Strength in Numbers: “Ping Chuan yi Ma” counts the Ranks of the Faithful, and the Suspects

The underlying topic is the Cologne Regional Labor Court’s decision on the dismissal / termination of contract of two former Deutsche Welle Chinese Department journalists. I’m trying to keep track of the issue itself, but the topic of this post isn’t that much about the issue, but about the way the Chinese media are spinning it.

Previous related posts:

» When Your Employer Suspects…, Febr 18, 2012
» Huanqiu Shibao Reports Labor Court Decision, Febr 29, 2012
» How Can a German Judge…, March 2, 2012

____________

Ping Chuan yi Ma (平川一马) is another blogger on the Huanqiu platform who goes into the Wang Fengbo / Zhu Hong cases against Deutsche Welle, and suggests that

People who are supportive of or who say good things about the Communist Party would include more than a billion Chinese people. This doesn’t even include other countries’ Communist supporters yet – if one combines all the world’s “Communist elements” and suspected “sympathizers”, this amounts to at least two or three billion people, and they are all objects of the Cologne Labor Court’s Mrs. Olesch’s^*) hostile views. All the world’s countries under Communist leadership are the objects of her hostile views. […]

那支持、同情共产党和说共产党好话的人——十几亿中国人都在其中。这还不包扩其他国家的共产党员和支持者，如果加在一起世界上的“共产分子”和被怀疑的同情“共产分子”至少二、三十亿人，他们都是德国科隆地区法院法官奥勒施女士敌视对像；世界上所有共产党领导的国家都是德国科隆地区法院法官奥勒施女士敌视对像。

If the verdict was upheld – with the government’s “tacit approval” -, it would no longer be only the judge’s business, but would represent the government’s and the Cologne court’s hostile view of all Communist-led countries and all Communist members worldwide, reasons Ping Chuan yi Ma.

这样德国科隆地区法院法官奥勒施女士敌视中国和中国人民是确凿无疑。奥勒施女士是德国科隆地区法院法官，她的宣判如果成立那就不是她个人的事，她的这个宣 判代表德国科隆地区和德国政府（如果德国政府默认），就构成了对世界上所有共产党领导的国家的敌视，就构成了对世界上所有共产党员的敌视，也构成了对支 持、同情共产党人的敌视。

–
Observations/Opinion

1. It isn’t “official” yet
   The Chinese media haven’t unleashed their official editorialists yet, as far as I can see. On the other hand, guidance of public opinion seems to require some (re)action to recent developments. The current bloggers’ reactions still leave China’s media management with lots of leeway to either escalate, or de-escalate their coverage, depending on if the actual verdict will be to Beijing’s liking.
2. Chinese demands are becoming “universal”
   From a propagandist perspective, this could be a win-win situation for Beijing. If the written verdict is going to correspond with the judge’s reported remarks, Germany’s “hostility” towards China is proven, and the need for a strong guardian of the Chinese people – the CCP – is proven, too. If the written verdict differs from the remarks, the need for a strong guardian of the Chinese people is proven, just as well (“we, the Chinese people, stood together and made sure that justice is done”).2. The logic of this article is that inappropriate treatment of one (suspected) “Communist element” must be seen as inappropriate treatment of every “Communist element”. This is actually a self-defeating point. After all, if this is valid, it should be just as valid to see the inappropriate treatment of every Chinese dissident as a hostile act towards all the world’s freedom-loving people.In that regard, the CCP may be operating a double-edged sword.

Human rights campaigners may see their view of human rights’ universal nature confirmed by the CCP itself – and nationalists may demand more punitive action against Germany than Beijing can (or wants to) deliver.
____________

Note

^*) in full, it’s Germany’s Cologne Labor Court’s judge Olesch’s hostile views (他们都是德国科隆地区法院法官奥勒施女士敌视对像)

____________

Related / Updates

March 3, 2012 – April Media (四月传媒) is

the first ever Chinese youth portal to be created. The website focuses particularly on young people, and carries across the vision of the youth and Chinese identity while engaging in issues of global concerns, thus building a network for the youth to connect and also to be connected with the world and freely share views. The Website is also a media platform to meet and encourage healthy, constructive, and progressive minds for empowerment.

In an article about the above topic, published on Friday, they publish quote Wang Fengbo  as follows:

Wang Fengbo says that he will do his utmost to appeal at the Federal Labor Court, and besides, he continues to believe in the credibility of the German Constitutional Court. He hopes that there will be a day when the seven judges in their red robes will sit down at the court in Karlsruhe and reverse the methods used to suppress journalists and put them under the protection of the “freedom of the airwaves”.

王凤波说，他还将作出最大努力，争取再向联邦劳动法院上诉，而且，他仍然相信德国的联邦宪法法院的公信力。他说，他多么希望能有一天看到，批着神圣红袍的七名联邦宪法法院的大法官们坐在卡尔斯鲁厄的法庭上，从宪法上推翻能给要挟与压制记者的做法提供堂而皇之保护伞的“电台自由”。

A try to describe the concept of the freedom of the airwaves can be found here.

____________

Tags: blogging, China, Communist Party of China, competitiveness, Deutsche Welle, diplomacy, feelings, Germany, human rights, ideology, industrial relations, international, journalism, lobbyism, media, negotiations, propaganda, rule of law, soft power, sovereignty, totalitarianism