The Communist Party Line

This book examines the exercise of power in the Stalinist music world as well as the ways in which composers and ordinary people responded to it. It presents a comparative inquiry into the relationship between music and politics in the German Democratic Republic and Poland from the aftermath of World War II through Stalin's death in 1953, concluding with the slow process of de-Stalinization in the mid-to late-1950s. The author explores how the Communist parties in both countries expressed their attitudes to music of all kinds, and how composers, performers, and audiences cooperated with, resisted, and negotiated these suggestions and demands. Based on a deep analysis of the archival and contemporary published sources on state, party, and professional organizations concerned with musical life, Tompkins argues that music, as a significant part of cultural production in these countries, played a key role in instituting and maintaining the regimes of East Central Europe. As part of the Stalinist project to create and control a new socialist identity at the personal as well as collective level, the ruling parties in East Germany and Poland sought to saturate public space through the production of music. Politically effective ideas and symbols were introduced that furthered their attempts to, in the parlance of the day, "engineer the human soul." Music also helped the Communist parties establish legitimacy. Extensive state support for musical life encouraged musical elites and audiences to accept the dominant position and political missions of these regimes. Party leaders invested considerable resources in the attempt to create an authorized musical language that would secure and maintain hegemony over the cultural and wider social worlds. The responses of composers and audiences ran the gamut from enthusiasm to suspicion, but indifference was not an option.

Two countries where communism failed have lost their ideology and now face religion, sex, and corruption problems.

Headline: The Globe and Mail: Legal challenge halts Canadian, U.S. and U.K. release of book critical of Chinese Communist Party by Robert Fife That said it all. The hands of the Chinese Communist Party were going on the offence. The 48 Group Club a China friendly group of former UK ambassadors and Prime Ministers were embarrassed by their connections to a Club founded by key members of the Chinese Communist Party of Britain who's chair Stephen Perry suggested that China's approach to world order and rule was superior to democracy and the UK should embrace them. Asked if he believed the lawsuit was an effort by the Chinese government to stop the publication of his book, Mr. Hamilton said: “I have no evidence of that, although it should be noted that the Chinese government has used lawfare in the past.” Lawfare is the use of legal action as part of a campaign against a target. Governments around the world are in the early stages of a repositioning of power, as China rises and the United States is drawn into direct competition. However, some are beginning to wonder whether, for all of the economic benefits, engaging with China carries unseen dangers. The Chinese Communist Party is now determined to reshape the world in its image. The party is not interested in democracy. It divides the world into those who can be won over and enemies. They have already lured many leaders to their corner; others are weighing up a devil's bargain. Through its exercise of ‘sharp power,’ the party is weakening global institutions, aggressively targeting individual corporations, and threatening freedom of expression from the arts to academia. At the same time, security services are increasingly worried about incursions into our communications infrastructure. Indeed, the vaunted Great Firewall is a temporary measure, only necessary until the party has transformed the global conversation. In December 2019, the CCP's obsession with social control led it to suppress expert warnings about the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan. Most alarming for the West was the active collaboration of the WHO in spreading the CCP's version of events. It was a shocking example of the widespread co-optation of global institutions by the CCP, as described in Hidden Hand. As soon as Beijing thought it had the virus under control, it began a global propaganda blitz, presenting China's authoritarian system as a model for the rest of the world. Western media and pundits soon began echoing the Party line. Hidden Hand is a detailed and devastating expose of Chinese Communist Party influence in the West, including Canada. It could not arrive at a better time in Canada, with relations between Ottawa and Beijing reaching breaking point after two years of mounting tension. China's bullying behaviour, and the mobilising of people loyal to the Chinese Communist Party on the streets of Canada's cities, has caused deep disquiet among Canadians. But the government seems paralyzed. Hidden Hand shows how Canada's political, business, academic and cultural elites have over many years been co-opted by the Chinese Communist Party and its agencies. They are confused about what is in Canada's national interests and frequently do Beijing's bidding. Hidden Hand shows how the Chinese Communist Party represents a profound threat to Western democracy. It's vital reading for Canadians who want to understand what is really happening, and points to a way of carving out a new diplomatic course with China. But the question remains: Does the government have the will to stand up to Beijing and its proxies in Canada or is it too late?

The first in-depth, authoritative discussion of the role of the press in China and the way the Chinese government uses the media to shape public opinion China's 1.3 billion population may make the country the world's largest, but the vast majority of Chinese share remarkably similar views on these and a wide array of other issues, thanks to the unified message they get from tightly controlled state-run media. Official views are formed at the top in organizations like the Xinhua News Agency and China Central Television and allowed to trickle down to regional and local media, giving the appearance of many voices with a single message that is reinforced at every level. As a result, the Chinese are remarkably like-minded on a wide range of issues both domestic and foreign. Takes readers beyond China's economic miracle to show how the nation's massive state-run media complex not only influences public opinion but creates it Explores an array of issues, from Tibet and Taiwan to the environment and US trade relations, as seen through the lens of the Xinhua News Agency Tells the story of the official Xinhua News Agency along with its history and reporting over the years, as the foundation for telling the story