st Division) in Mengzi, Yunnan Province.The official full name for the PAP Mobile Divisions is called “The PAP HQ Direct Combat Mobile Divisions”. These troops are well equipped and extremely mobile with strong field combating capacity. This PAP mobile force is the first the CCP would use to suppress any grassroots protests.
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Since Hu Jintao came into power in 2003, the CCP regime has been using the PAP forces more frequently than ever before to suppress people. Major facts as follows: In  early March 2003, nearly 50,000 mining workers from five state-owned coal mines in Anyang, Henan Province, together with their family members and fellow city residents held a “Six Anti” protesting parade (i.e. anti-bureaucracy, anti-oppression, anti-exploitation, anti-corruption, anti-plundering, and anti-darkness). The local authority dispatched more than 3,000 Public Security and the PAP agents in an attempt to crack down; but upon seeing the large number of emotionally charged protesters, the PAP agents were the first to withdraw. It was reported that the PAP Group Political Commissar, Mr. Song, was discharged because of this. At the end of March, dissatisfied with the tyranny of local authorities, more than 30,000 farmers, from nearly 20 villages in five townships in Jieshou Area, Hunan Province, attacked the local County CCP Committee [Building] and County Government [Building]. The local authority marshaled the Public Security and the PAP agents to suppress [the protesters], resulting in a bloodshed that injured more than 70 people (including over 30 members of the Public Security and the PAP agents).

On October 18, 2004, a shoulder/stick transporter [a Chinese rural manual transport with 2 loads on the 2 ends of typically a wooden stick on a shoulder] in Wanzhou of Chongqing area accidentally bumped into a government official’s wife with his carrying stick. The official snatched the carrying stick, broke the transporter’s leg, and threatened that he could buy a transporter’s life with 200,000 yuan because he was a government official. This instigated public indignity and led to tens of thousands of people protesting at the government building. The local authority deployed a thousand PAP agents to suppress the protestors. The conflict was intense on both sides. On October 26, a Hui [1] driver killed a Han [2] person in an auto accident in Zhongmou County, Henan Province, thus triggering several thousand Han farmers to surround the Hui village. Both sides fought collectively with weapons. The local authority sent over a thousand PAP agents to suppress. According to a New York Times report, 148 people died, amongst whom 18 were the PAP agents.

At nearly the same time in Hanyuan County, Sichuan Province, due to the local government forced relocation with officials dealing behind the closed doors that led to the local people’s revolt. The Sichuan provincial authority immediately sent ten thousand PAP agents to Hanyuan County for a large-scale suppression that involved intense conflicts with the local people. At least 17 farmers were killed by gunfire and several hundred were arrested. On November 6, [2004] up to ten thousand farmers attacked the local government’s "Riots Control Center" and took away Sichuan Provincial CCP Committee Secretary Zhang Xuezhong as hostage. A provincial CCP committee secretary being held hostage was unprecedented in the 55 years of communist rule. Afterwards both sides compromised on a settlement.
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On February 26, 2005, more than a thousand employees came into conflict with several hundred anti-riots police agents in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.

On April 11, [2005] 20,000 villagers from Huashui Village, Dongyang County, Zhejiang Province came into a violent conflict with more than 3,000 PAP and Public Security agents sent by the local authority. On May 31, [2005] residents of Foshan, Guangdong Province came into a large-scale conflict with more than 4,000 PAP and Public Security agents due to dissatisfaction towards government forced relocation. In June 2005, an ethnic conflict took place in Shandong Polytechnic University in Zibo, Shandong Province. Over 500 Uyghur and Han students fought with sharp knives, benches and wooden clubs. The local authority sent several hundred PAP agents to crack down. The conflict lasted more than 5 hours. On June 13, [2005] ten thousand villagers in Dacen Village, Huang Pu Township, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province was in conflict with close to 1000 PAP and Public Security agents. On June 14, a large number of people came into conflict with 2,000 PAP and Public Security agents in Nanning City, Guangxi Province with one protester died, five injured, and many people arrested. On June 26, 2005, there happened a collision accident involving a private hospital owner’s car and a student’s bicycle in Chizhou City, Anhui Province. The local authority patronized the owner unfairly, which quickly led to a riot of 10,000 people. The local police station and the hospital were heavily damaged. The supermarket, of which the hospital owner also had partial equity position, was raided. The authority dispatched over 600 PAP agents to crack down on the riot. On May 7, 2005, there happened a dispute between the local government and the villagers over unfair land appropriation by the local government in Nanhai, Foshan City, Guangdong Province. The local authority and the villagers were in “a guerrilla warfare of illegal land use for construction waste disposal”. A large number of the PAP agents (several dozen truckloads of agents) were dispatched to remove the villagers by force. On July 15, [2005] a large-scale skirmish happened between 10,000 villagers and over 1,000 PAP/Public Security agents and security guards in Xinchang County, Zhejiang Province. 7 policemen and over 40 civilians were injured. From July to October, the struggle between Chongqing Special Steel workers for [their] human rights, and the local authority was suppressed by several thousand PAP agents. Between August and October, in Taishi Village, Panyu District, Guangdong Province, the local authority and the people there were in dispute due to the local government deprived of villagers’ legal right to depose their village manager. The local authority sent several hundred to over a thousand police agents to carry out the suppression; and they also used local mafia organizations to hunt down those human rights activists. In December, the Guangdong Provincial Government sent out a large number of the PAP agents to crack down on Shanwei peasants, causing a dozen killed and people missing.

