The effect of such systematic mind-poisoning is shown in an incident that happened in North China just before the Communists took over. An American on a business trip watched a Chinese woman, carrying a baby and a large bundle, attempt to cross a narrow bridge over a little river. A tiny girl, barely old enough to walk, clung to the mother’s skirts. The planking of the bridge was wobbly and narrow. Realizing they could not all cross at once, the woman loosened the child’s hands and told her: “Wait there and I’ll come back for you.” Then, with the bundle and baby, she crossed the poorly constructed span. The American, trying to be a good Samaritan, went toward the stranded little girl to offer to take her across. At his approach she screamed in terror and ran from him. Catching up with her, he talked to her in a quiet voice for some minutes. Soon the youngster dried her tears, accepted the man’s arms, and was carried to safety. The mother turning to go back for the child, cried out in alarm at seeing her in the arms of the American. With the realization that the man meant no harm, she appeared amazed at his courtesy.
Among the near illiterate, speeches are the most effective means of propaganda, and the Chinese Red Armies have large doses of these inflicted upon them. The soldiers, following the example of their Russian comrades, are briefed on when to clap and when to cheer. Like any college football crowd, they dutifully follow the cheer leaders.
The Communists are especially proud of their so-called “Educational Program” for soldiers, and they claim that thirty per cent of the time allotted to military training is devoted to “cultural” and political work. As a result of attendance at daily classes, over eighty per cent of the troops are reported able to read elementary Chinese characters, giving them enough background to understand simplified Communist newspapers. These “newspapers” are filled with news strictly censored by the leaders, and the characters learned in school are those that enable them to read only what the posters and textbooks say. No effort is wasted on superfluous, non-political knowledge.
Bestowing tides as a reward is another Moscow-inspired incentive for the soldiers, as well as for the illiterate populace. This device is also used to encourage labor production and to throw a smoke screen over exploitation. Labor “Heroes” and “Heroines” are greatly admired in all Red-blighted areas, and any Communist who studies and works hard has a chance to be thus honored and to obtain the coveted material reward or special privilege that accompanies the title.
Russian propaganda, when modified for the Chinese, is slanted so that it may not offend them too greatly while they are still being taken over, that is, during the transition period of persuasion and deception. Shortly after the capture of Tientsin, an enormous picture of Stalin appeared beside that of Mao Tse-tung in Min Yuan Park. The people milling around in great throngs stared up at it, some in wonderment. One of them finally remarked, “Who is that other man? He is not Chinese, he is a foreigner.” In order to keep the surface smooth at first and to cause no undue alarm or suspicion among the people, the next day Mao hung alone.
The capture of Tientsin and Peking was accomplished with comparatively little fighting except on the outskirts of both cities. The plans for taking Peking had been well thought out. Secret agents, for years, had been “persuading” the people and softening up the Nationalist troops. The actual capture was cunningly timed. The Chinese New Year was chosen, with due respect to superstition, by the incoming lords of the land. They allowed the people to spend three days making their customary friendly calls upon each other, in the ancient manner, and settling up their bills and accounts. Farmers poured into the cities with supplies of meat and vegetables, and the Communists bided their time while the citizenry, ate, drank and made merry. In the Chinese calendar 1949 was the Year of the Rat, and 1950 ushered in the Year of the Cow. Time-honored superstition has it that when, in the passage of years, the tail of the Rat touches the horn of the Cow, times will be good, luck will change and the future will be successful. The Chinese were all congratulating themselves over their coming good year when the Communists, after waiting for the psychological moment, marched their armies in and took over the ancient capital.
The new masters gave the populace various choices of “surrender” terms, although they did not use the expression “surrendering.” First, the vanquished were politely invited to “Come out and join us, for we are all brothers now.” This invitation was called the “Peking way.” When anyone showed reluctance to accept, the “Tientsin way” was tried. This method involved pressure, first psychological, then if that failed, material, and finally if there was still any hesitation, physical, in the form of more or less severe beatings. In other words, the same old formula was at work—persuasion and then force.
The Chinese Communists, after the fall of the entire country, copied from their Soviet comrades the trick of inviting all the industrialists, financiers and scientists who had fled to Canton, Hong Kong and elsewhere to return to their Northern homes, where they could continue to operate their businesses as before. So in 1946 Stalin invited all the White Russians living in China to return to the USSR. The old birdie in the cage trick! Persuaded that they were going to receive fair treatment, many of the expatriate Russians gladly gave up their jobs and homes in Shanghai and Tientsin and spent their last dollars on passage to Siberia. No word was ever heard from many of them, but gradually a few letters appeared, smuggled in through Chinese friends, which told of great suffering. A few of the hardiest escaped and returned, all with the same story—Siberia, the salt mines, death. What happened to their Chinese counterparts who heeded the siren song of the victors of Peking we do not know, but we can guess.
Communist propaganda is apparent in practically every aspect of Chinese life. Only the Opera and the Russian Ballet appear to have remained relatively free from taint. The Reds are tremendously proud of both of these world renowned examples of creative art and make a great show of claiming that they are always performed in the “original.” However, when put on before strictly indoctrinated audiences, propaganda appears in the shape of Party line interpretations of dances, songs and long curtain speeches. The audience is never allowed to forget for a moment that it is there to be instructed as well as entertained.
The basic purpose of Communist propaganda, of course, is to make conquest as easy as possible. The Party line is fed to the people like opium, and it dulls their senses and makes them docile. When persuasion proves inadequate, threats and brutality are resorted to, for in a Totalitarian State no one can remain on the fence. Only through complete unity, voluntary or forced, can such a state survive. It is impossible for anyone to remain non-political.