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跟大家交流一下我写的英文文章。原文在此：http://chinesemillennium.wordpress.com/2008/04/30/the-propaganda-on-propaganda/
If I get one penny every time I heard of propaganda being blamed for why the Chinese people, even those live overseas, defend China and Chinese government policies, I would be a billionaire right now, but then again, I am still one of those poor souls who are brainwashed by the Chinese government.
Does the Chinese government employ propaganda in its daily practices? Sure, but the real question is, who doesn’t?
Does the US government use propaganda to fulfill their missions? You bet. When Iraq war comes to mind, you might still remember all the disinformation and lies the US government spoon-fed to the media, and you might still remember that the media, being free and all, just simply accepted them and propagated them around the world. The western media even started dancing to the drum beat of US government’s war plan and cheered on.
You might still remember those embedded reporters who were so excited to be among the soldiers to witness the unfolding of the war. You might still remember the ban by the US government on photographing the return of the casket. You might still remember those retired generals appearing on all networks to give their analysis, using the information given by the US government. You might still remember the fake reporter, Jeff Gannon, who only asked easy questions. You might remember the fake news conferences staged by FEMA. The list goes on and on.
What do you call those? Information management? Let’s be real here, that’s propaganda.
The Chinese government is no angel on this matter either, but the crucial difference is that the Chinese government still has a lot to learn from the west, the master of propaganda, so much so that they even named one of CCP bureau as Propaganda Department initially. As a result, most Chinese people just simply stop believing the Chinese media, and increasingly, the western media as well.
Same cannot be said about the western public. We constantly hear them saying how much they distrust their media and government propaganda, but unfortunately they always side with their media and government on most of the international affairs. I’d rather believe that the western public are too brainwashed to know that they are brainwashed, otherwise they are explicitly supporting their government’s exploitation of the rest of the world.
To simply label the Chinese counter-reaction to the west as the result of Chinese government’s propaganda effort, is not only an insult to the Chinese people, but also an insult to themselves.
What the west cannot and will not understand is that the Chinese do not need to be reminded of the almost 200 years of western colonial exploitation. Our grandparents and parents live through those years and we live in its aftermath. In fact, my home province used to be the colony of Germany and the colony of Japan after WWI. There are many colonial buildings, though beautiful, serve as constant reminder of that painful time.
What the west cannot and will not understand is that the Chinese do not need to be taught of the ignorance and arrogance of the west. We see them everyday with our own eyes. Those of us live overseas befriended many westerners who are wonderful people but often subconsciously reveal their lack of understanding of the rest of world and their lack of respect to other cultures. Those of us live in China meet many westerners on a regular basis and what we see are not the best of what mankind can offer either.
What the west cannot and will not understand is that the Chinese do not need to be indoctrinated about the hostility of the west towards China. We experience it everyday. Those of us live overseas watch the daily China bashing on every TV stations with amusement, and the never-gets-old blaming everything on China theatres by western politicians. Those of us in China have to sit and listen to the self-righteous sermon on freedom and democracy by the visiting westerners, and the exploitation of the lower labor cost with a devastating effect on environment and worker’s health by the western corporations.
So, let’s call a truce. We are totally fine with it if you don’t care about something, but if you do, please be prepared and educated on the subjects. Just remember this, next time when you call others being brainwashed to avoid loss in an argument and therefore to save your own faces, watch out for the flying pizzas. Some might just be coming from me.