January 14 of this year [2006], a large-scale bloodshed took place between the police and the citizens in Sanjiao Tonwship, Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. This is another case of conflict caused due to unfair land appropriation by local authority that happened more than a month after the Shanwei killings.
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 The local authority sent more than a thousand Public Security/PAP agents, using electric batons, tear gas, and shields in the suppression. The incident resulted in more than 30 injuries; an innocent thirteen year old middle school female student was beaten severely in critical condition and died in the hospital afterwards. On June 30, [2006] the Zigong City Government in Sichuan Province sent over 200 PAP agents to suppress the peasants of Group #8 of Baiguo Village in Red Flag Township protecting their land from being illegally expropriated. Eight peasants were arrested. On July 19, [2006] four municipal staff members of Bazhou District Urban Management and By-law Enforcement Bureau, Sichuan Province, manhandled and injured a city resident. The local people were indignant. There were more than 2,000 citizen protesters including several hundred middle/high school students. And later, protesters besieged the Bazhou District Urban Management and By-law Enforcement Bureau. In the process, there were a few skirmishes happened between protesters and the Public Security agents. More than ten offices of the Bureau and two police vehicles were destroyed by the protesters. The local authority then deployed 150 PAP agents to the scene from the 38th Mobile Division of the PAP based in Nanchong City, Sichuan Province to crack down on the protestors. On July 28, [2006] approximately 800 people participated in the 30th anniversary ceremony, commemorating the 240,000 people who had died in the Tangshang Earthquake. However, the authority forbade people from self-initiated mourning activities and kept the situation on high security alert. The authority sent the PAP agents to disperse the crowd on the premise. A large number of citizens were forced out of the ceremonial scene. On July 29, [2006] the Zhejiang provincial authority deployed more than a thousand PAP/Public Security agents to suppress Christians in Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou Province. They demolished their churches by force and arrested many church members. On August 2, relocating migrants from Xiangyin County, Hunan Province appealed to the municipal government due to their relocation compensation funds embezzled by corrupted local officials. The local government sent over a large number of PAP agents to suppress the migrant petitioners. It was reported that the PAP agents opened fire and killed more than 100 petitioners.

Seeing from the above rough statistics, ever since Hu Jintao came into power, the PAP forces were truly used “[nurture an army for a thousand days and use it] for a thousand days.” This is also a unique phenomenon under China’s one-party despotism. Frequent use of the PAP forces not only wasted tremendous resources but also exhausted both the officers and the rank and file of the PAP, causing their massive complaints. Looking from the perspective of a modern nation or state, the PAP – a de facto army completely loyal to a political party – should have no raison d’etre. It should be part of the normal national military or the police force.

Endnotes:
[1] Hui, a Chinese ethnic group, typically distinguished by their practice of Islam. They are about 10 million in population who form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the current regime of China. They are mainly in Northwestern China (Ningxia Province, Gansu Province and Xinjiang Province), but minor Hui communities exist across the country.
[2] Han, the majority ethnic group comprises approximately 92% of Chinese people in China.

In November 2006, the Central Military Commission authorized and issued a “General Emergency Preparedness Plan” for the armed forces to manage sudden outbreaks. [1]  What worth noting is that the People’s Liberation Army has always been the troop for fighting against the foreigners. The People’s Armed Police are usually in charge of the domestic suppressions. But “the 2006 Emergency Preparedness Plan became the common program for both the PLA and PAP. This document is the guiding principle and standard for the arm forces to respond to various domestic societal conflicts in the two years prior to the Olympic Games. [1] Below is a China News Agency’s report on the promulgation of the document.

Bejing, China – 18:09, November 14, 2006.  Several days ago, the Central Military Commission (CMC) authorized and implemented  “A General Emergency Preparedness Plan” for the armed forces to control sudden outbreaks. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the People’s Armed Police (PAP) are both involved in managing sudden outbreaks with the same guiding principle and standard.

The Emergency Preparedness Plan stipulates that the five major tasks of controling sudden military outbreaks, assisting local social stabilities, handling major terrorists or destructive incidents, joining local disaster relief and handling sudden public security incidents are the basic tasks of military involvement in sudden outbreaks. Under emergency situations, division and regiment level troops and above can skip the lines of communication to report to higher levels directly, and higher levels can also skip the lines of communication to directly command the lower levels. The Emergency Preparedness Plan also stipulates that during initial major outbreaks, the news should be proactively publicized.

Today the official news media quoted the person in charge of the office of military-handling-sudden-outbreaks leadership group, “The military is a major force in handling sudden domestic outbreaks, and has played an important role in handling
various sudden outbreaks. The Emergency Preparedness Plan absorbed lessons learned from decades of experience in handling sudden outbreaks and referenced related foreign military laws and regulations. It has strong operational qualities and applicability, and will make the operational procedures clearer, more prompt, more obvious in results; it can effectively upgrade the military’s ability to handle sudden outbreaks.

This person in charge stated that the Emergency Preparedness Plan is an important component of the country’s general emergency response preparedness plan. It has, for the first time, regulated military involvement in government-organized operations. In the past, when the military was involved in local disaster relief and rescue operations, there were no related laws, policies or regulations; therefore, coordinations and links were relatively poor. The Emergency Preparedness Plan provides an effective basis for military involvement in handling major sudden outbreaks. It also formulated the military’s functional tasks into several preparedness plans that can be either carried out alone or as a whole.
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This responsible person mentioned that when it comes to critical moments, involving a country’s sovereignty and the safety of people’s lives and properties, cutting the middle links will enable the military respond more rapidly to sudden outbreaks. In addition, during major outbreaks, military leaders in the regions of the outbreak can also “pre-handle” the outbreak; that is, reporting while handling. This way, it can minimize the losses to people’s lives and property, to public security, etc. caused by the sudden outbreak. It is also a necessity for a human-based [2], harmonious society.

