Public opinionstruggle (Chinese:舆论斗争;pinyin:Yúlùn dòuzhēng) is a term used by theChinese Communist Party (CCP) to describe itsideology andpropaganda work. SinceXi Jinping became theCCP general secretary in 2012, the term has frequently appeared in the party's internal and external propaganda documents and leadership speeches.
The phrase was first mentioned in thePeople's Daily in 1980, but did not enter into common use until 2013 during thegeneral secretaryship of Xi Jinping; nearly all the previous uses were mentions of "international public opinion struggle" or against superstition. On 19 August 2013, Xi Jinping gave a speech at the National Ideological and Propaganda Work Conference in what was later known as theAugust 19 speech. Initial reporting of the speech did not mention the term public opinion struggle. On 21 August, theGeneral Political Department of the People's Liberation Army issued a notice on the study and interpretation of Xi's, which said that the speech included several key issues, including "positive propaganda and the public opinion struggle". On 24 August, the CCP tabloid newspaperGlobal Times published an editorial titled "The Public Opinion Struggle: A Challenge We Cannot Avoid But Must Face Head On".[1] In reaction, on 27 August, Cao Lin wrote an article in theChina Youth Daily titled "The Term 'Public Opinion Struggle' Makes People Uneasy", saying that "Using the term 'public opinion struggle' to characterize the current ideological conflict ushers us back into the past".[2]
On 30 August, thePeople's Daily published an editorial titled "A Scientific Guide to Consolidating and Strengthening Mainstream Ideology and Public Opinion", which called to "effectively channel public opinion and actively launch a public opinion struggle"; the article was attributed to thePeople's Daily editorial board, first such attribution since 1946. ThePeople's Daily editorial numerous other news agencies issued their own articles on the topic.[1][3]
