On May 14, 2008, Xinhuanet.com published an article, “Review of the Development of the Cultural Industry in the New Era and Its Current Status,” written by Cheng Huizhe, a researcher at the Center for the Strategic Study of Cultural Development, under the Chinese Academy of Art. The author wrote, “The [Chinese] cultural industry has experienced three stages of development. The first stage was from 1978 to1988, when the culture market emerged, and was gradually recognized. The culture industry sprouted amid difficulties and progressed slowly. The second stage was from 1989 to 1998, when the culture industry received social approval while painstakingly making progress. The culture industry served a supporting role to economic development. ‘Culture work sets the stage; economic development is the star.’ From 1999 to 2007 was the third stage, when the culture industry made significant progress.” “During the third 10 years, the concept of the culture industry penetrated into people’s feelings. The culture business’s functionalities and economic attributes became widely recognized. No longer a stair or stage for economic development, culture has become the star of economic development. ‘Culture sets the stage, culture is the star.’ The culture economy and the culture industry itself are the purpose.” [1]

The article said, “In 2000, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party‘s (CCCCP’s) Proposal of Formulating the Tenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development passed in the Fifth Plenary Session of the 15^th party Congress,  For the first time, the Central government’s official document formally adopted the concept of ‘cultural industry.’ The proposal required improving the cultural industry’s policies, strengthening the development and management of the culture market, promoting the expansion of the culture industry, and outlining the responsibilities and requirements for the culture industry’s development. It is of great significance in setting a landmark for China’s recognition of the culture industry.’ In 2001, the culture industry was included in the country’s Tenth Five-Year Plan. The culture industry has since become a significant part of China’s economic and social development strategy.

In 2002, the report of the party’s 16^th Congress gave a whole chapter to the culture industry, calling for actively developing the culture industry, improving policy, and supporting its development. In 2004, the CCCCP’s Decision on Strengthening the Party’s Governance passed in the Fourth Plenary Session of the 16th party Congress. It put forth the requirements for the development of China’s culture industry in the new age. The development of the culture industry was also included in the party’s proposal for the Eleventh Five-Year Plan at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 16^th party Congress in 2005, and the Outline of the Eleventh Five-Year Development Plan passed in 2006. In 2007, the report of the 17^th party Congress again reiterated the need to vigorously advance the culture industry in order for it to make a significant contribution to the prosperity of the culture of Socialism. [1]

On the same day, another article published on Xinhua stated, “Traditional Chinese culture is the treasure house for developing the modern culture industry. The most pressing matter of the moment for implementing the decisions of the party’s 17th Congress and accelerating the development of the culture industry is, without doubt, to seize the opportunity and turn the advantages of our culture resources into advantages of the culture industry, to strive to create an attractive ‘China Dream.’” [2]

In April 10, 2008, Outlook Weekly magazine published an article, “Coping With the Tendency of ‘Soft Containment.’” It said, “In recent years, some Western mainstream media produced a large number of biased reports on Chinese products and its food safety issues, triggered by the ‘lead toys’ incident in the United States, and the ‘poisonous dumplings incident in Japan. In addition, Western media played up issues such as ‘Chinese spies,’ ‘China energy plundering,’ the Darfur issue, and the Beijing Olympic Games. China’s national image has been distorted.” “The massive reports of some Western media and social organizations that distorted China’s image have provided ample space for the ‘soft containment’ of China.” “It is obvious that the Western media are continuously manipulating public opinion to constrain China’s international environment for development.” “[Chinese] authorities are greatly concerned about such ‘soft containment.’ People in charge have pointed out that the purpose of ‘soft containment’ is to ‘damage your image, undermine your external environment, and slow down your development.’ They called for being vigilant and smashing the ‘soft containment’ of China.” [3]

The article also states, “As the Western media has an extensive communication network, and a wealth of information resources, it has enormous influence in setting the agenda. According to statistics, over 90% of the world’s information is disseminated from the U.S.-led Western countries; more than 70% is disseminated by multi-national media giants in those countries. Most developing countries can only serve as information transit points, relaying information from the Western Countries. It is true even in the Internet era. China’s national image has thus been distorted. According to the academic research, for longer than the past 10 years, Western, and especially the U.S. media’s main tone on China has not fundamentally changed.” “According to academic analysis, some features of the ‘soft containment’  include: putting pressure on the ideologies during so-called dialogue or communication, with the recognition of China’s rise and its role in international affairs; exerting influence on the world’s governments’ policies and forcing China to make concessions using pressure on ideological, economic, and social issues. The pressure on ideologies relies particularly on the media and public opinion.” [3]