The Emergency Preparedness Plan stipulates that news should be proactively publicized during initial major outbreaks. This person in charged said that society pays close attention to major sudden outbreaks; therefore, we should release the real situation to the society without delay, using the release of authoritative information to avoid guessing and social panic caused by irresponsible reporting.

[1] China News Services, November 14, 2006
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/hr/zgxw/news/2006/11-14/820607.shtml
[2] According to Baidu (a popular search engine) Encyclopedia, “The human-based idea is proposed by our Party [after] abandoning the limitations of landlord class, capital-owning class [as] found in the of old philosophical idea of humanism and the defects of historical idealism.” The purpose of proposing human-based scientific development is to have human development uniformly lead the development of economics, social development, so as to align the result of societal development with our Party’s character and aim.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has found that the development of the Internet has created a challenge to its rule. The CCP uses its official media to hide the truth. As the truth about Chinese society is exposed on the Internet, the truth that was previously concealed is disclosed piece by piece. The publication of the truth is what the CCP most fears, as it directly challenges the legitimacy of the CCP’s regime. When the CCP strives hard to block the Internet, officials face the difficulty of dealing with the Internet media. The upcoming Olympic Games will attract tens of thousands of Western reporters into China, forcing the CCP to consider how to use more refined and more subtle means of media manipulation to control media and public opinion in order to continue to cover up the truth. With regard to the recent events in Tibet, the official media dealt with it by launching a media campaign to incite civil national resentment against the West, thus creating a new situation. Below is the translation of an article by the Central Party School titled “Urgently enhance the ability of leading cadres to deal with the media.” [1]
Urgently Enhance the Cadres’ Ability to Deal with the Media

General Secretary Hu Jintao recently pointed out in a national propaganda ideological work conference, “At every level, the leading cadres should fully realize the importance of news and public opinion, be good at promoting practical work through news propaganda, enthusiastically support the news media’s interviews and reports, correctly manage public opinion, and enhance their ability to deal with the media.” This requires all levels of the leading cadres to enhance their own abilities to deal with the news, be good at promotion work using the media, and use the media as the CCP and the government’s important ruling tool.

I.

Along with the development of our country’s market economy and its reform and open policy, the style of how the government manages society has changed from administrative management to public management. In public administration, the media has become more and more important. It is an important social strength that influences the country’s politics, economy, and many aspects of society, while presenting a new characteristic that is different from the media under the traditional system.

The media is the means for disseminating information. It provides information to the public about world developments in order to meet society’s information needs. The government collects the information about social situations and public opinion through media, transmits the information, and mobilizes and organizes society.

The media is a society’s early warning tool. Using its antennas that spread through the entire society, the media frequently monitors society for the slightest sign of trouble and promptly informs the public. It has become modern society’s true watchdog.
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The media is the main foundation of public administration. Although the media does not have a superintendent status equal to the government’s, it is an important coordination entity and constitutes a multi-dimensional society management structure with the government, for citizens, and other non-government public organizations.

The media is the government’s inspector general. It represents the public, monitors the government’s rights, lowers costs and increases efficiency. It plays a vital non-replaceable role in enhancing government’s work efficiency, revealing society’s failings, and purifying the party’s cadre troop.

The media is a market competitor. Under the operation pattern of the enterprise commercialization management, the media not only undertakes the mouthpiece function, but also positively participates in the market competition to survive and develop. The media has become an inseparable part from the country’s market economy, and its industrial characteristic is revealed day by day.

The media is a platform for public participation in the government and deliberation over government affairs. In the course of our country’s  advancement in the democratization of politics, the public’s consciousness is enhanced through public participation in government and through deliberation over government affairs. However, the ability of individual opinion expression and intervention in politics is limited. The media provides the public with a platform for the exchange of information and for public discussion, and advances the transparency and publicity of public policy formulation, execution, and revision.

The media is a gambling stage for social benefits. It plays the important roles of communication, coordination, and the maintenance function in the social structural balance. Whoever controls the media, controls multitudinous social resources. In order to strive for a bigger leading power in public administration, each kind of social strength often carries public relations, contention, and the capture of word power to gain more supporting strength. Therefore, media becomes a battlefield for the benefit of all parties.

Along with the evolution of the media’s nature, status, and function, the relationship between the government and media has changed dramatically. The government is facing more and more of a media challenge.

The way media has developed has broken the management pattern. The central committee, the provinces, and propaganda media from outside of China all compete for the local media market. This creates a multi-structured and complex administrative subordination relationship for the media. The local party committee government does not have a subordinate relationship with the media, and cannot manage these media by administrative leadership; it should instead consider doing crosswise coordination.
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Media marketing increases the difficulty of media management. Survival and development may cause media to neglect the social responsibility that it shoulders. Its drive for economic profit, may cause it to curry the world’s favor, use vulgar content to attack the “eyeball,” and even appear deviant in its guidance. It is a stern challenge to the party’s control of the media and of public opinion.

