"Here Come the Americans": "Propaganda State" and Nixon's Visit to China

Abstract: This paper is a case study of the functioning of the Communist "propaganda state" in China. It examines how the CCP used its propaganda tools to shape popular views on the new relations between China and the United States. Through Renmin Ribao (the People’s Daily), the main propaganda machine, Beijing publicized the official exchanges between the two governments. More importantly, as Ping-Pong Diplomacy opened the people-to-people diplomacy between the two countries, it played an important role in preparing ordinary Chinese through prominent and intensive coverage of so many visiting “American friends.” While the People’s Daily still maintained a critical attitude toward the U.S. government, the Reference News, an internal newspaper read only by higher-level communist cadres, deliberately published explicit signals of the Nixon administration and reprinted foreign news agencies that elaborated on the benefits and progress of Sino-American rapprochement. Working together, these methods were effective in preparing the Chinese people, who had been taught to hate the American imperialists, “psychologically” for Nixon’s visit.