The Outlook Weekly article quoted a number of views from Chinese officials and scholars:

The Vice Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Peking University, Professor Cheng Manli, said, “Many Western media have always understood and judged the world according to their inherent values and interests, based upon which they set the ‘agenda’ for reporting, while the general audience can hardly perceive the selection process. Most people interpret the outside world by following the agenda and information chosen by the mainstream media.” “By setting the agenda, the Western media determine which events are important, which are less important, and which are not important. A virtual environment is thus built. Although this environment is not real, it, however, does have a great impact on people’s minds, behavior, and decision-making.” “For the world to learn objectively and accurately about China, (China) must break through the agenda set by the Western media and give China a voice on a broader platform.” “Firstly, China needs to seize the initiative in the international media, guide public opinion, and turn around from the current position of being passively judged by others. To achieve this, we must have the support of national power and we must have the sense of proactively communicating our agenda.” “Secondly, we must rely on our own international media to reverse what Western media report. Under the current circumstances, China should adapt to the outside world on linguistic symbols and means of expression, and thereby have Western media relay China’s message.” “Thirdly, we ought to focus on issues and hot topics of the international community, participate in the world’s discussions, and eventually dominate the reports.” “Meanwhile, in order to reap the gradually accumulated effects, we need to systematically clean up and refine China’s image.” Cheng Manli finally pointed out, “Lastly, overseas Chinese are an important audience. Their recognition and identification with China’s national image will help increase the effectiveness of disseminating information in the international arena.” [3]

The director of the Journalism Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Yi Yungong, said, “The Western media claim they pursue objective reporting, but when faced with the same facts, their reporting, including their angle of observation, tailoring of the facts, and editing of the details, are permeated with their values and bias.” [3]

Professor Yu Guoming at the School of Journalism and Communication of the Renmin University of China said, “From the perspective of news research, the Western media’s distorted coverage can be approximately divided into two categories: one category is due to ignorance, confusion, or lack of understanding; the other is deliberately distorting the facts. When it is to intentionally distort the facts, there must be some political purpose or even more, a profound national interest behind it.” [3]

Mr. Zhao Qizheng who once served as the director of the State Council Information Office said, “In the United States, only a few of the elite can influence U.S. policy: Members of Congress, the President, the chief editors of major newspapers, and top university professors. These people have an impact on U.S. policies, while other people don’t. In other words, the social elite in Western societies establish the public opinion agenda to control the international political and the economic agenda. Some scholars have even developed a term, ‘momentum making’ to describe the process: often times the so-called ‘social problems’ do not always have an objective and real existence, but are known to the public through the media’s selection, sorting, and dissemination. For the media who are ‘creating the momentum,’ it’s not important whether an issue is real or not. What is important is how to impose a particular social significance on it, introduce it to the public, draw wide attention and discussion to it, and arrive at a society-wide ‘consensus building’ through a ‘commonly defined process.’” [3]

Professor Jin Chanrong, Vice Dean of the School of International Relations at the Renmin University of China, said, “The reason Western countries can arbitrarily apply a double standard to China is that China’s soft power is still weak. He pointed out that soft power includes factors such as core values, the influence of social culture, the influence of commercial culture, and the effectiveness of domestic and foreign policies. In recent years, China’s soft power has been enhanced: the government has increased the support for our own culture products, and culture exports have increased. Since 2004, borrowing experience from language promotion agencies from the U.K., France, Germany, and Spain, China has been supporting the establishment of Confucius Institutes. But overall, compared to Western countries, China’s soft power is much weaker, the gap remains wide, and ‘China’s voice’ is not loud enough”. [3]

Mr. Cai Wu, the Minister of Culture and former director of the State Council Information Office, publicly stated, “At present, the proportion of positive, objective, and accurate foreign news reports on China is still relatively small.” “If we can take advantage of the modern digital technology, our current means of communication, and citizen diplomacy, we can break through the hegemony of dominance in public opinion.” [3]

On December 8, 2008, Outlook Weekly magazine published an article entitled, “The Expansion of Soft Power with Chinese Characteristics.” Dong Manyuan, author and researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, said, “30 years of reform and opening up has substantially upgraded China’s hard power. Its ever climbing soft power has a different nature from the Western definition. … China’s system, path, and development model reveal persistent vitality.” “The Chinese Communist Party has a strong and mature capacity for governance and popular public support. It is almost impossible for foreign forces to change China’s system; it’s almost futile for major powers to curb China’s development.” [4]

