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Grasping the Way Forward for Advanced Culture
Following is one of the three reports written by Our Staff Reporters Yang Zhenwu, Lu Xinning and Zhu Huaxin about the campaign against pornography. It is coupled with the editor's notes which read as follows:
China's campaign against pornography has gone on for 11 years. During this period, in an effort to protect the culture and ethic of the Chinese nation, the Party and government have led the people of the whole country in waging an unremitting struggle against the worldwide "chronic disease" of pornographic and piratical products, and have scored notable achievements in this momentous battle.
For this, Our Staff Reporters have written three special reports: "Grasping the Way Forward for Advanced Culture", "The 'People's War' in the New Historical Period", and "Defending the Nation's Innovative Capability". Today, we publish excerpts of the first report.
"Combating pirated discs-China's 2000 Major Action" was opened in Guangzhou on May 18. More than 5 million pieces of smuggled piratical discs were crushed to bits by eight pulverizers. People present on the spot supporting the fight included representatives from various domestic work units and officials from some foreign institutions. This is the largest destruction ever in the past 11 years of battle against porn products.
Over the last 11 years, such activities have been launched on many occasions over the vast expanse of Chinese territory, the concentrated actions organized by various localities to capture and destroy obscene, contraband and pirated publications are gigantic and vigorous, and the achievements and repercussions are attractive, winning high praises from the international community.
According to rough statistics, in the five concentrated actions taken since 1994 alone, China has seized 60 million copies of illegal books and magazines, captured 140 million audio-video and electronic publications, and banned 33,000 unlawful publications markets and stalls, illegal audio-video and electronic products and investigated and seized 90 illicit discs production lines.
This is a great, magnificent struggle waged, at the turn of the century, by our Party and government to protect the culture of the Chinese nation, demonstrating our national will, government ability and people's aspirations.
A Thing That Satisfies and Gladdens the People
In June 1989, Comrade Deng Xiaoping expressed the hope that after its establishment, the third generation central leading collective will "concentrate its efforts on doing several things that satisfy and gladden the people".
That was in the 10th year after China launched the reform and opening program. Initial progress was made in the reform of the economic system. At the same time, certain ugly social phenomena that had long been stamped out have surfaced again. Particularly after China opened its doors, while importing advanced science, technology, management expertise and other outstanding achievements of human civilizations, some porn publications and some decadent and moribund ideologies also infiltrated from outside into China. The spread of porn products has seriously harmed the physical and mental health of the youngsters.
The Party Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core has comprehensively adhered to the Party's basic line, and continued to hold fast to the central task of economic construction and strengthened ideological and political work and the work of Party building.
On August 24, 1989, the Party Central Committee and the State Council called a video conference in Beijing on national rectification and clearing of the books, magazines and audio-video markets. The meeting called on Party committees and people's governments at all levels to have a full understanding of the harm of porn publications and audio-video products and the necessity of launching a campaign against pornography, and to tackle this matter with a firm attitude, without showing any soft-heartedness.
In September that same year, the central authorities held a forum in Guangzhou concerning the work of cracking down on pornographic activities in the four provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and Hainan. To cope with the situation with regard to the smuggle and manufacture of obscene video tapes, books and magazines in some coastal cities and town, that harm the country, the central authorities were determined to make breakthroughs at key points and investigate and block the source of porn products. For this end, a work team was form which sent liaison groups to the four provinces to investigate and find out the real situation, supervise and inspect things going on there.
At the national conference of heads of publicity department held in early 1995, when he talked about the question of bringing about cultural prosperity and strengthening management of the cultural market, General Secretary Jiang Zemin stressed the need to continue to tackle the problem of combating the activities of manufacturing and marketing of porn and counterfeit products.
On November 21, 1995, a middle-aged female worker wrote to the secretary of the Suzhou municipal Party committee, reporting that her 16-year-old son stealthily watched obscene things on his personal computer, she lodged a sue against the VCD manufacturer-the Suzhou Baodie laser Electronic Co. Ltd. The central leading comrades paid close attention to the letter that reflected the aspirations of the people. A few days later, the People's Daily published this letter under the title "The Strong Appeal of a Mother" on the front page. Publication of this letter aroused unprecedented repercussion throughout the country. Many readers immediately wrote, demanding punishment of the lawless persons who manufactured and sold such trash. The arch criminal of this case, Bu Xinghua, deputy general manager of the said company, was sentenced to 17-year imprisonment.
Over the past 11 years since the launch of the campaign, the central leading comrades have issued a series of important instructions, pointing out the direction for deepening this struggle.
A Political Struggle Affecting the Country's Overall Situation
In the winter of 1995, an illegally published bad book entitled "Strange Sex Marriage Customs" was found in the market, this book seriously violates China's ethnic and religious policies. Relevant leading comrades of the central government personally chaired a meeting, arranging the work of investigation and prosecution. The chief criminal Chen Jianguo was captured, and another five case criminals were all caught afterwards. Half of the total copies of this book were seized in five days. The campaign against the manufacture and marketing of porn and counterfeit products concerns social stability, the physical and mental health of the youngsters, the economic order and international image, so we must pay high attention to and deal with it politically.
In dealing with illegal publication activities, the most severe punishment set in the original administrative law and regulations was only the revocation of business license, as a result, some lawless persons "enjoy the profits from the selling of poisonous things without taking risk of doing this". To counter the rampage of illegal publications activities, the leader of the above-mentioned working team chaired a conference in December 1998 to study making full use of law as a weapon and intensifying punishment of criminals according to law during the campaign against porn and counterfeit and pirated products.
Last year, working in coordination with the struggle of banning the "Falun Gong" organizations, we found and dealt with three cases of illegal publications, so far the largest ones in the country, there were 7.79 million copies of case related "Falun Gong" books, 4.98 million audio-video products, an excess of 100 million yuan of illegal business volume, thus blocking the important source of heresy that deceive the general public, destroying the "Falun Gong" illegal publishing industry, and exposing the greedy feature of Li Hongzhi and his "Galun Gong" organizations which illegally amass wealth.
The in-depth development of the struggle against the manufacture and marketing of porn and illegal products has exerted positive influence at home and abroad.
The Century Strategy of a Big Cultural Country
In a sense, this struggle is a guarantee for the innovation of science, technology and culture, as well as the prerequisite for developing the knowledge economy
Again in a sense, the struggle is aimed at developing our national scientific, technological and cultural industry, it is all the more aimed at maintaining and protecting our national spirit.
In February this year, during his inspection tour of Guangdong Province, General Secretary Jiang Zemin pointed out: "So long as our Party is always the faithful representative of the requirement of the development of China's advanced social productive forces, representing the way forward of China's advanced culture, and representing the fundamental interests of the broadest section of the Chinese people, our Party will always be in an unbeatable position, always enjoy the heartfelt support of the people of all nationalities of the country and lead the people in continuous advance."
We have noted with joy that the Party Central Committee with Comrade Jiang Zemin at the core shows concern for and pays attention to the struggle against pornography, this and the series of carefully organized cultural projects represent benevolent rule of benefiting the present generation and bringing grace to posterity, that ensures implementation of the "three representatives", it is a century strategy mapped out for China, a civilized ancient country, a big cultural country.
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