WHITE PAPER FINAL

22
WHITE PAPE∏ ON CHINESE MEDIA ONE BILLION AD IMPRESSIONS MONTHLY PAGE VIEWS MONTHLY UNIQUE VISITORS MONTHLY NEWSPAPERS PRINTED WEEKLY COUNTRIES LANGUAGES 200 MILLION 25 MILLION 1.6 MILLION 35 21 JUNE 2015

Transcript of WHITE PAPER FINAL

Page 1: WHITE PAPER FINAL

WHITE PAPE∏ON CHINESE MEDIA

ONEBILLION

AD IMPRESSIONS MONTHLY

PAGE VIEWS MONTHLY

UNIQUE VISITORS MONTHLY

NEWSPAPERS PRINTED WEEKLY

COUNTRIES LANGUAGES

200MILLION

25MILLION

1.6MILLION

35 21

JUNE 2015

Page 2: WHITE PAPER FINAL

ROLE OF MEDIA

In a free and democratic society,the media strives to be independent of any polit-ical groups or concentrations of power. Only by being independent from political parties or state control, can media fulfill its social responsibility: giving truthful and unbiased reporting, serving the public interest, and providing a public forum for discussion, debate, and compromise.

Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth and its first loyalty is to citizens. It ensures that citi-zens make responsible, informed choices rather than acting out of ignorance or misinformation. It holds government accountable and stimulates political transparency. To achieve these ends, media must be independent of state and political affiliations.

Contrary to Western belief and practice, me-dia in China is completely owned by the state. In China’s one-party political system, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is the only ruling party, and it directly manages the media.

The Party considers any media outlet free from its control as “political,” “controversial,” indulging in “hearsay,” and “harmful to the read-ers.” This is why distinguished Western media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Financial Times are all blocked in China. Those who listen to Western media such as VOA (Voice of America) or the BBC have to do so clandestinely to avoid being punished by the Party as “politically dangerous” “extremists” or social outcasts.

Over 649 million Chinese go online. The Party has installed the Great Firewall—a massive In-ternet surveillance and content control system that blocks access to all Western media outlets,

including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Internet user experience is completely dif-

ferent in China than in the West. An Internet search using the key word “Tiananmen” gen-erates only “positive” results, such as happy foreign tourists taking photos at Tiananmen Square or People’s Liberation Army soldiers performing a flag-raising ceremony. There will be no “negative” results that are detrimental to the Party, such as the photos and person-al accounts of the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

The search results for “human rights” will only generate positive reports about China’s hu-man rights progress and negative reports about America’s human rights scandals. The results of “democracy” will show the advantages of the Party’s “democratic life” over the Western soci-eties’ “fake” and “chaotic” democracy. Similarly, the search results for “Falun Gong” are drawn entirely from the state-sponsored campaign to suppress Falun Gong.

Such asymmetrical information often caus-es a big “culture shock” for mainland Chinese when they first arrive in the West. The sudden exposure to a world of information, which is the antithesis of what they have been used to since childhood, often elicits such natural responses as disbelief, denial, and hard feelings. It is a grad-ual process for them to come to terms with real-ity. After going through an adjustment process and becoming used to a world of free informa-tion, most Chinese people don’t want to go back to their former situation. They do not believe in the Party-controlled media anymore.

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

The press should be a mouthpiece of the Party.Former CCP head Jiang Zemin to Mike Wallace on “60 Minutes,” August 31, 2000

2

Page 3: WHITE PAPER FINAL

Print Media

TV, Radio, and Internet

The Central Propaganda Department (CPD) oversees all national print media in China, such as China Daily, People’s Liberation Army Daily, China Youth Daily, China Women Daily, Work-ers’ Daily, Farmers’ Daily, Economic Daily, Sci-ence Daily, and Legal Daily. The CPD is direct-ly under the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCCCP). The CPD establish-es “media rules” and “propaganda disciplines,” which are implemented by the General Admin-istration of Press and Publication under the State Council, the body under the premier that sits atop the state bureaucracy.

The Party’s local Propaganda Department offices manage all local print media, which dis-seminate the content of the national media.

People’s Daily is the official newspaper of the Party Central Committee.

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

Media is part of the life of the CCP. The Party thrives and falls with media work. Thus we can say that media work equates to political ideology work and is related to the fate of our Party and our nation.Jiang Zemin, former head of the CCP Central Committee, in a speech given at People’s Daily in 1996

MEDIA IN CHINA

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television is in charge of The China TV and Film Broadcasting Group (CTFBG), which includes all the major TV and broadcast media outlets in China—China Central TV (CCTV), China Cen-tral People’s Radio, China Radio International, China Film Group Corporation, China Televi-sion Transmission Net, and China Radio and Television Internet.

The CTFBG is officially managed by the State Council. According to the official website of The State Administration of Radio, Film and Televi-sion, “The CTFBG is an important mouthpiece for the CCCCP, and it is also an important bat-tleground of ideology and culture for the Party and the state.” “The main responsibility of the CTFBG is to thoroughly and accurately spread the Party’s basic doctrines, theories and guide-lines; advocate various policies and decisions by the Party and state government; accomplish the propaganda task at home and abroad assigned by the CCCCP, and persist in the correct guidance of public opinion.”

A Snapshot of Chinese Media (All under the control of the Central Propaganda Department)

• 2,137 newspapers with 36.8 billion copies per year

• 9,029 magazines with 2.951 billion copies per year

• 1,933 radio stations cover-ing more than 93 percent of the total population

• 2,058 TV stations covering more than 94 percent of the total population

• 100 million viewers of cable TV

• 59 million Internet users

3

Page 4: WHITE PAPER FINAL

News AgencyXinhua News Agency (Xinhua Net), the official state news agency, is directly under the State Council. The Party claims Xinhua News Agency is “the eyes, ears, mouth, and throat of the Chi-nese Communist Party and the State.”