The development of networks has affected traditional methods of managing the media. Before the networks appeared, traditional news management was very effective. A propaganda department instruction could get media not to report or print details about an event. But the appearance of networks enables every network user to become a free information disseminator, and the propaganda department is unable to carry on the instruction-like management that it did in the past.

Media supervision of public opinion is a test of government management. The supervision of public opinion is an obligation of social development, the responsibility of news work, people’s hope, and a method for the party and government’s work to improve. The news media plays a bigger and bigger role in the government’s monitoring public opinion, yet the environment becomes more and more loose. The government not only is the media superintendent, also is the object of media surveillance. The government must learn how to do its work under this media surveillance.

Overseas media coming to the Olympic Games brings a new challenge. It is estimated that 30,000 overseas reporters will come to Beijing during the Olympic Games. Their interviews will not be limited to the Olympic Game’s content, and may involve every aspect of our government work and social life. All levels of government can continue to use the traditional management norms to deal with the overseas media, but they must follow international conventions, do well at receiving, servicing, and welcoming the overseas media, and must demonstrate a new image of China’s democracy, opening, civilization, and progress.

Obviously, the government and media relationship has undergone a big change. Managing and being managed can no long reflect their relationship. The media has, more and more, challenged the government. All levels of the party committees and governments must transform their thoughts, improve their methods, and face the new challenge brought about by the new media environment.

The development of the Internet has challenged CCP rule. The CCP’s official media is used mainly to cover the truth. When the truth about Chinese society is exposed on the Internet, the previously concealed truth is disclosed little by little. The publication of the truth is what the CCP is most afraid of, as it directly challenges the legitimacy of the CCP’s regime. When the CCP strives hard to block the Internet, officials at various levels are stuck in the plight of facing the media on the Internet. The upcoming Olympic Games will attract tens of thousands of Western reporters into China, forcing the CCP to consider how to use more refined and more subtle means of media manipulation to control the media and public opinion in order to continue to cover up the truth. On the recent events in Tibet, the official media launched a media campaign to incite civil national sentiments against the West. It appeared to be an exercise in how to deal with the new situation. Below is the translation of an article by the Central Party School titled “Urgently enhance the ability of leading cadres to deal with the media.” [1] {mospagebreak}
II.

As the relationship between the government and the media is changing, the leading cadres are no longer able to deal with media using conventional ways of thinking and management. They should fully recognize the importance of the media, straighten out their relationship with the media, and consistently enhance their ability to deal with the media through practice. To learn to deal with the media, one should focus on the following six aspects.

The first is to take a new look at the media. As society has developed, the media has undergone a great change. The transformation of society and the government has made the position and role of media in social management more prominent. Development pattern requires the media to positively promote the building of a harmonious society. The ruling party has raised the requirements for governing the media, as it is the mouthpiece of the party, the government and the people; it is the main channel for transmitting information in society; it is the reflection of public opinion; it represents a wealth of knowledge, culture and values; it is an important resource and tool for the government’s public management; it guards community supervision; it is the people’s entertainment venue; and it is the backbone of the cultural industry and the bridge for the dissemination of Chinese culture.

The second is to attach great importance to the media. To promote a positive constructive role for the media is a critical step for building the party and the government’s ability to govern. We must firmly establish a sense of urgency and get control of the media; we need to have a strong sense of responsibility as the vast embankment could be destroyed by an ants’ hole; we should enhance our awareness, and our ability and level to deal with media.

The third is to be good at taking advantage of media. It is essential to plan and to use the media as positive propaganda; to supervise and to the use media to monitor public opinion; to emphasize public opinion and to use the media for the government’s decisions and investigations; and to design and to use the media to shape the government’s image.

The fourth is to actively guide the media: through the news agenda to actively guide media reporters; to use news conferences to feed information to reporters; to use news planning to prepare the reporters with prior policy explanation; to timely share the first draft with reporters when dealing with sudden events; to transmit transpositional thinking to reporters through horizontal communication; to use incentives to encourage the media to promote the theme of the times.

The fifth is to learn to treat the media kindly. The news media and propaganda are connected, but are also different. We should not simply control news in the same way as managing propaganda. Government and the media should mutually understand and cooperate to seek mutual benefits. The government should learn to tolerate public opinion, support monitoring the media and tolerate the inevitable inaccuracies in media supervision and monitoring. The government should foster a sense of service, in order to provide the media with sources of information, policy support, logistical support and other services to create conditions for the mainstream media to produce big and strong reports.
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The sixth is to seriously study the media. Nowadays the relationship between the government and the media is becoming more and more complicated. The government should not only strengthen how it governs the media, but also accept supervision of the media; it should not only be aware of public opinion and social conditions through the media, but also firmly grasp the guiding role on public opinion; it should not only use the media as a tool of the government, but also provide service to the media; it should not only respect the news freedom of the media, but also prevent the media’s power from becoming alienated; it should not only promote the development of the media as an industry, but also avoid the tendency toward mediocrity that the market brings about; it should not only interview foreign media, but also seize the right to speak among world public opinion. To properly handle the relationship between the government and the media, we must seriously study the media, master the media’s laws, and be good at dealing with challenges. Thus we will truly establish a benign interaction and mutually-beneficial collaboration with the media.

III.