On May 25, 2009, Study Times published an article titled, “The Strategic Choice of China’s Cultural Modernization.” The article said, “The strategic choice of Chinese cultural modernization is to follow the basic principles of cultural modernization, to learn from the historic experiences of the world’s cultural modernization, and to be in line with China’s specific conditions and international environment. From the angle of science and modernization, we have focused on studying Chinese cultural modernization strategy’s quantitative targets, basic path, and implementation measures. We have also drawn a road map which is a strategic plan to achieve the strategic objectives and a systematic integration of the target, the path, and the means.” This strategic objective can be approached from three aspects: “(1) the implementation of the ‘National Culture Agenda’ so as to improve the quality of cultural life; (2) the implementation of ‘the Strategy of Revitalizing Chinese Culture’ to enhance our cultural competitiveness; (3) the implementation of the project, the ‘Quality Works of Chinese Civilization’ (a collection of high quality productions) to enhance cultural influence.” At the end of the article, it concluded that “the modernization of Chinese culture is a complicated systematic project, which cannot be achieved overnight. From a scientific and modern perspective, the cultural modernization road map can be a strategic choice. The 21st century is the century of the revitalization of Chinese culture and will be a century of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.” [5]

On June 9, 2009, Xinhua reported that Li Changchun, a member of Standing Committee of the Politburo, addressed the promotion of socialist cultural development during his trip to Zhejiang Province. Li said, “While leading the people in periods of revolution, social development, and reform and opening up, the party has left landmarks and spiritual wealth, which are valuable resources for patriotic education. Taking the opportunity to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the new China, (we need) to carry out massive patriotic education campaigns, guide the cadres and the massive public in the deep understanding of history that it was the Chinese people who chose Marxism, the Chinese Communist Party, socialism, and the reform and opening up, and who further strengthen the faith and confidence in walking on the socialist path with Chinese characteristics and achieving the great renaissance of the nation under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.” [6]

On July 20, 2009, Study Times also quoted Ye Xianwen, then Chief of the State Administration of Religious Affairs and special commentator for People’s Daily, from his conversation with the ethnic musician Xuan Ke in the dialogue, “Restoring Chinese Culture and Going Beyond.” Ye said, “Now, with the socioeconomic development, the Chinese nation is showing a momentum of rising and renaissance. However, in order to achieve the great rejuvenation of the nation, although it is very important to sustain a continual and rapid economic growth, we cannot neglect culture as the base and internal appeal. For a nation to stand high among the nations in the world and win respect, it needs to be not only ‘rich and powerful,’ but ‘culturally charming.’” He added, “Although the history of modern Western countries is not long, they have experienced the Renaissance, which provides a solid foundation for culture. If the Renaissance freed ‘human beings’ from the shackles of God, and later humans were deified, degenerated, and mankind fell downwards against its own nature, and even became a ‘virus,’ the [present] era calls for a new Renaissance. Mankind must return from an overly inflated self to ‘harmonious human beings,’ and must build a new ‘harmonious world,’ in which mankind harmonizes with nature, with society, and with mankind itself. Amid the development of a harmonious society, Chinese culture may need go through the culture restoration process of ‘basic cultivation in poetry, manners, and music,’ [8] and ‘music, and the harmony of heaven and earth.’ [9] The great renaissance of Chinese culture will be accompanied by a process from the “social values crushed” to a new stage of “social values revitalized.”… The renaissance of Chinese culture, such a complicated and heavy topic, can be brought out beginning from talking about the revitalization of social values, and then carried forward.” “Achieving the creation of the great history of the Chinese nation’s rejuvenation is bound to produce a magnificent epic. … China’s The Yellow River Cantata, and Long March Songs [10] are all ‘immortal works’ that are amazing and educational.” “We’re a large country, if everyone comes out to address this issue, even ‘Falun Gong’ will talk about it. That is not permitted. We encourage everyone to speak out, listen to good suggestions, and collect ideas. We should let the good voices spread all over the world, but for bad voices, we should block or guide them.” [7]

Endnotes:
[1] Xinhua, May 14, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008-05/14/content_8168192.htm
[2] Xinhua, May 14, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008-05/14/content_8167949.htm
[3] Xinhua, April 10, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008-04/10/content_7950835_1.htm
[4] Xinhua, December 8, 2008
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2008-12/08/content_10473539.htm
[5] Study Times, May 25, 2009
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=1&id=2667&nid=9674&bid=6&page=1
[6] Xinhua, June 9, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-06/09/content_11515860.htm
[7]Study Times, July 20, 2009
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=0&id=2808&bid=9
[8] The Analects of Confucius
[9] The Book of Music, a classic Chinese literature during Warring States Period, (BC 453 – BC 221)
[10] Titles of the songs that the Chinese government promotes.