In December 1955, Chairman Mao, head of the Chinese Communist Party at that time, ordered Xinhua News Agency to be the state news agen-cy with the mission to “bring the Earth under its control.”

In October 2007, at the 17th Chinese Commu-nist Party’s National Congress, the Party em-phasized the role of Xinhua News Agency as the “main propaganda channel to the outside world.”

As the largest collection and distribution cen-ter of news information in China, and one of the four major news agencies in the world, Xinhua has expanded its presence to over 200 countries and regions with more than 14,500 overseas sub-scribers; It reaches overseas readers in five lan-guages—Chinese, English, French, Spanish, and Indonesian.

Xinhua News Agency claimed “Xinhua News Agency’s articles and photographs are tran-scribed about 1,000 times in overseas media dai-ly.” “Half of the news reported from AP, AFP, and Reuters’ China branch offices are transcribed from or are based on Xinhua New Agency’s re-ports. The majority of overseas Chinese news-papers are subscribers of Xinhua News Agency.” “Xinhua News Agency’s reports are an import-ant source of information for foreign media’s branch offices in China, as well as overseas jour-nalists stationed in China.” (Source: Chinese Re-porters, Vol. 2 of 2004, “Improve the Efficiency of Our Foreign Propaganda (I),” by Xinhua News Agency’s “Research on Efficient Foreign Propa-ganda” research group)

According to Xia Lin, deputy editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency, “There are two battle-fields in terms of ideological work: one is the do-mestic propaganda field; the other is the inter-

national arena of public opinion.” Xia said media investment in both battlefields (domestic and international) is just as important as national defense investment.

The Party funds all of the state media. Xia Lin writes in “Chinese Media Report “ (2003), “The State Development Planning Committee gave 75 million RMB (yuan) as the initial investment in the fundamental development of five import-ant media agencies’ propaganda websites. The Ministry of Finance gave a certain amount of annual operation funds to the five propaganda websites of China’s mainstream media. With the support of the Ministry of Information In-dustry, the Foreign Propaganda Office of the CCP Central Committee, on behalf of the CCP Central Committee’s seven media websites, signed the agreement with China Telecom Group and got a 50 percent discount of usage fees for telecommunication lines.”

On April 20–21, 2004, Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Chinese Commu-nist Party (CCCCP), emphasized the importance of promoting the Party’s ideology and influence in international markets. He said, “[We should] focus on building an international environment that is advantageous to us in terms of public opinion,” and “diligently innovate the contents, the methods, and the means in the overseas pro-paganda work.”

After the conference, 25 internal organiza-tions of the Party established a media planning process to carry out the Party’s propaganda work in overseas markets. The organizations included The Overseas Propaganda Office, Department of Propaganda, International Communication De-partment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, State Admin-istration of Radio, Film and Television, State Administration of Religious Affairs, and General Administration of Civil Aviation.

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

We should do well in our work of influencing for-eign media and foreign journalists, improving the quality of propagan-da materials, expanding the channel to publish these materials overseas, exploring and establish-ing the publication and circulation mechanism of overseas propaganda material, and trying all means to deliver our pro-paganda material aimed at overseas to the hands of foreigners.

Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCCCP), National Conference on Overseas Propaganda Work in Beijing, on January 9, 2003

MEDIA IN CHINA

4

Page 5: WHITE PAPER FINAL

Media ControlOn June 4, 1989, the Party crushed the stu-dent-led pro-democracy movement with tanks. The Tiananmen Square massacre, which was widely reported by international media, shocked the entire world and caused the biggest ever “image problem” and political predicament for the Party before the international community (including overseas Chinese) since Mao’s Cul-tural Revolution. Seven countries including the United States, France, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada, as well as the European Union declared sanctions against the Party.

Through this devastating experience, the Par-ty learned the “detrimental power” of Western media and realized the importance of controlling Western media. The Party quickly set out to learn how Western media works, and then apply that “know how” to its own propaganda work.

To rescue its damaged public image and re-es-tablish the Party’s legitimacy both at home and abroad, the Party established an office dedicated to overseas propaganda. Jiang Zemin, then the general secretary of the Party said, “Foreign pro-paganda is the work of winning over public opin-ion,” and “Doing well in foreign propaganda is a work of strategic significance to our Party and state.” (Source: People’s Daily, October 25, 2004, page 9)

On February 26, 1999, during the CCP’s Na-tional Conference on Foreign Propaganda, Jiang Zemin thanked all of those who were involved in the propaganda work in foreign markets, praised

them for having made “good achievements” in helping the Party foster a “good image” and “im-prove the external environment of public opin-ion.” He also pointed out that foreign or overseas media needs to promote the Party in a positive light and help the international community have a positive attitude toward the Party.

In October 2003, to improve the effectiveness of Party’s propaganda work on Western audienc-es and master the skills of the leading Western media, Zeng Qinghong, the president of the Par-ty School of the Central Committee of the Com-munist Party—the higher education institute that trains top Party officials—invited Rupert Murdoch to the Party School to teach classes about Western media and how it works. Profes-sor Yu Guoming from the School of Journalism, People’s University of China said Murdoch’s teachings “are poignant and accurate, and they are especially inspiring for us to understand the true value of the media industry.” (Source of Yu’s comments: People’s Net, October 8, 2003, “Ru-pert Murdoch: Value of the Culture Industry—Speech by Rupert Murdoch,” Board Chairman and Chief Executive of News Corp. at the Party School of the CCP Central Committee)

Zeng Qinghong was a primary force behind Ji-ang Zemin’s anti-Falun Gong propaganda. After Jiang Zemin ordered the suppression of Falun Gong in July 1999, all national media in China immediately began attacking Falun Gong on the front pages or in the headline news.

