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.