The former English Prime Minister, Tony Blair said, “Most of our work today, except the most central decision-making issues, involves dealing with the media, whether measured by importance, time or by energy.” The US professor Bennett said, “In modern times, dealing with media relations has been transformed from an original art that can be managed by personal talents to a science that requires skillfully trained specialists to handle.” To correctly grasp the methods and techniques of dealing with media has become the indispensable nutrient for government officials in the world to engage in public management. On their first day of entering politics, the politicians and officials from Western countries started their course of dealing with the media. They know that winning the media is winning the votes. From participating in an election to the end of their duties, dealing with media is an important part of their political life, and is a skill that they appear to have been born with. For a long period of time, the media in our country has been an extension of the political structure, such that the government can direct the media just by using an executive order. Thus there has not been an issue of dealing with media. Therefore in previous training of cadres, there were no courses to teach the leaders and cadres how to deal with the media, nor was there a discipline to provide this kind of training. There was no media-related content in public management courses; nor did Journalism teach how to be an editor or a reporter. These are important reasons that the party and government officials of different ranks demonstrate a critical lack of ability when dealing with the media.

At present, as the voice for open government information gets higher and higher, press release work is attracting more and more attention. The theory training in how a news spokesperson practices professional skills has gradually improved. However, it has not yet been able to train all leaders and cadres on their ability to deal with news media. With the ever-increasing influence of the media, to generally raise the ability of leaders and cadres to deal with media has become an important project to enhance the party and the government’s ability to govern.
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First, we must deepen and universalize "Government Journalism" academically. “Government Journalism” is a cross-discipline between public relations and journalism. It starts with the laws of public management and dissemination of the media, to study how contemporary government consciously and effectively promotes the important role of the media in building a harmonious society. As the media rapidly develops, as the public requirement for information increases, and as management targets and the content of the government changes its way of dealing with new situations and new problems in dealing with media, it is necessary to deepen and improve the theoretical and practical research of “Government Journalism,” to include "Government Journalism" in the content of the training of cadres, and to popularize and promote the concepts and literacy of "Government Journalism," so that government officials at all levels will fully understand the importance and urgency of news governance, and thereby comprehensively upgrade their capacity and level of dealing with the media.
 
The second is simulated training with the scenario of dealing with the media in a targeted manner. The purpose of raising news literacy is to eventually use it in dealing with the media. Thus, through the method of training in specific cases and scenarios, the leaders and cadres put themselves in the positions of spokesmen to handle unexpected events, and set the government news agenda. Thereby they will experience the importance of the media, grasp the characteristics of the media, and learn the methods of dealing with the media.

Third, we should make raising the quality of news literacy an important item in selecting and testing leading cadres. We should establish a mechanism of positively communicating with the media, and actively using the media to initiate work; enhance the enthusiasm and motivation of the leading cadres in interacting with media; and increase their opportunity to interact with the media. Thus, dealing with the media will become an important part of the work, and they will constantly enrich their experience and capacity in dealing with the media. (The author is a standing committee member of the CPC Nanjing Municipal Party Committee and the director of the Propaganda Department).

[1] Chinese Communist Party Central School, April 11, 2008.
http://www.ccps.gov.cn/dxrd.php?col=161&file=5170

Editor’s Note: Published in New York, “Beijing Spring” is a Chinese monthly magazine founded in June, 1993. Its goal is to promote human rights, democracy and social justice in China. In September 2006, Mr. Lu Gengsong wrote an article titled “China’s Armed Police and Nationalization of the Police Force,” which gives a detailed analysis of China’s police system. Mr. Lu, a member of China’s Democratic Party in Zhejiang Province, has written a number of articles to examine China’s political system as a freelance writer. In August 2007, Public Security Bureau in Hangzhou City (capital city of Zhejiang Province) arrested him. In January 2008, local procuratorial authorities accused him of “inciting the subversion of state power.” The following is the translation of Mr. Lu’s article “China’s Armed Police and Nationalization of the Police Force.” [1]

Not a Typical Army but Similar to an Army; Not a Typical Police Force but more than a Police Force

The PAP used to be treated as “auxiliary division” within China’s military system. However, after Jiang Zemin took office, this “auxiliary division” became the “normal division”. Over the time, the size of the PAP grew larger and larger; the equipments became more and more sophisticated; the official perks it enjoyed got better and better. It almost became “The Central Army” or “The Privileged Core”. In 1988, when the military ranks were initially assigned, Commander of the PAP at Headquarters(HQ) level Li Lianxiu was Lieutenant General, and the Political Commissar Zhang Xiufu was Major General. The Commanders and Political Commissars of the PAP Corps under the PAP HQ were Senior Colonels or Colonels. Now, the ranks of the Commanders and the Political Commissars of the PAP at HQ level are all Generals while the ranks of the Commanders and the Political Commissars of the PAP Corps at levels of Province, Autonomous region or major municipality are all Major Generals. And also the ranks of the Directors and Political Commissars of the PAP at commander-in-chief’s office level for Gold Mining Troops, Hydro Power Troops, Forestry Troops, Transportation Troops, Xinjiang Construction Regiment, and Three Georges Dam Project of Yangtze River are all Major Generals. Although the PAP technically is at the Grand Military Region level with a size of 1.5 million people – half of the total PLA force. Expanding the PAP to such a large organization was to satisfy Jiang Zemin’s personal agenda. During his reign, the PAP was turned into his private military force as it was called “Jiang’s Family Army”. Jiang took office with fear after the June 4th Tiananmen Massacre in 1989. Without military experience and the prestige like Mao or Deng, he was extremely afraid that the Military would not listen to him and he be out of control. Under the political pretense of “stability supercedes everything”, he kept the PAP under his control. He appointed his confidant Ba Zhongyan (former Commander of Shanghai Garrison) as Chief Commander of the PAP HQ. Meanwhile, Jiang expanded the PAP and turned it into his private army. Jiang’s restructuring of the PAP was based on the following considerations: Firstly, he didn’t have any military power or experience; if difficult to establish his reputation in the military in a short time, it would be better to create a new force as his own private army in promoting his reputation in the military.
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Secondly, one of the PAP’s responsibilities was to guard the safety of leaders of the Party and the Central Government. Through the PAP security duties, Jiang could subject other central government leaders under his surveillance. Thirdly, under the international community’s pressure for disarmament, by just converting part of the military force into armed police, he would still be able to keep the same amount of armed force while earning himself the international reputation of the cooperation in disarmament and winning the support from the part of the military that’s been kept. Finally, when the military was used to suppress the Students Movement in 1989, even Deng’s decision was opposed by senior military officials. However, if the PAP were used, it would be by the book, since one of the main duties of the PAP is to suppress domestic rebellions.