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

The first priority of our media work is to be actively aligned with the Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin as its core; unify our thoughts and actions around the spirit of the Central Committee, disseminate the voices of CCP and our government to every household, broadcast the voice of China around the world.Ding Guangen, head of the Central Propaganda Depart-ment (Source: People’s Liber-ation Army Daily, on October 30, 2001: “Ding Guangeng’s Speech at the Opening Cere-mony of the 1st Session of the 6th Council Meeting of the Chi-nese Journalist Association”)

MEDIA IN CHINA

5

Page 6: WHITE PAPER FINAL

Foreign Propaganda OfficeThe Foreign Propaganda Office of the CCP Cen-tral Committee, which is known as the “Infor-mation Office of the State Council,” is the Party’s highest authority on overseas propaganda work. Its task is to:

• Make overseas media follow the Party’s propaganda discipline

• Disseminate the Party’s ideology in the international community

• Influence public opinion and Western countries’ views and policy toward China

• Foster a favorable media environment that caters to the Party’s political agenda

When interviewed by Hong Kong’s Wenweipo newspaper in July 2005, the deputy director of the Information Office of the State Council, Qian Xiaoqian said he doesn’t use the word “propa-ganda” regarding the issue of Tibet, which he handles. Instead, he uses “Introduce Tibet, in-troduce China” to explain Tibetan issues. He said using the word “introduce” is “the most powerful and most convincing” way to do propa-ganda work. (Source: “Qian Xiaoqian Promotes Tibet without a Break”, by Peng Kailei. Wenwei-po, July 20, 2005.)

To make the propaganda work more effective in Western society, the Party changed the En-glish name of “Propaganda Department of the CCP Central Committee” to the “Department of Publicity” and replaced “Foreign Propaganda Office of the CCP Central Committee” with “In-ternational Communication Office of the CCP Central Committee.”

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

When people asked me what task we have in the future, my reply was to ‘introduce China to the world.’ I didn’t use the word ‘propaganda,’ because it could well be a derogatory term. What do we need to introduce to the world? It’s to explain China’s policy, to counter attack on China. It is as simple as that. We have a variety of [propaganda] methods to choose from.Zhao Qizheng, director of the Foreign Propaganda Office of the CCP Central Committee, in the speech given at Tsinghua University in 2004, “The Inter-national Media Environment that China is Facing,” reprint from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs publication World Knowledge on the website of the Center for Spreading International Information at Tsinghua University

MEDIA IN CHINA

6

Page 7: WHITE PAPER FINAL

Overseas Chinese MediaAlmost all national and local Chinese media in the United States and other Western countries are under the Party’s control and influence. An article in China Brief published by the James-town Foundation discusses how the Party con-trols and influences Chinese media in the Unit-ed States:

Four main tactics characterize the Chinese government’s effort to influence Chinese media in America. First is the attempt to directly con-trol newspapers, television stations, and radio stations through complete ownership or own-ing major shares. Second is the government’s use of economic ties to influence independent media who have business relations with Chi-na. This leverage has had major effects on the contents of broadcasting and publishing, effec-tively removing all material deemed “unfavor-able” by the Chinese government. Third is the purchasing of broadcast time and advertising space (or more) from existing independent me-dia. Closely related to this is the government’s providing free, ready-to-go programming and contents. Fourth is the deployment of govern-ment personnel to work in independent media, achieving influence from within their ranks. The article mentions that Larry Lee, the dep-

uty chief editor of the major Chinese newspaper Sing Tao, was a former editor of People’s Daily (The Party’s official mouthpiece). Li is in charge of Sing Tao’s editorial forum, which is extremely biased toward the Party’s political agenda.

Another major Chinese newspaper in the United States, World Journal, also takes orders

directly from the Party’s officials in embassies and Consulates. In a VOA report on March 13, 2001, Consul General Wang Yunxiang of the Chi-nese Consulate in San Francisco wrote a letter to World Journal in San Francisco, requesting it not carry Falun Gong advertisements. World Journal complied with the request and took it as its own policy going forward.

According to the personal accounts of the Australia Falun Gong practitioners published on Minghui.net, on October 23, 2000, the consul general of the Chinese Consulate in Melbourne, Australia, Wu Ronghua, invited all local Chi-nese newspapers to a dinner. During the three-hour dinner, he repeatedly warned all the media representatives not to carry Falun Gong-relat-ed articles. If a media outlet plans on carrying any Falun Gong article, it has to fax the article to the consulate for approval. If the consulate does not approve the article, the media cannot carry it.

Many Chinese people outside China have businesses or families in China. To avoid being punished by the Party, almost all overseas Chi-nese media practice self-censorship on topics forbidden by the Party, such as Falun Gong.

Independent Chinese media outlets that don’t obey the Party’s order are singled out for attack. On November 5, 2003, the Australian Chinese Daily published an article submitted by the Chi-nese Consulate General in Sidney. The article attacked independent New Tang Dynasty Tele-vision and the Epoch Times newspaper for their reporting on the persecution of Falun Gong. (Source: Photocopy of page 4 of Australian Chi-nese Daily, November 5, 2003.)

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

China Brief, http://bit.ly/1OV1M1k

For more information, please read:

“HOW CHINA’S GOVERNMENT IS ATTEMPTING TO CONTROL CHINESE MEDIA IN AMERICA”

MEDIA IN CHINA

7

Page 8: WHITE PAPER FINAL

‘Borrowing the Ships to Go to the Sea’“Borrowing the ships to go to the sea” is a com-monly used expression that describes the Par-ty’s propaganda work in the international com-munity. This strategy involves:

Directly supplying editorial content to over-seas Chinese media outlets;

Establishing partnerships and “cooperation” with mainstream Western media outlets.

China News Service (CNS), the second larg-est state-owned news agency (after the Xin-hua News Agency) directly supplies content to 300 overseas Chinese-language media each day, and has contracts with 40 overseas Chi-nese-language media to provide them with ex-clusive CNS news.

