A U.S. Tradition: Pushing Propaganda About China That Conveys a “Hopeless Scenario”
It has been a bad habit, or an obsession, for the United States to consistently push negative propaganda about socialist countries. The People’s Republic of China has been, of course, a target since its establishment in 1949. And the propaganda continues, conjuring up a hopeless scenario within the PRC.
The China Power Project, created by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), published a survey with experts from the USA and Taiwan on China’s objectives for Taiwan in 2024 and beyond. From the start, the survey doesn’t include input from the PRC; only the USA and Taiwan. Since this is called the “China Power Project,” it would be logical to include experts from the PRC.
The survey comes off as being objective but while that’s the case, there are some subtle signs of propaganda. In all, the PRC is looked at as an aggressor. For example:
On Jan. 13, 2024, presidential and legislative elections were held in Taiwan with William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party winning the office of president. Currently the vice-president, Lai will be inaugurated in May for president. This didn’t sit well with the PRC because Lai is for Taiwan “independence.” Thus, Beijing could take “aggressive” measures.
There are words in the survey that are negative towards the PRC’s intents such as “provoked,” “escalated,” and “coerce.” Meanwhile, Taiwan is portrayed as innocent and the USA as having good intentions.
Involved in the survey were 52 U.S. experts and 35 Taiwanese experts. Again, no experts from the PRC. The survey was conducted from November 28, 2023 to December 15, 2023.
Among the results of the survey:
Most of the experts agree that the PRC has “capabilities to execute a law enforcement-led quarantine” and a “blockade of Taiwan.”
About half of the Taiwanese thought “a quarantine is a flexible option.” Meaning that the PRC could pressure Taiwan with a quarantine with the idea of preparing for a blockade or invasion. But, most U.S. experts agree that the PRC would only use a quarantine.
Most of the experts agreed that a blockade alone “would not be sufficient to force Taiwan’s unification.”
Eighty percent of experts agree that if the PRC would use the option of immediate unification in the next five years, a blockade “was deemed the most likely scenario.”
Many of the experts “did not believe Taiwan could resist a PRC blockade from more than three months if there is no or very limited U.S. intervention.”
If there was a USA intervention, it would mean three major conflicts going on at once: Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Palestine, and the PRC-Taiwan. It would further fuel violence and death, when there is more than enough of that already going on.
The Congressional Research Service published a report entitled, “Taiwan: Background and U.S. Relations.” It shows an example of how the U.S., as an empire, can be cynically opportunistic:
“United States terminated diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (ROC) on January 1, 1079 in order to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which claims sovereignty over Taiwan. U.S. relations with Taiwan have been unofficial since that date. In establishing relations with the PRC, the U.S. government agreed to withdraw U.S. military personnel from Taiwan and terminate the U.S.-ROC Mutual Defense Treaty, as of January 1, 1981. The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act provides a legal basis for unofficial relations.”
Since the PRC went beyond its reputation of being the “Sick Man of Asia” in 1949, it has become a major player on the world stage. Seeing the need for a change in tactics, U.S. officials cited the PRC as a legitimate entity, and in turn, stabbed Taiwan in the back. However, the report quoted the U.S. State Department from a fact sheet, stating the U.S. and Taiwan enjoy “a robust unofficial relationship.” It also describes Taiwan as a “key U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific,” and that both “share similar values, deep commercial and economic links, a strong people-to-people ties.”
The U.S. State Department fact sheet continues, stating, “the U.S. recognized the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, acknowledging the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is a part of China.”
This acknowledgement was originally put into the Shanghai Communique, agreed to on February 27, 1972. Richard Nixon’s Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, worked with Chinese Prime Minister Chou En-lai to iron out the details the previous year in October; and preparing for Nixon’s visit to the PRC. Kissinger also worked with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua in February 1972 to map out the communique.
Quoting a PBS article, “The communique pledged both countries to work for ‘normalization’ of relations, and to expand ‘people-to-people contacts’ and trade opportunities.” There was a situation where “many irreconcilable positions” were obvious. But both sides agreed to disagree. Taiwan was a stumbling block between the two sides. But concessions were made by both with the idea of prioritizing the establishment of an “emerging new relationship.”
The USA declared that the Taiwan question be solved peacefully among the Chinese. And the USA stated that Taiwan is a part of China. But it didn’t state who should govern this “one China.”