The peaceful development path is a breakthrough in the traditional socialist path, a breakthrough from developing socialism behind closed doors, and a breakthrough in the world revolution path. In the late 1980s, socialism in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and other countries suffered a setback. The reason that the traditional socialism path suffered a setback is largely related to trying to develop a socialist planned economy on its own by following the so called “Stalin model.” The “Stalin model” was a product of the special conditions during the era of war and revolution in Russia. It was for a large yet economically weak country to survive and develop, although surrounded by capitalism, to increase economic power and to strengthen its national defense at all costs through the implementation of a comprehensive collectivization of its system, and to establish a mandatory and highly centralized planned economy in the political system.

The core feature of this model is that a socialist country isolates itself from the capitalist world, and tries to develop socialism on its own, in order to lay a foundation for world revolution. Although this model has the advantage of conceiving a big picture under a concentration of power, there are many profound defects in following this model, such as causing institutional rigidities, resource constraints, and a lack of vitality . . . . The failure of socialism in the world since the 1980s is not the failure of the socialist path itself, but the failure of the “Stalin model.” 

In contrast, the reason that socialism with Chinese characteristics was able to revive and become more vital since the 1980s is because the CCP has established and followed a peaceful development path ever since it adopted the reform and opening up policy, which was after the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee took place. Through the reform and opening up, the room for the development of China’s socialism has widened, so that it can take advantage of the strategic opportunities brought about by globalization and the new technological revolution, thus adding strong impetus to China’s development. The peaceful development path is not only a breakthrough in the traditional socialist path, but also a breakthrough in the traditional capitalist path. It is the external realization of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Thirty years experience of adopting the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics has proven that China’s development is inseparable from the rest of the world. As a less developed country, to build socialism we must anchor together with the capitalist world, adhere to an open, peaceful development path, seek cooperation through an open policy, develop through cooperation, and achieve mutual benefit and development based on common interests with the other countries of the world. Only in this way…can we advance the magnificent undertaking of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Therefore, to strengthen socialism in China by extensively participating in the labor division in the international arena, to obtain nutrition from “the body of capitalism” by opening up to the world, and to advance socialism with Chinese characteristics through cooperation with the entire capitalist system, are the essence of China’s peaceful development path, the core of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics. 

The peaceful development path is not only a breakthrough in the isolated and revolutionary traditional socialist path, but also a breakthrough in the traditional capitalist path that is based on expanding outwards and shifting crises. It is not a path of seeking hegemony, nor is it a path of waging war. Rather it is a path to promote world peace and world harmony. China’s adhering to the peaceful development path is determined by the characteristic of globalization, China’s own internal development needs, and the goals and tasks of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Since the 15th century, none of the development paths of the world’s major capitalist powers were peaceful paths, but rather paths full of overseas colonization, external plundering, expansion and even military invasion.  However, since the 1980s, along with the development of globalization, international competition has been switching to competition of overall national power and creation of a peaceful international environment. The competition is centered on competing resources of technology, talent, raw materials and other factors of production, rather than a debate about social system and ideology. In the race between socialism and capitalism, the core competitiveness of socialism with Chinese characteristics comes from self-development via seeking a peaceful international environment, providing needed markets, capital, technology, talent, raw materials, and other important factors for China’s development, and the enhancement of society’s recognition of the national identity. It also comes from China’s active participation in establishing and improving the new international rules and standards, safeguarding the new, just, peaceful and stable international order, establishing a harmonized world of long lasting peace and prosperity with other countries, and increasing China’s influence and appeal to the international community.  Therefore, the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics is very different from the modernization path that the world’s major capitalist powers have walked through.