On October 11, 2006, CNS Deputy Chief Edi-tor Xia Chunping personally came to the Unit-ed States and signed content-supply contracts with U.S.-based Chinese media, including Chi-na Press USA, SinoVision, and the Sino Amer-ican Times.

In the World Chinese Media Forum orga-nized by CNS in Nanjing on September 16–18, 2001, more than 130 overseas Chinese media outlets from more than 30 countries and regions attended the conference. Over 150 high-level Party leaders who were in charge of the foreign propaganda work came and gave speeches. At-tendees discussed how to promote the Party’s ideology and political campaigns overseas.

The publisher of The Australian Chinese Times Zhu Minshen gave a speech at the forum sharing his experiences. He said, “The Austra-lian Chinese Times has published articles with a very clear stance and message on the major issues such as Taiwan independence, Tibetan independence, denouncing the NATO bomb-ing, and exposing the nature of Falun Gong, etc.” (Zhu Minshen: “Growth of the Australian Chi-nese and Development of the Chinese Newspa-per” http://www.fcm.chinanews.com.cn/2001-08-21/2/12.html).

Overseas Chinese media entities survived financial difficulties by leading their ships to the Party’s media. For example, Internation-al Daily Board Director Xiong Delong said the paper had been losing money every year since its creation in 1981. But the financial situa-tion turned around once it found out a special way of doing business—“cooperating with the newspapers in China, using our own network and publishing news prepared by Chinese me-dia.” (“Establish Overseas Chinese Media Out-lets with Unique Features” by Xiong Delong http://www.fcm.chinanews.com.cn/2001-09-17/2/203.html).

According to the Hong Kong branch director of Xinhua News Agency, Beijing gave US$30 million to China News, a pro-Beijing newspa-per published in the United States and Hong Kong. Yang Shangkun, who served as state chairman of China from 1988 to 1993, said there should be “no cap” on the funds to sup-port overseas propaganda.

The Party has been investing heavily in the expansion of China Daily, the first state-run English newspaper in international markets. China Daily is distributed to over 150 coun-tries and regions around the world. Its target readers are foreign government officials, diplo-mats, business leaders, scholars or any foreign-ers who are interested in China. China Daily’s newspaper boxes can be seen in major cities in the United States, such as New York, Philadel-phia, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.

On September 25, 2000, the Party launched its first English television channel, CCTV-9, broadcasting to worldwide English-speaking audiences 24 hours a day. In an interview on April 28, 2004, the president of CCTV said, “In recent years, CCTV’s oversea propaganda has continuously broadened its target area. The overseas propaganda channels and the amount of broadcast time have multiplied, reaching the stage of 24-hour nonstop broadcasting. In addition, CCTV has rapidly increased its network establishments in foreign countries, reaching the total number of over 120 nations and regions. As a result, CCTV has success-fully entered into Western mainstream soci-eties. Meanwhile, CCTV has set up coopera-tion with 208 media entities in 134 countries and regions.”

Ms. Joan Maltese worked at CCTV-9 for one and half years from 2002 to 2003 as a com-mentator. Speaking of her work experience at CCTV, she said, “We did not follow the ethics of journalists.” “Because there were news in-spectors from the government sitting right in our office, sometimes they changed the initial news draft that we wrote. I am fully aware of this.” With regard to her Chinese colleagues, she added, “In fact, they think following the [Chinese] government’s instruction to cover up the truth so as to make China look good is a very natural thing to do.” (“Beiming: An American’s Experience of Working for CCTV in China” http://www.dajiyuan.com/gb/4/4/9/n505659.htm).

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

The main targets of foreign propaganda should be the middle and upper class in the target countries including politicians and people in business circles and intellectuals because they control either the political or the economic power and have influence on the ideology and public opinion of those countries. Our media outlets responsible for foreign propaganda should focus on the mainstream media in the target countries.

Excerpts from “Improve the Efficiency of Our Foreign Propaganda,” published by Xinhua News Agency in 2004

MEDIA IN CHINA

8

Page 9: WHITE PAPER FINAL

Asian Ad Agencies

The United States has identified China as the country most aggressively seeking to penetrate American businesses to gain access to data that could be used for economic gain.

The Chinese Students & Scholars Associations (CSSA) in many U.S. colleges and universities are extensions of the Party’s overseas espionage apparatus and have long been recruiting grounds and operating bases for the Party’s intelligence agents. For detailed information, please read:

There are many forms of economic espionage. A spy in an ad agency is one of them.

A spy in an ad agency plays a vital role in ensur-ing that the ad agency exclusively recommends the Party-controlled media for its clients’ adver-tising, while consistently providing and spread-ing disinformation about independent Chinese media. This ensures that the Party-controlled

media receives maximum financial support from American corporations or multinational companies. The financial backing sustains the Party’s monopoly control of the overseas Chi-nese media market.

American corporations rely on a few Asian ad-vertising agencies to connect with the Chinese market in the United States. These Asian ad agencies have been consistently and exclusively recommending Party-controlled media to their clients’ advertising businesses while block-ing the independent Chinese media from those opportunities.