When Jiang was restructuring the PAP, he had another intention: to contain the PLA. Albeit Chairman of Central Military Commission (CMC), he had never led troops in a war, so he had to worry about the possible situation when the military turns back against him. If there was a riot and face-to-face fight, the PAP, equipped with short-range weapons and martial arts, had a natural advantage over the PLA that were only good at long-range weapons. In 1992, it was reported that the Ministry of National Security acquired an intelligence report for the White House from U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. The report said that after Deng’s death, Chinese communist regime would face a great threat. If any incident like June 4th Tiananmen Students Movement in 1989 happened again, the Chinese Communist Party would lose its power for sure. In the report CIA concluded that Deng’s death would signify the end of the CCP’s ruling by military strongmen who believed in “political power from the gun”. Under such situation, if any incident like June 4th Tiananmen Students Movement in 1989 should happen again, the Chinese leaders would not have the abilities or the guts to order the military to suppress people, let alone, with group leadership, for all top leaders of the CCP to agree on such a matter unanimously. As long as one or two leaders should disagree, the CCP would fall apart. In other words, the CCP’s power was maintained by its military forces. When it suddenly lost its powerful leader with guts and ability to marshal the military forces, the consequence would be inconceivable. This was what Jiang feared the most. Therefore, with strategies from Zeng Qinghong and other advisors, Jiang started to get into the PAP business and the business went “better and better”.

The PAP was formally created in 1983. During its first 20 years, its name, structure and designation had not changed much. In October of 1996, the CMC converted 14 PLA infantry divisions to be part of the PAP, directly under the leadership of the PAP HQ as the mobile division of the PAP [Internal] Security Troops.  In the beginning of 1999, the PAP specialty troops that previously reported to various state ministries – the Hydro Power Troops, the Gold Mining Troops, the Transportation Troops and the Forestry Troops – were completely changed to the direct leadership of the PAP HQ, creating at the HQ level the PAP Forestry Commander-in-Chief’s Office, the PAP Hydro Power Commander-in-Chief’s Office, the PAP Transportation Commander-in-Chief’s Office, the PAP Gold Mining Commander-in-Chief’s Office and the PAP Xinjiang Production and Construction Regiment Commander-in-Chief’s Office. In the beginning of 20th Century, the PAP Three Gorges Dam Project Commander-in-Chief’s Office was also created.
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The PAP system has three major components: the Border Patrol Troops, the Fire Fighting Troops and the Security Troops are under the Public Security system; the Internal Security Troops is under the military system; the Hydro Power Troops, the Gold Mining Troops, the Transportation Troops and the Forestry Troops are under various ministries. The Internal Security Troops, consisting of the PAP corps at the levels of province, autonomous region and provincial-level city, and mobile divisions, is the essential force of the PAP. Different levels of the Internal Security Troops are governed by the local party committees, administrative authorities, and their superiors inside the PAP system. The operation of the Hydro Power Troops, the Gold Mining Troops and the Transportation Troops are managed by the Ministry of Public Security and their related ministries – the Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Metallurgy and Ministry of Transportation. The Forestry Troops is subject to dual leadership of mainly the Forestry Ministry system and the Ministry of Public Security system, and also subject to the leadership of both central and local governments, but mainly local governments. What’s more, there is a specialty corps in the PAP system, called the PAP Specialty Police Corps. There are two types of Specialty Police Corps, one under the PAP and one under the Public Security system. The Specialty Police Corps under the Public Security system does not belong to the PAP system but under local Police Departments. The Specialty Police Corps under the PAP was actually called “The PAP Beijing Specialty Police College” (a unit at the administrative level of Lt. General /Deputy Governor, i.e., [Grand] Military Region/Provincial level). This is a new kind of specialty police corps that can be called a corps or college, and is a combination of both. The predecessor of the PAP Specialty Police Corps was the “Anti-Hijack Specialty Police Corps” established on July 22, 1982, code-named “Police Corps #727 of the Ministry of Public Security”. In 1983, the Corps was changed to be under the PAP HQ and was renamed as “China PAP Specialty Police Group”. Its tasks were explicitly defined to be anti-hijack, anti-terrorism and anti-riot. Later on, its name was changed to “China PAP Specialty Police School” according to the regulatory/policy directives issued regularly by State Council and Ministry of Public Security. In September of 1985, the school recruited its first batch of students. In August of 1999, the renowned “Specialty Policewomen’s Unit of the PAP Sichuan Corps” moved to Beijing and became the first specialty policewomen’s combat unit in the “PAP Beijing Specialty Police School”. In May of 2005, it changed its name to the “PAP Beijing Specialty Police College” according to the CMC’s approval. The College had two specialties – specialized policing and reconnaissance. It consisted of three cadet units and was a three-year college. Since 2004, it started to recruit cadets for Bachelor’s Degrees. After their graduation, some of them were assigned to the Combat Division of the PAP Beijing Specialty Police College; the majority of the cadets were assigned to the PAP Specialty Police Corps at provincial level as the essential members in training or combating; some were assigned to be commanders with mobile divisions. In nature, the PAP specialty police was internal security service.

