page_title: Propaganda in China
section_title: Modern era
hierarchical_section_title: Propaganda in China / History / Modern era
caption_attribution_description: English: Sign in Mawei, China PRC facing Matsu ROC. Sign says "Peaceful Unification. One country two systems".中文: 中国福州市马尾正对马祖岛（中华民国实际控制）处的“和平统一 一国两制”的标语。
context_page_description: Propaganda in China refers to the use of propaganda by the Chinese Communist Party sway domestic and international opinion in favor of its policies. Domestically, this includes censorship of proscribed views and an active promotion of views that favor the government. Propaganda is considered central to the operation of the CPC government. The common Chinese term xuanchuan can mean "dissemination", "propaganda", or "publicity".
  Aspects of propaganda can be traced back to the earliest periods of Chinese history, but propaganda has been most effective in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries owing to mass media and an authoritarian government. China during the Mao era is known for its constant use of mass campaigns to legitimize the state and the policies of leaders. It was the first time the CCP successfully made use of modern mass propaganda techniques, adapting them to the needs of a country which had a largely rural and illiterate population.
  Today, propaganda in China is usually depicted through cultivation of the economy and Chinese nationalism.
context_section_description: Following the death of Chairman Mao in 1976, propaganda was used to blacken the character of the Gang of Four, which was blamed for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution. During the era of economic reform and modernization that was initiated by Deng Xiaoping, propaganda promoting "socialism with Chinese characteristics" was distributed. The first post-Mao campaign was in 1983 which saw the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign.
  The events of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 were an indication to many elders in the CCP that liberalization in the propaganda sector had gone too far, and that the Party must re-establish its control over ideology and the propaganda system.
  Brady writes that propaganda and thought work have become the "life blood" of the Party-State since the post-1989 period, and one of the key means for guaranteeing the CCP's continued legitimacy and hold on power.
  In the 1990s, propaganda theorists described the challenges to China's propaganda and thought work as "blind spots"; mass communication was advocated as the antidote. From the early 1990s, selective concepts from mass communications theory, public relations, advertising, social psychology, and other areas of modern mass persuasion were introduced into China's propaganda system for the purpose of creating a modern propaganda model.
  Kurlantzick and Link noted that through cultivating economic growth and Chinese nationalism, the CCP has modernized authoritarianism to maintain their political control. They asserted that elite business leaders, who have benefited from China's economic growth, have accepted the CCP's authoritarian control as a result, largely preventing the new rich and emerging middle class from challenging their rule. Fenby argues that the latter, rather than accepting the system per se, have learnt to use it to their advantage. Kurlantzick and Link also noted that dissent still largely exists in the Chinese populace in regards to government policies on the economy, environment and society, particularly in rural areas, as they are becoming more aware of their constitutional rights. A recent poll in 2007 showed that 70% of Chinese consider the new rich to be corrupt and unworthy of respect.
caption: Propaganda sign in Xiamen, China facing Kinmen, Republic of China. Sign says "Peaceful Unification. One country two systems".
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