There are four common tactics that were used to block independent Chinese media from American corporations or multinational compa-nies’ advertising:

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

INFILTRATION AND ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE

1. Labeling independent Chinese media as “political,” “controversial,” “extremist,” and “harmful to readers” (they are the same terms used by the Party to defame independent media, including Western English media)

2. Providing biased and negative POV (Point of View reports) about the independent Chinese media to its clients

3. Spreading disinformation and rumors about independent Chinese media to its clients (American corporations, multinational companies) or mainstream ad agencies

4. Implying the threat of economic punishment for the corporations that do business in China, if they do business with independent media

9

Washington Post: U.S. said to be target of massive cyber-espionage campaign http://wapo.st/1z9D5Hj

“Columbia University Closes Chinese Students Group” Epoch Times, March 24, 2015.http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1296843-columbia-university-closes-chi-nese-students-group/

“Chinese Student Spies Overwhelm US” Epoch Times, September 19, 2014.http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/968736-chi-nese-student-spies-overwhelm-us/

The Spy in the Ad AgencyEpoch Times, September 19, 2014.http://bit.ly/1PSs41m

Page 10: WHITE PAPER FINAL

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

INFILTRATION AND ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE

Editorial Examples of the Party-Controlled Chinese Media in the US

In May 2014, The United States charged five Chinese military officers with hacking U.S. companies’ computers to steal trade secrets. This “negative” and “unfavorable” news (to the Party) was widely reported by major U.S. and international media outlets. To defend the Par-ty’s “positive” image before the Western public and overseas Chinese communities, the Chinese media outlets in the United States such as World Journal and Sing Tao published articles provid-ed by Xinhua News Agency that attacked the United States.

Below is a screenshot of World Journal’s web-site that carried the article (5/28/2014) supplied by Beijing, China News Services (CNS). The ar-ticle’s title is “The US is the biggest cyber thief of trade secrets, said the Deputy General of Peo-ple’s Liberation Army General Staff Department [GSD]” The GSD assisted in the production of the anti-U.S. propaganda film “Silent Contest.”

The articles said the United States is the world’s biggest cyberspy and needs to be con-demned by the international community. “The United States is a thief who has accused others of stealing,” the article said.

World Journal’s print edition on May 27, 2014 carried a front page article titled “Tens of Thousands Words in Chinese Charge US of Cyber Spying.”

The article’s byline is for a special correspon-dent of World Journal in Beijing. The article re-fers to “The United States’ Global Surveillance Record” issued by the Party, says the United States has seriously violated human rights, must offer explanations about its crimes and must be condemned by the international community.

10

Above: the front page of the

World Journal (5/27/2014).

Page 11: WHITE PAPER FINAL

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

INFILTRATION AND ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE

Contextual Environment for an Advertiser’s BrandIn April 2015, during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to the United States, the Par-ty-controlled media produced intensive “news” with very strong anti-Japanese sentiments. In one “news report” by SinoVision TV, the report-er who appeared in front of the camera was mo-bilizing TV viewers to go to Washington, D.C., to participate in a big protest against the Japanese prime minister.

The “news report” gave a big focus and sound bite to the organizer of the protest, who was standing in front of a backdrop filled with an-ti-Japanese slogans and hateful words. One slogan read “The old hatred plus the new resent-ment is so big that it can’t be described by words. Because the feud is as deep as the bloody ocean, we cannot allow Japan to exist under the same sky”. The “news report” also displayed a “call in” number on the screen for the TV viewers to call and sign up for the protest.

Such news reporting is reminiscent of the propaganda Beijing used in 2012 to incite state-sponsored anti-Japanese demonstrations.

The propaganda in 2015 instigated hatred and promoted violence against Japan and the Japanese people. Chinese nationalists smashed Japanese cars, vandalized Japanese shops, and attacked Japanese people in the street.

None of the above reporting is available on SinoVision’s English website (http://en.sinovi-sion.net/).

Many Japanese carmakers such as Toyota, Nissan, and Subaru are advertisers on SinoVi-sion TV and other Party-controlled media from recommendations by their Asian ad agencies.

Here is the link to this TV news report: http://video.sinovision.net/?id=28198&cid=1

Below is a screenshot of SinoVision’s Chinese website showing the anti-Japan content and Nissan’s advertisement for its luxury Infinity model on the same page.

11

Page 12: WHITE PAPER FINAL

CHINESE AUDIENCES AND THEIR INTERESTS

increasing rapidly. The wealthy and the elite Chinese people want to invest their money and futures in the American Dream:

“Investor Visas Soaked Up by Chinese” The Wall Street Journal, August 27, 2014http://www.wsj.com/articles/investor-visas-soaked-up-by-chinese-1409095982

For a Chinese living in China, if you ask the one thing every-one craves, it is what? It’s not food, it’s not home—everyone craves democracy.Zhang Xin, co-founder and CEO of SOHO, China’s largest commercial real estate developer on “60 Minutes” in March 2013.

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

12

More than ever in Chinese history, Chi-nese people want freedom of informa-tion. People in China have become the

world’s biggest users of anti-censorship services such as VPNs (Virtual Private Networks). They want to obtain unfettered access to free infor-mation. Furthermore, they want to live com-pletely free from the Party’s control. This desire for freedom has led to the greatest Chinese mi-gration of our time.

According to The Wall Street Journal, 64 per-cent of China’s rich—defined as those with assets of more than $1.6 million—are either emigrating or planning to immigrate to the Western countries.

In February 2013, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua reported that there were 1.18 million “naked officials” in China—Chinese gov-ernment officials who have parked their families and wealth outside of China in anticipation of being able to flee at a moment’s notice.

According to an official report by China’s Central Discipline In-spection Commission in Feb-ruary 2011, more than 77 per-cent of the members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee and 57 percent of the members of the National People’s Congress hold foreign passports.

America is the top destination of fleeing Chinese elite seeking freedom. According to the Party’s internal doc-ument, capital flight from China reached more than $1.5 tril-lion in 2013 and it is

“The Great Chinese Exodus,”August 15, 2014. http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-great-chinese-exodus-1408120906

Page 13: WHITE PAPER FINAL

aving experienced firsthand the longing for freedom of information and seeing a huge unchecked demand for free infor-

mation in the world’s most-spoken language, a group of Chinese émigrés in the United States wanted to establish an independent Chinese media company completely free of the Party’s control. They founded a local Chinese news-paper in the basement of a founding member’s home in suburban Atlanta in the summer of 2000. That paper quickly found its audience and rose to become America’s largest Chinese news-paper—Epoch Times.