China’s choice of the peaceful development path is also the only choice of globalization. The development of globalization has tied China closely to the rest of the world. China’s development is inseparable from the world. Dependencies on international trade, international investment, and other aspects of social life are all on the rise; the cost would be extraordinarily high for China to elect a non-peaceful development path. Therefore, China cannot follow the footprint of Germany and Japan to accumulate resources at any cost by expanding externally and starting a war, because in the globalization era, the damage a country creates to the world development environment will also negatively impact the country itself, and even lead to the retrogression of the country’s comprehensive national power and its social development. In the era of globalization, the relationship between the socialist countries and the capitalist countries is no longer “who wins and who looses; who lives and who dies,” but rather the co-existent relationship of “you have me, I have you,” and a relationship of “cooperation when there is competition, and competition when there is cooperation.”  Therefore, the main task of socialism with Chinese characteristics is not to eradicate or replace capitalism, but to effectively use capitalism to serve the development of socialism.

In fact, what the international community worries about most is not China showing its military power in the future, because the combined Western powers are sufficient to meet a challenge from China alone. What they are concerned about most is that China expedites the implementation of the socialist modernization goals through its unremitting efforts. Once the goals and ideals become a reality, China’s practice will prove incontrovertibly that capitalism is not the only choice of human history. Any country will be able to learn from the experience of the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, choose the socialist path that fits its own characteristics, and ultimately implement its own historic mission of achieving national prosperity and national rejuvenation. In this way, the prediction of “the end of history” will be declared to be a complete failure and the balance of international power will change to be more favorable to socialist development. This is the most lethal weapon for the capitalist world and definitely what the Capitalist countries do not want to see.

The peaceful development path is the only way that socialism with Chinese characteristics needs to take.  This is determined by China’s basic national condition of remaining at the primary stage of socialism for a long time. China is a socialist country. Practice has proved that only socialism can make China develop, and only socialism can solve the fundamental problem of 1.2 billion people reaching prosperity. However, China’s socialism is not as Marxism envisaged, that socialism grows out of the most developed Capitalist society. Instead, it is established through revolution in the most backward semi-feudal and semi-colonial society. Building socialism in China cannot avoid a fundamental situation. That is, China will remain at socialism’s primary stage for a long time. As for development, China faces greater pressure and more severe challenges than any other country. It cannot avoid pressure because of relatively limited resources, and a relatively large population. Thus, for a fairly long period of time, developing socialism in China must focus on the development of productivity. Development is the top priority for the CCP to govern and rejuvenate the nation. . . . We need to be able to endure loneliness. No matter how the international situation changes and no matter how other countries comment, always adhering to the peaceful development path is the inherent requirement of socialism with Chinese characteristics.   

From the worldwide perspective, the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics is constrained by the international system that has long been dominated by capitalism, making the fight for a peaceful international environment the primary task of socialism with Chinese characteristics. In particular, since the late 1980s, the socialist movement in the world went into valleys. In contrast, capitalism has shown considerably strong development vitality, with the globalization wave, the rapid technological revolution, an information network-based “knowledge economy,” and the creation of more efficient social productivity. The power between capitalism and socialism in the world is out of balance.

In front of such an imbalanced situation, there is no way for China alone to challenge the entire capitalist world. The vitality of China’s socialism depends entirely on China’s own development, and depends on China’s economic strength and social improvements. Only when we use any opportunities that we can possibly use to boost domestic development, to develop China, and to target reaching a higher level every few years, can we have a voice in international affairs, and prove the superiority of Socialism. . . . Thus, the competition between socialism with Chinese characteristics and capitalism is not on the war battlefield, but on its strength in the development path and its stamina in the future. China does not need to pursue winning over the opponent with the military. There is no need to seek hegemony, or to be overly concerned about so-called world influence. As long as China can fully take advantage of the “strategic period” of the peaceful international environment to grow itself, the superiority of socialism with Chinese characteristics will naturally be shown. In recent years, the international community’s heated discussion on “China’s rise,” the praise of the “China model,” and the attention paid to China’s strength, are the result of China’s 30 years of continuous, rapid and peaceful development. Recognizing this point is very important to understanding the significance of China’s peaceful development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
 
The peaceful development path has set the basic road map for socialism with Chinese characteristics: overseas, seeking cooperation as much as possible with the developed capitalist countries at all levels in order to win time, resources and opportunities for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics; domestically, actively expediting the process of the market economy, developing various forms of the non-public economy, and maximizing the productivity of the capitalist market economy, to provide a solid foundation for the development and growth of socialism. Therefore, China’s peaceful development path is the external form of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The nature of socialism with Chinese characteristics is essentially peaceful development. These two are different forms of the same path. In practice, they are the outside and inside of the same thing, supporting each other, and serving the magnificent undertaking of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Endnote:
[1] http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=0&id=3037&bid=2