Communist Party Tries to Encourage Nationalism on 55th Anniversary of the Founding of the PRC

Citing Xinhua, the People's Daily reports that, in order to encourage nationalism as part of the 55th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party's Central Propaganda Department and various government agencies have jointly issued a list of the "three one-hundreds." The list includes "100 patriotic educational records, 100 patriotic educations songs, and 100 types of patriotic educational books." The Central Propaganda Department is the Communist Party agency responsible for ensuring that China's publishers do not print anything that is inconsistent with the Communist Party's political dogma. It does this by:

• Screening all books and articles dealing with the Party's or the nation's leaders, significant political issues, and policies relating to foreign diplomacy, nationalities, or religion;
• Issuing notices informing publishers and editors what stories can and cannot be covered, and telling them what ideological standpoint should be used when discussing certain issues;
• Requiring editors and publishers to attend indoctrination sessions where they are instructed on the proper ideological approach to use when reporting on politically sensitive topics.

For example, article 4 of the Regulations Regarding Strengthening the Administration of Publications Describing Major Party and National Leaders states:

When relevant publishing houses are arranging for the publication of topics for these types of books, local publishing houses shall provide drafts to their local Press and Publication Office, which shall read and evaluate the manuscript and offer their opinions, and after receiving approval from the Communist Party Propaganda Department shall provide it to the General Administration of Press and Publication for examination and approval. Central level publishing houses shall provide a draft to their responsible department, and after the responsible department has reviewed the manuscript and provided an opinion, provide it to the General Administration of Press and Publication for examination and approval. Manuscripts written about major Party and national leaders who are currently living must solicit the opinions of that person prior to submission to the General Administration of Press and Publication.