China weeds out dissenting voices as party Congress nears
Oct 11, 2022
Beijing [China], October 11 : As the 20th Party Congress nears, Chinese propaganda activities are becoming rampant across the country which exaggerate Chinese President Xi Jinping's achievements and an image of him being close to people.
This massive propaganda campaign was mooted upon in China when the National Propaganda Ministers meeting was held in Beijing on January 6 this year. It is now being executed with full force in China as Xi aspires to remain in power for the third term, reported Tibet Press
The 20th Party Congress will be held in the month of October and right ahead of it Politburo member Wang Hunting along with Huang Kunming, head of the Central Propaganda Department, had been directed to employ 'Xi's thought' as the foundation of all the propaganda activities.
However, all is not laid out immediately and things will gradually come to the surface with time as massive propaganda activities are being undertaken. Xi's inner circle is hell bent in convincing the domestic population of the 'spirit of the whole party.'
Social media is also being utilized in every fashion one can imagine. Whether it is about clamping down on any attempt which puts China's Xi in a negative light is been shunned and the only things that get a pass are those which portray China as a democracy both within and outside the country.
The Chinese social media, Weibo, is trending #Welcome to the 20th Party congress, to demonstrate the support of ordinary citizens. Many publicity-purposed educational and press conferences are being held to highlight China's democratic credentials.
The intention is to create momentum before the party congress to extend his term in office. However, there have been protests breaking out in various parts of China against Xi's regime.
China's zero-COVID policy is facing a heavy backlash manifested in the form of protests. Economic issues like a high rate of unemployment and the crisis around home mortgage payments are adding fuel to the fire.
Chinese establishment is leaving no stone unturned to silence any voice of dissent. The country's Cyberspace Administration has reportedly shut down 1.34 billion social media accounts and deleted 22 million posts.
Chinese social media platform, Weibo informed that it had deleted around 20 million posts that 'violated' rules and regulations. Most of these posts were against the ruling government, reported Tibet Press.
