MCLC: marxist program for journalists

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Han Meng <hanmeng at gmail.com>
Subject: marxist program for journalists
***********************************************************

Source: The Diplomat (12/5/13):
http://thediplomat.com/2013/12/chinese-censorship-inhibits-relations-with-j
apan/

Chinese Censorship Inhibits Relations with Japan
A new Marxist program for Chinese journalists will damage perceptions of
Japan in China.
By Justin McDonnell

The Chinese Communist Party has initiated a mandatory journalism program
that focuses on the Marxist views of journalism, laws and regulations, and
ethics.  Additionally, they have begun to order their journalists not to
take stances in support of Japan on contentious issues of history and
territorial disputes.

It is estimated that roughly 250,000 journalists from various news
organizations are participating.  There will be a compulsory examination
at the end of the course in January or February. If journalists do not
pass, they will not be able to renew their press credentials.

Back in August, the CCP ordered
<http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/08/28/marxist-school-now-in-sessio
n-for-chinese-journalists/> the entire Chinese press corps to sit in on
classes on Marxism for at least two days.  This new program however, is
much more expansive and will be ongoing for 3 months.

China’s ruling party looks to be tightening its ideological grip in an
effort to sway public opinion on divisive issues between the Japan and
China.  Since the nationalization of the Senkaku/Diaoyu islets by Japan,
bilateral relations have deteriorated and mutual public perceptions have
significantlyworsened
<http://www.genron-npo.net/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=articl
e&id=59:the-9th-japan-china-public-opinion-poll&catid=2:research&Itemid=4>
between Japan and China.  Despite deepening economic interdependence,
media frenzies have erupted over the island dispute and there are worries
that the bellicose rhetoric
<http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/30/opinion/japan-china-spat-kingston/> between
Japan and China could possibly take a turn for the worse.

At such a critical juncture when China should be playing the role of
balancing sentiments, it is instead inducing self-censorship amongst its
journalists, giving the Chinese public a rather distorted view of the
facts.
In July, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun’s social media accounts were
censored 
<http://www.tealeafnation.com/2013/07/after-new-york-times-another-foreign-
media-censored-in-china/>. The Asahi is one of Japan’s most widely read
publications in China, and known for taking a conciliatory stance towards
the territorial row.

In 2012, anti-Japanese demonstrators took to the streets in over 50 cities
across the country demanding Chinese control over the islands.  There were
signs that Beijing took part in encouraging the demonstrations that took
place, then dissolving public anger before it got out of control.  The
ruling party stirred up domestic public opinion to strengthen its position
abroad and put pressure on Japan, but also made it very difficult for
themselves to cooperate with Japanese officials in the future.

Earlier this year, the Chinese government detained
<http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2013/10/01/china-said-holding-profes
sor-over-his-activities-japan/RMY1t2Hy4ybvilH21d4NNP/story.html> Chinese
professor Zhu Jianrong of Toyko Gakuen University in Nagareyama, Chia
Prefecture after he returned to Shanghai. He is now reportedly being
questioned about his activities in Japan.   According to the Society of
Chinese Professors, Zhu is known for actively engaging on issues affecting
Japan and China. The recent incident has raised some concern among Chinese
researchers and journalists in Japan that they may be forced to wrestle
with the personal risks of circumventing censorship.  But this isn’t the
first time that scholars and journalists who serve as intermediaries have
been detained.

In 1998, Uighur historian and writer Tohti Tunyaz was sentenced to an
11-year prison sentence during his study for a PhD at Tokyo University.
He was charged for inciting ethnic separatism for a book he allegedly
published in Japan entitled “The Inside Story of the Silk Road.”   His
Japanese professorinsisted <http://www.hrichina.org/content/4563> that no
book ever existed.  Also, in 2009, Jin Xide who researched Japan’s aid
contributions to China’s poverty and economic development was given a
14-year prison sentence
<http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/02/world/asia/china-is-said-to-be-holding-p
rofessor-over-his-activities-in-japan.html> for selling state secrets to
Japan and South Korea.  These allegations have never been proven.  Su
Ling, the chief editor of Xinhua Times, a Chinese newspaper published in
Japan has been missing
<http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/kyodo-news-international/130913/ch
inese-experts-close-ties-japan-remain-missing> since he returned to
Beijing in May. Reasons for his disappearance are still unknown.

With a current political climate that doesn’t allow the two governments to
engage in official high-level talks, researchers and journalists can serve
as an indispensable track-II bridge.  However, that can only happen if
researchers in Japan are able to work without trepidation and the Chinese
media embraces more disparate voices on Japan.  China can’t afford to
educate the public with a monolithic view. Too much is at stake between
the two respective nations. Changing public perceptions could lead to a
more cooperative foreign policy and help mend damages in the Sino-Japanese
relationship.