Epoch Times offers uncensored information to Chinese readers worldwide through print and digital. The content covers a wide-range of top-ics: business, finance, health, education, arts & culture, real estate, immigration, dining, enter-tainment, fashion, and travel.

Epoch Times is most well known for its China news, which is of the greatest appeal to Chinese readers. More than 87 percent of Epoch Times readers said they are attracted by the unique content that Epoch Times has to offer—uncen-sored information and independent reporting—that they can’t find elsewhere.

Many reporters, editors, researchers, and an-alysts of Epoch Times are China-born émigrés. They have firsthand experience with the inner

workings of Chinese society and Chinese pol-itics. With such native understanding and in-sight, the paper’s journalists are able to make sense of what appears opaque and complicated to the outside world, and then report the stories in a readable fashion to its audience.

Since the paper has no business ties or politi-cal affiliation with the Party, it can report China news without fear or favor of Beijing. Contrary to the Party’s accusations, this independent Chi-nese media outlet is apolitical and objective.

The impact of truthful and independent re-porting has been significant. When information about the SARS epidemic was blocked from the international community, causing millions of people’s lives to be at risk, Epoch Times was among the first to break the news in China. It provided lifesaving information to help contain a deadly disease from spreading around the world. Epoch Times broke the SARS story weeks be-fore the Chinese Ministry of Health was forced to admit the crisis to the outside world. For more information about how Epoch Times came into being, please read:

Mainland tourists and Hong Kong

citizens read pages of Epoch Times that

were posted on “Freedom Walls” in

Hong Kong.

Epoch Times, September 6, 2013. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/280126-the-grand-epoch-is-here/

INDEPENDENT CHINESE MEDIA

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

13

“The Grand Epoch Is Here.”

Page 14: WHITE PAPER FINAL

BREAKING THE MONOPOLY

poch Times not only broke the Party’s monopoly control of the Chinese media environment but also helped Western,

mainstream society improve its understanding of China.

Given China’s increasingly bigger role in the global business community, understanding the real China as is (not the China staged by the Party) becomes critical to the global society’s well being.

The Annual Working Conditions Report re-leased in May 2015 by The Foreign Correspon-dents’ Club of China (FCCC) listed the following concerns reported by the foreign journalists who participated in the survey:

• Interference, harassment, and physical violence by authorities against foreign media during the reporting process

• Attempts by authorities to pre-empt and discourage coverage of sensitive subjects

• Intimidation and harassment of sources

• Restrictions on journalists’ movements in border and ethnic-minority regions

• Staged press conferences

• Pressure directed at editors and managers at headquarters outside of China

• Surveillance and censorship

The above map shows Epoch Media Group’s offices across the world.

The results are based on the survey among 210 FCCC correspondent-members in April 2014, of whom 120 replied. The FCCC is a Beijing-based professional association comprising more than 200 correspondents from 35 countries and regions.

It is important for us to know what’s going on. For example food safety in China is immensely important because of the food that we now import, and toys, and product safety.Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University

We’ve been very good at building over the last cou-ple of decades a global system of trade in goods and services. Now we need to develop a better global free trade in ideas and information.

Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University

There are two dozen or 24 American media that’s covering China. This is a major problem for us. Because the world is becoming increasingly integrated economically. We owe China several trillion dollars. We are in a vast experiment with a government and society that’s making unbeliev-able strides in terms of economic development. And very serious ques-tions about the legiti-macy of the communist regime that runs this are open to both that society but also relevant to us.

Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University and board member of the Pulitzer Prize, in May 2010, at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

14

Page 15: WHITE PAPER FINAL

EPOCH TIMES

poch Times readers include China’s most prominent government leaders, business tycoons, and Chinese luxury consumers—

the elite of Chinese society. The new Chinese leader Xi Jinping is known to be an avid reader of Epoch Times and a loyal viewer of the inde-pendent Chinese television station NTD (New Tang Dynasty Television).

Due to well-placed sources inside China and privileged access to China’s most influential bodies, Epoch Times has accurately predict-ed many significant events in the last several years about China’s fast-changing social, politi-cal, and economic landscape. Epoch Times is a leading authority on China—often breaking sto-ries months or years before they appear as front page news in The New York Times or as headline news on CNN.

Here are some articles describing the kind of audiences who are attracted to independent Chinese media by their long pent-up demand for free and uncensored information:

Independent Chinese media such as Epoch Times also provides vital education to Chi-nese people about Western society, helping them better understand American values such as freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights.

In 2004 Epoch Times launched an En-glish-language edition, and since then has ex-panded to include 20 other languages. All of Ep-och Times editions are free of the Party’s control or influence.

The Chinese-language version of Epoch Times has experienced a significant increase in readership over the last several years. The rise of the Chinese Epoch Times has com-pletely changed the Chinese media environ-ment, which was previously under Beijing’s monopoly control.

“China’s Rich Fleeing the Country— With Their Fortunes”

“As Chinese Media Reshuffle, Epoch Times Makes Great Leap”

“Chinese To Spend Billions On American Real Estate”

“Cash Heifers Are Here: The Luxurious Spending Habits Of Overseas Chinese Students”

“Chinese Students Major in Luxury Cars”

CNBC, November 25, 2013. http://cnb.cx/1GKHGCl

Epoch Times, April 7, 2014. http://bit.ly/1Dma5xQ

Forbes, July 10, 2013. http://onforb.es/1bUXWUu

Forbes, January 17, 2014. http://onforb.es/1C1GyT4

Bloomberg, December 19, 2013. http://bloom.bg/1CchR7u

Forbes, January 17, 2014. http://onforb.es/1C1GyT4

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

Xi Jinping is known to be an avid reader of Epoch Times and a loyal viewer of the independent Chinese television station NTD (New Tang Dynasty Television).