While the Shanghai Communique may have been successfully clear about the China-Taiwan issue, that has not stopped the USA from demonizing the PRC. In a 2022 Country Report put out by the U.S. State Department, human rights practices are looked at in the PRC. From the beginning, there is the portrayal of a hopeless scenario, where the PRC is “authoritarian” and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is THE ultimate decider on the country’s affairs.
Although the CCP leads the country, and there have been instances of rights violations, the PRC is not as bad the USA makes it out. But the Country Report continues: “There were reports that members of the security forces committed serious and pervasive abuses.
“Genocide and crimes against humanity occurred during the year against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs. These crimes were continuing and included: the arbitrary imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty of more than one million civilians; forced sterilization, coerced abortions; rape, and other forms of gender-based violence; torture of a large number of those arbitrarily detained; and persecution including forced labor and draconian restrictions on freedom of religion and belief, freedom of expression and freedom of movement.”
You the reader get the picture. The Country Report continues on, rattling off all sorts of rights violations. But how true are they?
There was a video shown by Li Jing Jing on her internet show exploring a Uyghur mosque and looking the state of religious freedom in the PRC. It can be seen here. Even though it’s three year ago, things are basically the same, probably. A harsh critic may accuse the PRC of manufacturing the video. But the people in it appear sincere. Including both the host, Li Jing Jing, and the Uyghurs.
Going more in depth, there was a video presented on the internet by Massachusetts Peace Action about the supposed rights violations by the PRC. Included in the discussion was Max Blumenthal, editor of the Grayzone. The video is about an hour long and it’s also two years old. But, USA propaganda has not changed since then. The video can be viewed here.
Regarding the issue of One China, an opinion piece was written by Andrew Leung. Among Leung’s observations, “With the unprecedented third election victory of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and Beijing branding president-elect William Lai an ‘obstinate Taiwan-independence worker,’ two questions must be asked: Can peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait be maintained?”
Leung also cites a “long-running poll conducted by Taiwan’s National Chengchi University.” Included in the results: “only about 6 percent of Taiwanese surveyed supported either unification or independence as soon as possible, while nearly 88 percent wanted to maintain the status quo.” So, the survey concluded that a vast majority of Taiwanese currently want to keep things as they are.
The choice by the vast majority could have something to do with Taiwanese and USA propaganda. There’s no doubt Taiwanese are bombarded with similar anti-China propaganda that occurs in the USA. So, unfortunately, many Taiwanese do not get a full picture of the PRC, just like U.S. citizens.
The PRC, thus, has been labeled as the aggressor, whether subtle or overt propaganda is used. But the USA is the one with military bases near the PRC. That can only fuel provocations and confrontations in the region. With peace being necessary, U.S. leaders seemingly don’t care as they continue to spread the claim that the PRC is made up of a hopeless scenario.
Mahalo for bringing up the "controversial" topic of the US narrative on China. Your article suggests that Uncle Sam is merely putting up some signs of "subtle propaganda," but the truth is far darker and much more nefarious. There is actually a ton of evidence that Washington had been spending billions of dollars specifically to put out negative and even made-up claims of "slave labor" or "genocide" against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. There's absolutely no credible evidence of either . Yes, there's still discrimination, and during the aftermath of some terrorist attacks by NED supported East Turkmenistan extremists a decade ago, there were some heavy-handed re-education measures and policies toward some/ many Uyghurs(there are certainly genuine differences in interpretation on these measures). But definitely not anything near the hyperbolic claims of slave labor or genocide! For real genocide, we just have to look at the actual thousands of bunker buster bombs supplied by the USA Empire that are killing tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza. Indeed I dare say that Blacks in the US are far more likely to be killed by racist cops in America, than ordinary Uyghurs being murdered by police in Xinjiang .
ReplyDeleteI could list dozens more credible accounts by other foreign and Muslim visitors and journalists who have actually visited Xinjiang in the last few years, but they have found nothing remotely close to the Imperial narratives weaponized by Uncle Sam's paid agents.
Sadly, the inconvenient truth is that the Wall Street -Pentagon ruling elite refuses to gracefully transition to a Multi-polar global community; instead, it has doubled down on military threats and a billion-dollar info war on China(and the rising tide of successful socialist countries that are increasingly winning over the emerging Global South).
Peace and Aloha, Danny Li(Kea'au, Hawai'i)