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Xi Jinping’s Cathedral of Pretense

Written by David Bandurski on . Posted in China Newspeak.

With the addition of a grandiose new buzzword in China for culture and civilization, it may seem that a towering future is on the horizon. We take a hard look at the foundations of “Xi Jinping Thought on Culture.”

Chinese Discourse and Narrative System

Frequently used in the context of China’s external propaganda aims, this specialized term with roots in Western academic discourse points to a straightforward political goal: redrawing the lines of acceptable global discourse on China in ways that emphasize China’s positive role, that define the centrality of the Chinese Communist Party, and underscore the uniqueness of its civilizational values against those of the West.

Era-ization

An important phrase used actively by the Chinese Communist Party since 2022 and leading through to Xi Jinping’s unprecedented third term, “era-ization” serves to reinforce Xi’s power by defining him as a crucial modernizer of Marxism for the current era.

How to Please China’s Audience of One

Written by David Bandurski on . Posted in Tracking Control.

These days, Chinese media must be loud and clear in declaring their political loyalty to Xi Jinping and the CCP. The annual “social responsibility reporting” process, in which media tout their most praiseworthy acts of praise, is a sickening gaze into a political system that has lost the ability to see itself clearly.

Politicians Run the Newspapers

First raised by Mao Zedong in 1957 as he asserted his personal power over the media as a means of consolidating political power, this concept remains core in the Xi Jinping era to the notion that the Party must have direct control over traditional and digital media outlets to avoid challenges to the CCP-led regime.

Two Combines

Four and a half decades after Deng Xiaoping called for Marxism to adapt to China’s “material conditions,” Xi has added that it must also match “China’s outstanding traditional culture.” But the “Two Combines,” as this formula has been christened, is aimed squarely at legitimizing and justifying his own uncontested power.