15

Page 16: WHITE PAPER FINAL

CHINA INTRANSITION

China is going through enormous political chang-es right now. After the new Chinese government leader Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, he start-ed a relentless “anti-corruption” campaign to dis-mantle the political network of former Party head Jiang Zemin, depriving him of power. Xi’s actions were prompted by a systematic, abortive coup plotted by Jiang to destroy Xi.

Jiang wanted Bo Xilai, the now-fallen Polit-buro member who was a key ally and protégé of Jiang Zemin, to unseat Xi Jinping. Jiang en-trusted Bo with the mission to continue his poli-cy of persecuting Falun Gong. Further, Bo would make sure Jiang would not be held account-able for crimes against humanity committed in persecuting the more than 100 million people practicing Falun Gong. For the detailed story, please read:

Xi has arrested and punished Jiang’s loyalists in key government posts, especially those who were heavily involved in the persecution of Fa-lun Gong—for instance, the Party’s former secu-rity head Zhou Yongkang who orchestrated the state-sponsored, forced organ harvesting of liv-ing Falun Gong practitioners. See:

With changes in the environment in China, busi-ness is not being done as usual as in the past. Business contracts or deals made with Jiang’s regime are being completely annulled by Xi’s new government. In fact, making reference to their old relationship with Jiang’s regime will upset the relationship with the new Chinese leader.

Xi’s administration is investigating companies that have connections with Jiang or Jiang’s loy-alists. Multinational companies doing business with or in China need to have an up-to-date un-derstanding about China in order to be able to navigate through the changes smoothly. See:

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

Xi is also purging Jiang’s loyalists and influence overseas. Recently, Xi sent inspection teams to the Chinese Embassy and consulates in the United States, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, and other overseas government agencies. Such activity is aimed at purging Jiang’s loyalists overseas and their influence over the international community and overseas Chinese communities.

Adapting to the New Environment

“Xi Jinping Cleans House in China”

“Former Security Head Zhou Yongkang—Biggest ‘Tiger’ Taken Down so Far”

“Former Security Chief Implicated in Organ Harvesting”“China’s New Economic Order—And How It Affects Your Business”

Epoch Times, November 28, 2014. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1110856-xi-jinping-cleans-house-in-china/

Epoch Times, July 29, 2014. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/824587-for-mer-security-head-zhou-yongkang-investigat-ed-in-china/

Epoch Times, March 16, 2015. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1287014-chi-nas-state-sponsored-organ-crimes-find-scape-goat/

Epoch Media Group. http://www.epochmediagroup.com/china

16

Page 17: WHITE PAPER FINAL

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

THE ISSUE OF FALUN GONG Understanding the issue of Falun Gong is key to deciphering what is going on in China right now.The issue of Falun Gong is the Jiang regime’s biggest political liability, which new leader Xi Jinping refuses to take responsibility for. Xi is completely disassociating his new administration from Jiang’s political legacy, and not one member of Xi’s top leadership team has ever been involved in the persecution of Falun Gong.

17

Page 18: WHITE PAPER FINAL

THE ISSUE OF FALUN GONG

Falun Gong (www.faluninfo.net) is a peaceful meditation practice with spiritual teachings based on the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Falun Gong was first introduced to the public in China by Mr. Li Hong-zhi in 1992. Because it provided great health benefits and reconnected Chinese people to their cultural roots and spiritual beliefs, Falun Gong quickly spread in Chinese society. The Chinese Communist Party has, since taking power in 1949, largely destroyed China’s traditional culture.

Falun Gong practitioners are from all walks of life—high-ranking Chinese government officials, business entrepreneurs, white-collar profes-sionals, teachers, and students. Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s immediate family members also practice Falun Gong. The Chinese government publicly supported and endorsed Falun Gong before Jiang began the persecution in July 1999.

Falun Gong came under Jiang Zemin’s attack in July 1999. When Jiang learned there were more people practicing Falun Gong than were registered in the Party, he became alarmed. Jiang, who rose to power after the Tiananmen Square massacre, felt threatened by Falun Gong’s teachings and spiritual practice, which contra-dict the dogmatic atheism and materialism of communist ideology.

Jiang said, “How could it be possible that

Marxist theory, the materialism and atheism believed by our Communists would not be able to defeat Falun Gong’s teachings? ... Indeed if that were the case, wouldn’t it be laughable?” (Source: June 2001, Spring of Bei-jing (General No.97): “The CCCCP Document on the Falun Gong Issue”)

On June 7, 1999, Jiang gave a speech “Swiftly Handling the Falun Gong Issue” at a Politburo meeting. In this speech, Jiang demanded “am-ple evidence” be prepared quickly to defame Falun Gong. Jiang gave further directions that the evidence should include “prominent stories such as mental disorders, suicide by jumping off a building, refusal of medication leading to loss of health or even death, etc.” This “evidence” was quickly fabricated and was then carried by all Chinese media. It spread all over the world through the Party’s sophisticated news distribu-tion network and global channels.

Violating China’s own constitution and laws, and opposing many leaders within the Party, Jiang personally carried out the anti-Falun Gong campaign against 100 million people in China. On July 23, 1999, the head of the Central Propa-

This “evidence” was quickly fabricated and was then carried by all Chinese media. It spread all over the world through the Party’s sophisticated news distribution network and global channels.

On April 25, 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners demonstrated peacefully near the Zhongnanhai government compound to request official recognition and an end to the escalating harassment and violence against them. Jiang Zemin, however, declared that same evening that the Communist Party must “defeat” Falun Gong, and began preparing for a crackdown.