During the period when Jiang Zemin was in power, the PAP suddenly became dominant. Not only did they become CCP’s favorite among the military but also came across as the overbearing big brother with police force. It turned out that they were not a typical army but similar to an army, not a typical police force but more than a police force. The head counts of the PAP were half of the PLA and were about the same as the police force. But its weaponry was much better than that of the police force.
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At the same time, its light weaponry was also better than that of the military. And its jurisdiction spanned that of the military and the police force. The critical functions of the PAP for the CCP are the guard and internal security service. The internal security service functions as the guards for the CCP officials and top leadership organizations.  The PAP Security Troops has a nickname – “Commander’s Nine City Gates Infantry” which, of course, refers to the armed police force in Beijing. The CCP top leaders are all cowards. Beijing’s security force is a multi-layered organization that consists of the Central Security Bureau, the Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, the Beijing PAP Corps and the Beijing Garrison. The Central Security Bureau is also called the Ninth Bureau of the General Office of Central Committee of Chinese Communist Party (CCCCP), which is directly controlled by CMC. Its responsibility is to safeguard the leaders above the levels of Standing Committee of the Politburo of CCP and CMC.  The Ninth Bureau of the General Office of CCCCP was the former Security Division of the General Office of CCCCP, created in April, 1949 in Xibaipo Village.  In March of 1950, it was expanded and became the Security Bureau of the General Office of CCCCP, also called the Eighth Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.  The responsibilities of the Eighth Bureau covered many areas. At that time, the Director was Liu Wei and the Deputy Directors were Wang Dongxing (concurrently as the Chief of the First Division of the General Office of CCCCP), Meng Zhaoliang and Yue Xin. There were security, health and supply sections under the Eighth Bureau. In 1953, to change the situation that the Eighth Bureau had too many duties, it was divided into two components. Those who were in charge of the internal security of Zhongnanhai Compound in the First Division became the Zhongnanhai Security Bureau of the General Office of CCCCP (the Ninth Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security). Its Director was Wang Dongxing and Deputy Director was Zhang Yaoci. It was responsible for the internal security service for Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Chen Yun, and other leaders in Standing Committee of the Politburo of the CCP and General Secretary of CCP Central Committee, including also the security for the Zhongnanhai Compound and other critical CCP and State offices, ministries or departments. After the Ninth Bureau branched out, the Director of the Eighth Bureau was still Liu Wei and the Deputy Directors were Liu Huishan and Zhang Tingzhen. The Eighth Bureau was to direct the security services in provinces and cities, and responsible for the security services of the senior leaders other than those covered by the Ninth Bureau, so called “Four VPs and Two Supremes” – Vice-Chairman of National People’s Congress (NPC), Vice-President of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Vice-Premier of State Council, Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China, Procurator-General of Supreme People’s Procuratorate and President of Supreme People’s Court, leaders of CMC, visiting foreign leaders, and large scale public events. In April of 1964, the Eighth Bureau and the Ninth Bureau were combined as the new Ninth Bureau with Wang Dongxing as Director, Zhang Yaoci, Li Shuhuai, Mao Weizhong, Yang Dezhong, Hao Ruoyu and Wang Shengrong as Deputy Directors. In October of 1969, the Ninth Bureau and the Central Security Regiment (Unit 8431, established in 1942 from the Security Battalion and Central Instructors Group) were combined as the Security Division of the General Office of CCCCP, under the military system, promoted to the corps level. The Chief of the Division was Wang Dongxing and 16 people were Deputy Chiefs.
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In 1977, the Security Division of the General Office of CCCCP expanded the Central Security Regiment to become the Central Security Division. The Security Division of the General Office of CCCCP became the Security Bureau of the General Office of CCCCP, Central Security Bureau in short (currently called the Security Bureau of General Staff Department). Wang Dongxing was the Director. In 1979, the Central Security Bureau of the General Office of CCCCP was reorganized. Deng Xiaoping appointed his trusted subordinate, Yang Dezhong, as the Director. Zhang Yaoci who used to be responsible for Mao Zedong’s security was appointed as Deputy Chief of Staff of Chengdu Military Region. Former Deputy Directors Wu Jianhua, Wu Jicheng, Mao Weizhong and Di Fucai were all promoted to positions at provincial military region’s level. This personnel restructuring was called “The Big Personnel Reshuffle of Palace Guards”.  In August of 1994, Jiang Zemin appointed his trusted subordinate, You Xigui, as the Director of Central Security Bureau (concurrently as the Chief of the Central Security Division), and Yang Dezhong was kicked out. Shortly before the CCP’s 16th National Congress, Jiang Zemin’s trusted subordinate, Wang Gang, the Party Secretary of Central Security Bureau, and You Xigui strongly urged Jiang Zemin to be the Head of the Central Security Bureau “on behalf of” all the officials and soldiers of the Central Security Bureau. Thus, a new position was created – First Political Commissar of Central Security Bureau. By October 15, 2002, the restructuring of the Central Security Bureau was done. The new Central Security Force consisted of the Specialty Police Corps from the Chengdu Military Region, the Security Corps from Shenyang Military Region and the Second Artillery Corps, totaling 5600 officials and soldiers.