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

18

Page 19: WHITE PAPER FINAL

THE ISSUE OF FALUN GONG

ganda Department told People’s Daily: “We must earnestly study General Secretary Jiang Zemin’s important speech regarding Falun Gong and the instructions from the Central Committee on how to handle the Falun Gong issue. We must unify our thoughts around the Central Committee’s decision and deployment; and firmly and consci-entiously conduct ourselves in accordance with the Central Committee led by Comrade Jiang Zemin. The battle we are fighting against Falun Gong is a serious struggle in political ideology. The frontline of the ideology propaganda must be aligned with the spirit of the Central Committee. We must solidly take on our political responsibil-ities and firmly guide public opinion in the right direction. We must further propagate the materi-alism and atheism of Marxism.” (Source: “Solidly Take on Political Responsibilities; Guide Public Opinions in the Right Direction, “July 24, 1999, People’s Daily.)

On the same day, People’s Daily published a special editorial “How to take the fight against Falun Gong as an important political task of news propaganda.” The article said, “Our fight against the Falun Gong organization is a serious ideological and political battle. The ideological propaganda frontier should follow the central CCP’s principle, take actual political responsibili-ty, and tightly guide the media on the right track.”

Then all major Chinese newspapers printed this speech, part of a tidal wave of propaganda unleashed by the Jiang regime. Within 30 days after the persecution began, People’s Daily alone published 347 articles to demonize Falun Gong.

The anti-Falun Gong articles were then repub-lished or rebroadcast in all local media at the pro-vincial, town, and city level, making sure people from all levels of society were informed about the Party’s policy on Falun Gong. Party officials at all

government levels orga-nized meetings, workshops, and sem-inars in schools, commu-nity centers, neighborhoods, companies, factories, and govern-ment offices to denounce Falun Gong.

In the China News Award and 1st Column Prize Ceremony held by the China Journalists Association in Beijing on December 24, 1999, Deputy Minister of Propaganda Xu Guangchun congratulated the award-winning journalists who have “conducted pioneer propaganda reports based on Central Committee’s deploy-ment” to attack Falun Gong. (Source: “No.9 Ses-sion of China News Award and the 1st Column Prize Announced in Beijing,” December 25, 1999, Guangming Daily.)

The anti-Falun Gong campaign also spread to the rest of the world. The websites of all overseas Chinese Embassies and Consulates published the “Falun Gong Memo” (guidelines to promote anti-Falun Gong propaganda). Then, all Chi-nese Embassies and Consulates organized local Chinese community events—forums and semi-nars—to denounce Falun Gong. All local Chinese media were invited to cover the events and carry anti-Falun Gong stories.

The anti-Falun Gong campaign is directly responsible for millions of people being jailed, tortured or killed for their beliefs. The anti-Falun Gong sentiments are responsible for the dis-crimination and prejudice against Falun Gong practitioners and their families in the Chinese communities both at home and abroad. The revealing of the facts about Falun Gong and its persecution is what Jiang Zemin most fears.

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

Within 30 days after the persecution began, People’s Daily alone published 347 articles to demonize Falun Gong.

Party officials at all government levels organized meetings, workshops, and seminars in schools, community centers, neighborhoods, companies, factories, and offices of the government to denounce Falun Gong.

19

Page 20: WHITE PAPER FINAL

THE ISSUE OF FALUN GONG

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

he new Chinese leader Xi Jinping has not taken a stand against Falun Gong and has never endorsed Jiang’s persecu-tion of Falun Gong. Xi doesn’t want to inherit Jiang’s political

liability and be blamed for massive crimes against humanity com-mitted by Jiang’s regime.

The persecution of Falun Gong and banning of this belief based on the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and toler-ance has created immense catastrophes in Chinese society—ram-pant corruption, the rapid decay of morality, and widespread social unrest. According to a report by China’s bureaucracy, there were an estimated 180,000 mass protests against the CCP in 2011, and that number has been growing at an increasingly alarming rate.

The persecution of Falun Gong has resulted in the Chinese people renouncing Jiang’s regime. Since November 2004, there have been more than 200 million Chinese (as of May 2015) who have publicly renounced communism in China and that number is growing daily. For more information, please visit: en.tuidang.org

Jinping

Information that Jiang Zemin feared and censored:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1AOJP6_URA&feature=youtu.behttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvA-OOwvJMZs

20

Page 21: WHITE PAPER FINAL

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

CONTACT US.

21

Things are changing in China, and the Epoch Me-dia Group is your most reliable guide to the new business landscape.

The leading authority on China, Epoch Me-dia Group has offered unique insights into the workings of the Chinese government and its most prominent decision-making bodies.

With privileged access and an understanding of the inner dynamics of the changes happening in China, we predicted the fall of the “Big Ti-gers”—those formerly powerful Party members who had always been considered untouchable. They fell in the order we predicted. (Click here for an infographic of the 55 Big Tigers that have fall-en since Xi Jinping came into power.)

Global brands working with Epoch Media Group operate without interference from the Chi-nese government. Companies that have remained tied to Jiang Zemin’s regime have found that con-ditions are no longer prosperous for them.

Now is the time to establish your company in the Chinese market. Adjust your sails to catch a favorable wind and sail into a bright future.

For more information or any questions, please contact: Pamela Tsai Epoch Media Group Phone: 212-378-6775 Cell: 917-575-6452 Email: [email protected]

John TangFounder and CEO, Epoch Media Group

The vision of Epoch Times is simple and at the heart of what media and journalism were meant to do: tell the truth. Whether it be within our leading Chinese-language publications spanning major cities around the world, our English-language New York and North American, U.K., and Australian editions, or our multilanguage editions that span 35 countries and 21 languages in print and online, our job, our mission, is to tell the truth.

Page 22: WHITE PAPER FINAL

WHITE PAPER ON CHINESE MEDIA

ADVERTISE WITH US.

Global brands that do significant business in China advertise with Epoch Media Group.

By working with us, you are guaranteed great success in China and the global market.