In the beginning of November, 2002 (right before the CCP’s 16th National Congress), CCCCP and the CMC announced that Jiang Zemin was appointed First Political Commissar of Central Security Bureau. It was reported that the Central Security Bureau was restructured again completely in all different levels, from squad, platoon, company, battalion to division, before Hu Jintao’s visit to U.S. on April 18, 2006. Although the information on the internet still indicated that You Xigui was the Director and Zhang Baozhong, Ma Jinhu, Zhao Liujiang, Sun Zhigong, Yan Min, Jiang Guangqing and Li Hongfu were Deputy Directors. In fact, the Bureau was already restructured again. You Xigui was only responsible for Jiang Zemin’s personal security. The daily operation of the Central Security Bureau was under Sun Zhigong, Hu Jintao’s personal security chief. It was reported that this was another “Big Personnel Reshuffle of Palace Guards”. In July of 2005, the top leaders of the PAP HQ were also changed: the former Deputy Chief of Staff, Liu Hongjun, was promoted as Deputy Commander, the former Deputy Commander, Liu Shimin, was appointed as Deputy Political Commissar, the former Deputy Director of Political Department, Li Qingyin, was promoted as Deputy Political Commissar. The local PAP corps were also restructured, including the top leaders at military corps/provincial level, such as Sichuan Province, Jilin Province and Qinghai Province. It was reported that this restructuring of the PAP force was one of Hu Jintao’s measures to consolidate his power.
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After the restructuring, the Eight Bureau was under the PAP system, and its correspondent local subordinates, such as the Eighth Divisions at the levels of Provincial Public Security Offices and City Public Security Bureaus, are all under the PAP system; but they are under the jurisdiction of Public Security system. The Eighth Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security is now called the Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS). Its Director is the PAP Major General Dong Fuyuan. It is still responsible for the so-called “Four VPs and Two Supremes” – Vice-Chairman of National People’s Congress (NPC), Vice-President of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Vice-Premier of State Council, Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China, Procurator-General of Supreme People’s Procuratorate and President of Supreme People’s Court, and important foreign affairs events.

The responsibilities of the Central Security Bureau and the Security Bureau of MPS are to safeguard the top leaders of CCP. However, Beijing is a place with a lot of top officials and it is also a political, economical and cultural center. The security services for those latter aspects in Beijing are entrusted with the Beijing PAP Corps and Beijing Garrison. In June of 1949, before the CCP took power, the Pingjin Garrison HQ was established. Later in January of 1959, it was changed to be the Beijing Garrison under the Beijing Military Region. At the same time, the Beijing Garrison was also the military service office for Beijing Municipal CCP Committee and the military conscription service work-unit for Beijing City Government. It was under the dual leadership of Beijing Military Region as well as the Beijing Municipal CCP Committee and Beijing City Government. Beijing Garrison had reduced its size quite a bit when the PAP was established. It used to have four full-size Type-A Security Divisions, but now it only has two Security Divisions (First Security Division and Third Security Division), one In-reserve Anti-aircraft Artillery Division, one Anti-Chemical Weapon Regiment and some training and instruction groups. The First Security Division is responsible for the security of important locations of military headquarters, CMC leaders’ residences and other important head offices and divisions. The Third Security Division is actually a Motorized Infantry Division without any security service duties.

The Beijing PAP Corps is responsible for internal security service. It provides security services for CCCCP leaders who do not live in the Zhongnanhai Compound, Beijing city level non-military governmental organizations, foreign missions, etc. Currently, the Beijing Garrison and the Beijing PAP Corps are of the same military rank without any type of affiliation. However, the First Division of the Beijing PAP Corps is the former Second Security Division of Beijing Garrison. In 1999, the former First Beijing PAP Corps (promoted to military vice-corps level in 1993) and the Second Beijing PAP Corps were combined and became the new Beijing PAP Corps (at military corps level, subordinating the First Division, the Second Division and several military brigade level units). Later, two more divisions were added to the Beijing PAP Corps. Among all the PAP corps in provinces, autonomous regions or provincial-level cities, only the Beijing PAP Corps is at the rank of full military corps level. It has four divisions and close to 20 division level units, which indicates the importance of Beijing municipality.
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Forces responsible for the [internal] security services are actually police forces in military uniforms. Their duties are not law enforcement but rather, to suppress citizens. During recent years, the PAP security corps or troops have been used to suppress the ordinary Chinese citizens who appeals to the government for their human rights. It was reported that, in 2005, the PAP troops were ordered to have carried out suppression tasks 21,076 times; 818 counts for casualties in the process of carrying out those suppression orders, of which, of course, the targeted ordinary citizen death toll was not counted in. Observers believe that when Jiang Zemin created the PAP, his main purposes were to suppress the Uyghurs who sought independence in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, the millions of workers who lost their jobs and who were not satisfied with the on-going reduction of their income due to state-owned enterprises going out of businesses or lackluster profit performances, and the farmers who had been protesting because of illegal land confiscation by government officials; to eliminate qigong organizations; and to repress the Hui ethnic group, Tibetans and those “not well-behaved” students. After Hu Jintao came into power, he inherited Jiang Zemin’s policy and used the PAP even more frequently.